or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
Trade in Yours
For a £0.25 Gift Card
Trade in
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Colour:
Image not available

 
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Uncle (New York Review Children's Collection) [Hardcover]

J.P. Martin , Quentin Blake
4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
RRP: £9.99
Price: £7.59 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £2.40 (24%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
Only 5 left in stock (more on the way).
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon. Gift-wrap available.
Want delivery by Monday, 20 May? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Hardcover £7.59  
Paperback --  
Unknown Binding, Illustrated --  
Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Trade in Uncle (New York Review Children's Collection) for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Learn more

Book Description

7 May 2009 New York Review Children's Collection
Unimaginably rich, invariably swathed in a magnificent purple dressing-gown, Uncle oversees a vast ramshackle castle full of friendly kooks while struggling to fend off the sneak attacks of the incorrigible Badfort Crowd. Each Uncle story introduces a new character from Uncle's madcap world, but for every delightful friend of Uncle, there is a foe who is no less deliriously wicked. Luckily the misbegotten schemes of the Badfort Crowd are no match for Uncle's superior wits.



Quentin Blake's quirky illustrations are the perfect complement to J.P. Martin's stories, each one of a perfect length for bedtime reading. Lovers of Roald Dahl and William Steig will rejoice in Uncle's wonderfully bizarre and happy world, where the good guys always come out on top, and once a year, everybody, good and bad, sits down together for an enormous Christmas feast.

Special Offers and Product Promotions

  • Join Amazon Family before 26 May 2013 and you'll be automatically entered into a prize draw to win one of 10 Motorola Blink Baby Monitors. Find out more.


Frequently Bought Together

Uncle (New York Review Children's Collection) + Uncle Cleans Up (New York Review Children's Collection) + The 13 Clocks (Childrens Collection)
Price For All Three: £22.77

Buy the selected items together


Product details

  • Hardcover: 176 pages
  • Publisher: NYRB Children's Collection (7 May 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1590172396
  • ISBN-13: 978-1590172391
  • Product Dimensions: 14.4 x 1.7 x 22.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 240,259 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, and more.

Product Description

Review

"A great comic masterpiece." (Richard Ingrams Oldie Editor Oldie )

Reprint of the year. A kind of 'Gormanghast' for children of eight and up, this is a very funny book. (Financial Times )

Like all great children's writing, people delight in finding multiple levels of meaning. Uncle's entertaining nonsense makes it perfect for children (and adults), while some readers claim it exposes society's hypocrisies and critiques capitalism. (Julia Eccleshare 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up )

This brilliant flight of nonsense for children of eight and older has long been hard to obtain; this is a fittingly classy reprint. (Financial Times )

About the Author

J. P. Martin (1880-1966) published his Uncle stories at the urging of his children, for whom he created. After the last war, he moved to the village of Timberscombe in Somerset, where he served in the small chapel. Six Uncle books were published in the series, the last in 1973, seven years after his death.

Quentin Blake is one of the best-known and best-loved illustrators of our time, and his books with a wide range of authors, including Joan Aiken, Russell Hoban, Michael Rosen and Roald Dahl, have been treasured by generations of children throughout the world. In 1999 he became the first Children's Laureate. In 2005 he was awarded a CBE.

To visit Quentin Blake's website click here


Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
Search inside this book:

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more


Customer Reviews

3 star
0
2 star
0
1 star
0
4.9 out of 5 stars
4.9 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Childhood Favourite 9 Dec 2003
Format:Paperback
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I found it in the library many years ago and found myself drawn completely into it. Never mind the snobbery and slighltly bullying manner of Uncle (an extremely rich elephant with a BA who wears a purple dressing-gown), the surreal imagery is fantastic. Uncle's generosity is touching, especially as regards the Badfort crew whom are invited in for Christmas and to use Uncle's swimming pool (with the best water-slide in the world!).

I searched for years for this in bookshops and was delighted to see it re-released last year. I recommend everyone to read this book at least once; the magic will stay with you.

Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Roald Dahl good 28 Feb 2009
Format:Hardcover
Yep, that's how highly I rate J P Martin's Uncle series. I recently revisited some childhood favourites, and while others disappointed, Rev. Martin's Uncle series surpassed my expectations, and I can't wait for the rest to be republished. Some weirdo is trying to buy every edition of every Uncle book, so us plebs have to hope that they get republished before he or she snaps them all up. (I can't blame him or her for the enthusiasm, but why deny the rest of the world the pleasure of reading these wonderful, playful, subversive yet very generous books?)
If you've enjoyed Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl or Viz comic, buy an Uncle book and be prepared to have a new favourite.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Jontee
Format:Hardcover
As with another reviewer - Uncle was retrieved from the school library, became a firm family favourite and was subsequently introduced to younger siblings. By some strange twist of fate the full set of Uncle books - there are 6 (the original Uncle, Uncle Cleans Up, Uncle and His Detective, Uncle and the Treacle Trouble, Uncle and the Battle for Badgertown and Unbcle and Claudius the Camel)- was collated and found in corners of childrens bookshops by a devoted parent, over a matter of years and they are still prized possessions.

They are unimaginable without Quentin Blake's amazing illustrations, they are a goldmine and a treasure trove for young imaginations - and are every bit as brilliant as A.A. Milne or Trevor Elliston's Deep Wood. How someone hasn't set about republishing the set or creating an animation (hands off Disney - this would be a travesty if it was anything other than true to the original) beats me.

I do not know of any reader who once introduced to these beloved characters does not instantly devour them all. Buy them all - demand that these volumes are brought back to life- read them to your kids and so ensure that future generations will also love them. J.P.Martin's name should reside with the greats of C.S.Lewis and Kenneth Grahame.

Jonathan Cape managed to turn down Animal Farm - and then it let Uncle go out of print. How dippy can you get? Come on Random House - pull your finger out!
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?   Let us know

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums


Listmania!


Look for similar items by category


Feedback


Amazon.co.uk Privacy Statement Amazon.co.uk Delivery Information Amazon.co.uk Returns & Exchanges