#31 in Middle grade
The Lives of Christopher Chant
- 318
- Pages
- about 6 h
- Reading time
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Our view
“The Lives of Christopher Chant” is an inventive, rereadable children’s fantasy about the boyhood of the man later known as Chrestomanci. The fourth of the seven Chrestomanci books to be published, it weaves magic, family and school into one story. Some readers return to it again and again from childhood into adulthood; for others it was a first taste of Diana Wynne Jones that left them wanting the rest of her books.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
The Lives of Christopher Chant is a children's fantasy novel by British author Diana Wynne Jones published by Methuen Children's Books in 1988. It was the fourth published of the seven Chrestomanci books. When the first four books were reissued in the UK to accompany the fifth as a matching set in 2000, The Lives of Christopher Chant was subtitled The Childhood of Chrestomanci and cover illustrations by Paul Slater branded them all The Worlds of Chrestomanci.
Reading order · Chrestomanci series
Full order & progress →- Charmed LifeStart here
8.08.0 / 10 - The Magicians of Caprona
8.08.0 / 10 - Witch Week
7.97.9 / 10 - The Lives of Christopher ChantThis book
8.18.1 / 10 - Mixed Magics
–Not ranked yet - Conrad's Fate
–Not ranked yet - The Pinhoe Egg
–Not ranked yet
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.3 across 92 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 38% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Middle grade average of 8.0. That is how 8.1 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 6.0 | 6 | 7% |
| Hardcover | 8.5 | 86 | 94% |
Frequently asked
What age is The Lives of Christopher Chant for?
The Lives of Christopher Chant sits on the Children shelf in the sources we use, which by convention means roughly ages 5–10. This is a guide from the book’s category, not a publisher’s age rating. It has 318 pages — shorter than 92% of the ranked books in Middle grade.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Middle grade — with scores between 7.9 and 8.2, closest to this book.
