Moondial

by Helen Cresswell

Minty is staying with her maiden aunt and discovers that the moondial in the huge house nearby has the power to take her back in time. On her time travels, she meets two children who are desperately in need of help and she encounters danger and excitement in her bid to rescue them.

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens, Middle Grade, Time Travel, Horror, Fiction, Classics

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Helen Cresswell (1934–2005) was an English television scriptwriter and author of more than 100 children's books, best known for comedy and supernatural fiction. Her most popular book series, Lizzie Dripping and The Bagthorpe Saga, were also the basis for television series.

Reviews

[Hilary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Minty is suffering the loss of her father. She goes to stay with an Aunt for the summer as her mother works, but then further tragedy strikes. Minty explores Belton Hall, an actual National trust property where her Aunt works and soon discovers she can travel in time where she meets a kitchen boy with a nasty cough and a wealthy girl from the hall with a birth mark on her face who was experiencing some quite extreme bullying. This book was made into a drama years ago and I expect this worked really well. It obviously has a stunning setting but felt this wasn't described well in the story. It was written in a way that didn't flow and I kept going back to wonder if I had read a sentence correctly as some struggled to make sense. The time changes weren't always clear what period you were in. The line drawn illustrations really didn't suit the book, they were slightly comical, a bit like the style used on saucy seaside postcards. There were some good ideas and had all the ingredients we like in a story but it didn't quite work for us.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the points I'm giving this book are from my childhood self - it was my favourite, and a book that really inspired my writing. It's so strange and atmospheric and mysterious.

Unfortunately upon re-reading, it's a bit *too* mysterious. Very few of the questions it sets up are answered, and some intriguing points that seem like a big deal are never again mentioned or explained. It feels more like someone telling an intriguing bedtime story that they're making up as they go along than like something that could be reality.

A beautifully written classic ghost story that doesn't quite stand up to today's standards of children's storytelling, but nonetheless has a place in many people's hearts.

[Claire Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story follows the saga of Araminta (or Minty for short), who has discovered she has a strange talent for seeing ghosts. After her mother is involved in a car accident, Minty is sent to stay in the country with an elderly Aunt who lives on the grounds of an old stately home now open to the public. Whilst staying with her Aunt, Minty befriends a local groundskeeper called World who informs her that she must help the past residents of the home find peace as they are lost souls. Minty meets these residents through some form of ghostly vortex which is triggered by the garden sundial that only seems to work in moonlight. These residents include a young stable hand by the name of Tom and a former resident with an unfortunate birthmark who spends her days hiding and her nights being taunted by neighbourhood children. The introduction of a sinister local ghost hunter with multiple personalities through time adds drama and a twist ending to this book.

This was a fantastic read and I highly recommend this. It is a more laid back interpretation of some of the more classic ghost stories with a sentimental theme of love for your fellow humans and respect for the past. Minty’s mother returning from hospital well again to collect her provides a happy ending that is satisfying to read.

This book would be suited to children aged 8-11 who have a more advanced reading age, and could be used as a story to read aloud to the class by the teacher or for private reading.

[L.J. Diaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I owned this book in the 1990's & even watched the TV show. The story of Minty, Tom & Sarah is one of my all time favorites & has never left me. I decided to re-read this on a whim, and I still think it's brilliant some 25 years later! It's one of those stories that is timeless and filled with intricacies. Everyone should read this book, children & adults alike, you will not be disappointed.

[Tim Rideout · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Light and Shadow by turns, but always Love.'

My first reading of this enchanting novel, in preparation for the 2017 Newark Book Festival and the panel discussion on Nottinghamshire's literary heroes.

Helen Cresswell is certainly one such hero. This is a novel reminiscent of Philippa Pearce's 'Tom's Midnight Garden', engaging with time slips and ghostly figures from the past and the future.

