The Last Slice of Rainbow and Other Stories

by Joan Aiken

A collection of nine fairy tales including: The Last Slice of Rainbow / Clem's Dream / A Leaf in the Shape of a Key / The Queen with Screaming Hair / The Tree that Loved a Girl / Lost - One Pair of Legs / The Voice in the Shell / The Spider in the Bath / Think of a Word.

Genres: Short Stories, Fantasy, Childrens, Fiction, Magic, Middle Grade, Childrens Fantasy

144 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Joan Aiken was a much loved English writer who received the MBE for services to Children's Literature. She was known as a writer of wild fantasy, Gothic novels and short stories.

She was born in Rye, East Sussex, into a family of writers, including her father, Conrad Aiken (who won a Pulitzer Prize for his poetry), and her sister, Jane Aiken Hodge. She worked for the United Nations Information Office during the second world war, and then as an editor and freelance on Argosy magazine before she started writing full time, mainly children's books and thrillers. For her books she received the Guardian Award (1969) and the Edgar Allan Poe Award (1972).

Her most popular series, the "Wolves Chronicles" which began with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, was set in an elaborate alternate period of history in a Britain in which James II was never deposed in the Glorious Revolution,and so supporters of the House of Hanover continually plot to overthrow the Stuart Kings. These books also feature cockney urchin heroine Dido Twite and her adventures and travels all over the world.

Another series of children's books about Arabel and her raven Mortimer are illustrated by Quentin Blake, and have been shown on the BBC as Jackanory and drama series. Others including the much loved Necklace of Raindrops and award winning Kingdom Under the Sea are illustrated by Jan Pieńkowski.

Her many novels for adults include several that continue or complement novels by Jane Austen. These include Mansfield Revisited and Jane Fairfax.

Aiken was a lifelong fan of ghost stories. She set her adult supernatural novel The Haunting of Lamb House at Lamb House in Rye (now a National Trust property). This ghost story recounts in fictional form an alleged haunting experienced by two former residents of the house, Henry James and E. F. Benson, both of whom also wrote ghost stories. Aiken's father, Conrad Aiken, also authored a small number of notable ghost stories.

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming, spooky, funny, touching- a book of fresh fairy tales for children written by Joan Aiken, paired up with beautiful illustrations!

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My edition of this book (found with a pile of other Aiken books at the op shop - whoopee!) is illustrated by Margaret Walty, who has a very different style from Jan Pieńkowski whose work often adorns Aiken's short stories. The cover is not that great; mainly, I think because the illustrations are better suited to black and white reproduction. It looks at first as though the stories are intended for a slightly younger audience, and the opening story seems to confirm this. But then we travel on... We have Michael the artist who is tricked by a kelpie (not the dog kind) and is ultimately thwarted in his artistic career by it. We have a princess who acts in a thoughtless way as a young child and is so severely punished by this slight error (cutting off her cat's whiskers) that she is tormented for nine years. (I won't tell you how.) We have another princess who is so neglected by her father that she develops a bad character, and without giving you too many details, there is an abundance of giant hairy spiders that must be dealt with... with bare hands...

So I adjusted my thinking. These stories are a mixed lot, not for a specific age group. But what is great about Aiken (as usual I suppose) is that she uses the fairy tale format without using a fairy tale formula. You can never tell what will happen next, and Aiken is not squeamish.

The internal illustrations are really quite lovely. Especially when Walty is illustrating adults and animals instead of children. Her children are a wee bit too sugary looking for my taste. Her animals and foliage are beautifully observed and drawn.

If the cover were better, it would be a 5 star book for me. It's very nearly so.

[Kanin Nitiwong · Rating 5 out of 5]

อ่านฉบับแปลไทย โดย วัชรินทร์ อำพัน จัดพิมพ์โดยสำนักพิมพ์ดอกหญ้า ชื่อภาษาไทยคือ "ความรักของต้นโอ๊ก" เล่มที่อ่านพิมพ์ครั้งที่ 5 ในปี 2536

เป็นหนังสือรวมนิทานที่ดีมากๆ ภาพประกอบโดย มาร์กาเร็ต วอลตี ก็สวยสดงดงามมากๆ อ่านแล้วย้อนนึกไปถึงสมัยประถมที่ชอบอ่านนิทานในห้องสมุด จำได้ว่านิสัยที่ชอบอ่านหนังสือส่วนหนึ่งก็เพราะนิทานเหล่านี้แหละ มันเป็นนิทานเด็กที่ให้คติสอนใจ เต็มไปด้วยความประหลาดและมหัศจรรย์ ความเปิดกว้าง ความเป็นไปได้ ที่สำคัญเมื่ออ่านในวัยนี้กลับพบว่าโจอัน ไอเค็น แต่งเนื้อเรื่องที่มันไม่ได้ดำเนินตามสูตรเลย