The authorial voice is fully aligned with the main protagonist, Minty Kane, affording the reader the clearest insight into Minty's thoughts and feelings, as she resists the often cold indifference of some adults to fulfil her destiny to change lives for the better.

This novel celebrates life and the energy of children. A charming and engaging read.

[Mathew · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Minty is taken by her mother, Kate, to stay with her aunt in Belton, she has no reservations. Living with a mum who is so busy with work that her daughter is almost independent, Minty sees this trip as an adventure of sorts and hopes that something exciting will happen when she explores the grounds of Belton House: a stately home which he aunt lives across home. Perhaps she'll see ghosts!

Yet when it comes to her mother leaving her to head back home, something happens which throws Minty's whole life into disarray and she finds herself bestowed with a task that will see her step in and out of time itself to save those who are trapped between day and night, time and memory.

A timeslip novel much akin to The Children of Green Knowe and An Enemy at Green Knowe, Moondial sees a young girl attempt to comes to grips with a sense of a place and those who inhabited it before. Her relationship with Tom and Sarah, children from other times, were engaging enough although I suspect a more fruitful exploration would have come across in the T.V. version (for which the idea was also conceived.)

Although I wanted Cresswell to make more use of the grounds of Belton House, there was much here that she left to interpretation and discussion which I enjoyed. Minty made for a sparky, resilient hero and even though more needed to be made of the rather ominous Miss Raven, I know that if I had read this as a child I would have been utterly absorbed. Complex themes of time, memory, fear of losing a parent are all handled deftly by Cresswell.

[Thar Lun Myat · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is kind of a horror story about a girl going back in time. Every night, she went to the garden where there is a moon dial and she went back in time to meet a boy from many years ago and a girl. I really enjoyed this book.

[Catherine Pinkett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is February's children classic choice from Victoria from booktube channel Eves Alexandria.

[Victoria (Eve's Alexandria) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a highly nostalgic re-read for me - all the time travel fantasies of my childhood came flooding back. After reading this story of ghosts, time slip and bravery for the first time I was surprisingly keen to go visit country houses. It's not every 8 year old that wants to go to Chatsworth for her birthday but I was determined to have an adventure like Minty's. Now as an adult I really appreciated how atmospheric and spooky the book was, and how Minty dealt with complex and frightening scenarios including abuse and death. I felt the ending was a bit abrupt and it wasn't clear how the conflict at the heart of the story was resolved, but it still had a powerful message.

This was the February read for my Children's Classic Bookclub.

[Alex (The Bookubus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Minty is a young girl who goes to spend the summer with her godmother who lives across from a stately home. She spends her days exploring and is drawn to a sundial in the grounds where she meets some...ghosts?

I enjoyed the setup but I thought the middle part was a bit slow, then towards the end it all seemed to wrap up quite quickly. There were a lot of elements I liked but I wish there had been more time spent on them and maybe less on other things. I'm sure if I had read this when I was younger that wouldn't have bothered me though! Overall it was a fun, charming and spooky read.

[Jake Collins · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can see exactly what this book is going for but I think it falls rather short. The three main characters and their different time periods are just not realised vividly enough for me. Some of the imagery is very evocative, but then a glaringly silly metaphor or simile will suddenly rear its ugly head and spoil the whole sequence. The chapters are far too long.

[Nang Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its about a girl travelling through time to help a boy and a girl from the past. She uses the moondial to help her travel. I really like this type of book and its suits me well. Although i dont know the "type" of this book.

[Karen M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Araminta Cane was just as I remembered her , brave and interested in everything around her. Sent, somewhat against her will , to live with her mother’s godmother in a small village nestled against Belton House she soon becomes embroiled in history. Belton house reaches back in time to the late 1600s and ,in the garden , Minty finds strange voices pulling her back into different times.
The catalyst is the sundial with its inscription ‘Lux et Umbra vicissim , sed semper Amor’ and it’s when the shadows cast by the moon fall that the sundial is transformed to a moondial with strange powers. I admit that when I first read it I was less aware of the importance of the the two stone figures, Chronos and Eros, locked in a battle while supporting the dial . Re-reading after many years unlocked the many layers of time and love uncovered as the story unfolds.
It’s a gothic novel for younger readers , with a real sense of danger and injustice and a glimpse into two different ( but equally cruel to children and the servant class) eras. The descriptions of the gardens and statuary at night are both lyrical and eerie - a wonderful mix.
Minty , recognising the isolation of the girl from the Georgian era of the house and the bravery of Tom the Victorian kitchen boy as he battles consumption while trying to grow enough to be a footman and save his sister from poverty, realises she needs to help them both escape. As well as rescuing her mother from a kind of death by telling her the story as events happen.
With a moonlit backdrop of a grand country house the battle to save Sarah, Dorrie , and Tom takes place . The addition of a ghost hunting witch adds to the terror. Does love in its many guises prevail? …you’ll have to read it to find out.
A brilliant read . It has made me wonder if the the 70s were fascinated with time slips as so far both books I’ve read from this era are linked by the idea of times existing in parallel. I’d better read another favourite I remember - Tom’s Midnight Garden - next to add to the collection. It also made me realise how writers did not shrink from covering big issues in these books , here child readers are confronted by / encouraged to engage with life and death as well as brutality.

[Capn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like Tom's Midnight Garden, but with more action. :)

A difficult one to rate - I very much liked the main character, Araminta "Minty" Cane (though I kept picturing candy canes, with such a name). There was the usual crisis to set up the plot, and then another biggie very early on, which drew me in. Lots of historical child abuse, and some very colourful supporting characters. Unfortunately, Mr. World and Miss Raven were never fully explained to me (unless I just missed something obvious). I also had to download and read the "What is Sidereal Time, and Why Should I Care?" from UCL, to satisfy my curiosity.

And if P J Lynch had illustrated the tower with the golden pennants which never moved in the breeze, I'd have been most grateful - I never understood how this was meant: like stiff flags, vertically from the tower or corners? Or hanging horizontally and downwards from rampants? Or strung along like a bunting? For some reason I never got a good mental image of this, nor understood why Minty wondered if they ever moved.

And, again - who was Miss Raven and what truly was her objective? With just that little bit more, this book could have had full marks from me. Regardless, I did enjoy it, and will probably gladly reread it at some point. And I will read further works by this author, time and availability permitting. :)

Typos exist in this edition, and the most annoying of them is a substitution of "Minty" for "Sarah" in the top half of page 206 (Tom and Minty aren't holding Minty back, but Sarah).

[Lee Osborne · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Light and Shadow by turns, but always Love"

This was a favourite BBC drama of mine, a wonderfully atmospheric tale, and I have to confess Siri Neal in the lead role was a major attraction! It's stuck in my memory ever since, so I thought I'd read the book. I'm sure I've started it in the past, but never got around to finishing it.

Lead character Minty, a girl who recently lost her father, goes to spend the summer with an old aunt at Belton, a grand old country house. Her mother is involved in a car accident after dropping her off, and for much of the story she's in a coma. Minty has to deal with this, as well as her discovery of ghosts in the grounds of the house. She discovers a way to travel back in time, and encounters two children from different eras.

The book is short, and the plot is simple, but it's a beautifully mysterious and atmospheric read, with a big dollop of nostalgia in it for me. Belton is a real house, and the Moondial of the story is a real thing in the grounds, so I think one day I'm going to have to visit and see it.

It's not a perfect story by any means - I think it glossed over some deeper things that could have been included, and some elements of the plot are a bit obvious - but if you like a bit of supernatural mystery, you can't go far wrong with this.

[Felicity · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always loved children's books where there is time travel, especially at night.

I recognised Helen Cresswell's name as writing the screenwriter for the excellent BBC adaptation of The Demon Headmaster so was interested to find out she had written some fiction for children.