เรื่องที่ชอบมากๆ คือ สามเรื่องแรก สายรุ้งสุดท้าย (the last slice of rainbow) ความฝันที่หายไป (Clem's dream) ใบไม้รูปกุญแจ (a leaf in the shape of a key) ไตรภาคเด็กชายที่มีหัวใจบริสุทธิ์และโอบอ้อมอารีย์ และสองเรื่องสุดท้าย แมงมุมในอ่างน้ำ (the spider in the bath) ในการดันตัวละครที่ดูเหมือนบทบาทน้อยให้เด่นในช่วงปลาย กับ คำปริศนา (think of a word) มีความเป็นแอนตี้ฮีโร่ หนุ่มเลี้ยงแกะที่ชอบความสงบในการเลี้ยงแกะมากกว่าการปราบมังกรช่วยเจ้าหญิง อ่านและนึกถึงเล่งฮู้ชงในกระบี่เย้ยยุทธจักร

[Seth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've never much been into short stories, but for me, Joan Aiken's writing is one of the exceptions. I could never remember the moral or theme of a story after reading it, but I eventually figured out that that wasn't the point. Joan Aiken's writing is escapist, exploratory, a beautiful adventure. Though I might not remember the point behind the story, I do remember the adventures, and they were well worth remembering.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book so much as a child. I particularly remember the story about the princess who finds she has screaming hair, and the story about the boy who is tricked by a stone goblin and has to be rescued from a cave by some kindly snails who like eating orange jelly. A very imaginative collection of short stories with a series of mysterious and fantastical (and sometimes slightly macabre) characters and plots.

[Lonelylily · Rating 4 out of 5]

My mother used to read this boom to me when I was a small child and it always used to me me so happy. To this day I still love this book with all my heart and I know that if I ever have children that I will read it to them someday becuase it is such an amazing book. If you have children then this is the book for them.

[hedgehog · Rating 3 out of 5]

book pruning verdict: this wasn't available on kindle the last time i downsized but now it is. it can go. the edition i have is not available on goodreads. blue cover, 1990 harper & row paperback.

accurate review on amazon, quoted in full: "Normal little boys have adventures in nature while little girls are princesses with hair issues and anxiety disorders. Beautifully illustrated." it's really hard to get the rhythm of fairytale-type stories right and aiken gets the tone perfectly tbf.

[Dana Kontnik · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a childhood favorite. I checked it out every day 5th and 6th grade. When I graduated elementary school, the school librarian gifted me a copy since I checked it out so often. My favorite story was The Tree That Loved a Girl. My cover looks different than this one but its the same book.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of these stories were deeply weird but Adele was into them, her favorite was the creepy old tooth fairy that stole a kids dream and he tried to get it back. We’ve read some ER chapter books like princess in black and bink & gollie, and a few chapters of mrs piggle wiggle, but I think this is the first full book I’ve read to her!

[Fantaghirò · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the illustrations. I sometimes enjoyed how surreal the stories are, but they are too whimsical and meandering for my taste.

Borrowed from a friend who loved them as a child. I feel like I should have liked this book more, but did not really connect with it.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these were a bit weird for me, just not a style I personally love—a tad too dark or unfinished. I don’t think I’ll be reading them aloud to my kids, but I could see them being really enjoyable to the right reader who loves fairy tales.

[Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Combined with the drawings, these stories and fables are incredibly charming. Children of all ages will be delighted by them.

[Linda Amos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short stories that most children should enjoy being read to or reading themselves. Good for about a 7-year-old reading age, a few difficult words but the stories should give a sense of achievement.

[Windy2go · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Joan Aiken, but these stories were a disappointment: esoteric, detached, shallow, abrupt…. I wanted to enjoy the magic, but I just did not.

[Nanappp · Rating 5 out of 5]

จินตนาการเต็มเปี่ยม อ่านเรื่องแรกๆก็ชอบละ ละมาปิดท้ายเรื่องสุดท้ายชอบมากๆเลย มีทั้งแนวสอนใจ แนวอ่านเอาบันเทิง ยังไงก็ได้😂😂😂

[Nikki Jo Lucero]

I have not yet finished, It is a collection of imaginative short stories. Leave behind your adult real world for a moment and take a lovely walk in forests with rainbows and trees. Have tea with a fairy or listen to a gnome!

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book when I was in 2nd grade and have reread it dozens of times since then. Hauntingly beautiful stories with a bit of a dark side, I think this book of short stories shaped what would interest me as a reader today. The illustrations sprinkled throughout are equally magical!

[Allison Hibbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have treasured this if I had read it when I was little. These stories are beautiful, curious, whimsical, and unflinching. I think older kids would really love this. I edited it a lot as I read to my two and four year old, for a little harsh language and tense/scary situations.

[Natasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

my favorite book from childhood. i suppose i could consider it the first work of fantastical fiction that really struck a chord.

[Anna Solow]

great

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this collection in high school for fun and loved it.

[Amanda Leavitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was little I used to check this book out from the library at least once a month. It has the cutest stories in it that I have always remembered.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was really creeeeeeeeeeeeepy!

[tinkle Wickle]

I love It

[scarlettraces · Rating 3 out of 5]

not her best, i feel, but then again these are stories for very young children so i can't exactly judge.

[Jan Yip · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my childhood favorites!

[Diane Walters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun fairy tales.

[Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bizarre childhood favorite ❤

[JKR · Rating 3 out of 5]

Joan Aiken’s original fairy tales - both here and in A Necklace of Raindrops - are worth reading.