Minty is staying with her Aunt Mary in a little cottage on the edge of an Crumpton Manor which is now always open to visitors. Minty has a mystic streak and realises there are unhappy ghosts who are trapped. With some aid from old Mr World she is drawn towards the moondial and decides to solve the mystery but she has to overcome many obstacles.

A lovely little mystery with some beautiful symbolism and lovely morals about love being the most important thing. As another reviewer remarked Cresswell sometimes spends more time on the things you aren't interested in then skips over other moments you felt could have had more tension in such as the finale. Cresswell writes good characters and this was a good book which was deservedly made in to a TV series. It seems a shame that her name has fallen in to obscurity.

If you like Joan Aiken or want to try something a bit more mystical for children then read this book!

[Chris Browning · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moondial was very much the final flurry of a very particularly and beloved strain of British children’s television that had mainly flourished in the seventies. There were attempts to revive it, some successful (Tom’s Midnight Garden and a couple of the Nesbit Five Children adaptations), some not (Archer’s Goon) and Century Falls (which as a child I recognised immediately as a cynical attempt to emulate this era and hated with a passion. But Moondial was the final masterpiece: strange, eerie, unsettling and genuinely spooky - and strangely far more so than the book that it was adapted from

Moondial itself owes a little to some of Creswell’s earlier books, especially Polly Flint, but the whimsy is countered by a darkness and a genuine thrill at knowing that kids don’t need to have EVERY question answered because they can provide their own solutions when necessary. There’s a lovey ambiguity about the ending, about who Miss Vole and Miss Raven might be, and where Tom and Dorrie and Sarah actually go. Creswell provides some endings but also leaves other bits wildly open to interpretation which is incredibly bold and welcome in a genre where the gap between what adults what think kids want (tidy endings) and what kids actually will accept (messiness, strangeness and room to make their own endings) is often very large indeed. It’s less scary and dark than the TV version but treads a fine line between whimsy and menace during the best passages

And it’s also fascinating as an example of how often children’s literature of this period frames ostensible ghost stories as time slip fiction. Mr Blunden is a case in point (and again features fatherless heroes). I wonder if this is because time slip fiction allows for a sort of hybrid version of nostalgia: a nostalgia where that sort of longing for the past is actually questioned far more than it is in adult fiction. The past is often seen as a magical but horrifyingly other place of cruelty but in the best of them, rather than the present day hero trying to force their worldview on the figures from the past, tend to end up freeing those figures into a better past. It’s sort of a literal way of coming to terms with the past which also reflects how you come to terms with your own life: no simple answers, but growth; no magic bullets, but a complex untangling of past traumas. It’s a fascinating subgenre

[Naomi Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

Go to Belton House and you can actually see everything from the story! I loved the TV series and the book growing up - the TV series unusually enough is faithful to every single word in the book. Helen Cresswell based it all on Belton so that is why you genuinely can picture every detail. Incredibly well written, I loved it when I was little and still do, as it's very well written. I often read it as a cosy comfort book these days!

[Tanya (Novel Paperbacks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely ghost story with an emotional theme. But is written as a bit too mysterious and a lot of the questions I had throughout were left unanswered. Wouldn’t have minded this as a kid but I don’t like it as an adult.
A lovely story I wish I had read as a kid. I would have appreciated it more I think.

[P.J. Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice children's time travel novel with a great female protagonist. I particularly liked the character of Tom short for Teddy. I'm pleased to say that the BBC TV adaptation from the 80's is equally as good as the book.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5 stars

[PP9000 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A childhood favourite. Reread after a recent visit to Belton House. Just as good as I remember.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a vague recollection of being 7 years old, coming home from school and watching a terrfying kid's tv show in which a young girl with a birthmark on her face cannot look in a mirror for fear she'll summon the devil. I knew there was a sundial central to the story, but didn't know much else about it - and couldn't find anyone else who remembered it, until I met Alysa.

Alysa loaned me her copy of the book and I devoured it in one sitting. It's a classic children's time travel story, a lot less terrifying than I remember on the one hand, but on the other, no doubt very scary from a child's perspective. There are elements that disappoint - such as the lack of a confrontation with Miss Raven, and others that delight - the revelation that the figures entwined around the moondial are eros and chronos, names lost on most children but suddenly obvious to adult readers. Despite the disappointments, the book stands up to a nostalgic revisit as an adult reader.

Helen Cresswell's children's books always contain that gentle fluidity of the pre-Rowling era, when children's books were still written for children alone and NOT for cross-over appeal.

[Dark-Draco · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of my favourite stories - I loved the BBC adaptation when I was younger. So, it was impossible to resist when I saw this book in the local Library sale.

It is the story of Minty, packed off to her Aunt's during the Summer holidays. She feels that there is something wrong about the house and gardens where she spends her days. Then her mother is involved in a car accident and Minty discovers the Moondial - both events become entangled as she ends up travelling back through time, meeting two children who need her help. Tom, the young servent who wants to be a footman but suffers from consumption, and Sarah, who hides a devilish secret beneath her hood.

A brilliant story that children of all ages will love. I thought it was quite scary in places, but I think that was why I liked it in the first place. Brought back memories of frantically wishing I could find such a magical place at the bottom of my garden!!

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't remember if I was irritated as a child reading it, but reading it now I am in no rush to read it again (and I'd been *so* excited about re-reading it!). Too many un-answered questions

%% SPOILERS %%

Who is World? How does he know stuff? Is Miss Raven really the same person as from the past? Where do the kids *go*? They clearly still stayed in their lives as there's a gravestone - how were their lives improved? Were they?

But, again, these questions probably didn't bother me as a child and I do remember enjoying the book. Good over evil etc etc. I will definitely be keeping it around and might even read it again some time.

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moondial I saw as a kids tv show when it aired 30 years ago and loved it. I've watched it again as an adult and still love it. Time travel, spooky ghosts, who aren't really ghosts, and a beautiful setting. We went to Belton House where the novel is set, and the tv show as filmed, last week and I bought a copy of the book to finally read. There were a few sections of the novel that were different, and as usual I preferred the novel differences. Definitely one I'd recommend to young and old. It did have really good gender balance, it dealt with issues in the modern world, loss, worry, bereavement, as well as having the spooky and fantastical element to it.

[Nancy Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic time travel story! I love stories like this and wish I had known about them all when I was younger. That definitely does not detract from their appeal, however! This story focuses on a young girl who travels in time to meet two other children, and together they work to overcome an evil power. My only complaint is the rather negative portrait of cats, but I still loved the book. The ending is poignant but perfect. I would highly recommend this not just to adults interested in similar stories but also to young readers.

[Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Think I read this when I was much younger but I can't recall doing so. The blurb on here refers to the central character, Minty thinking of herself as a witch, absolute hogwash! This has nothing whatsoever to do with witches and witchcraft plays no part in the plot at all. Actually this comes over as a cross between 'Tom's Midnight Garden' and 'The Amazing Mr Blunden', both definite childhood favourites and, I have to say better than this. If you want a decent children's book about ghosts or time-travel, try those or the wonderful 'The Ghost of Thomas Kempe', or anything by Penelope Lively!

[April Cridland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book as it is full of adventure and magic. The main character is called Araminta cane but she prefers the name Minty. My favourite part was when Minty traveled back in moontime to free her friends called Tom/Teddy and Sarah back to their place in time while trying to avoid a woman who is called THE RAVEN. She is a woman that pretends to be a ghost hunter but was actually trying to trap and control time. It was a really good book and I wish I was allowed to read it everyday.

[Natasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this as an adult, thought it was a good story. Quite creepy in places. Probably would have scared me as a child haha. Reminded me of the TV series called "ghost hunter" I think it was called that was on in the early 90s.