#100 in Children’s books
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase
- 181
- Pages
- about 3.5 h
- Reading time
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Our view
“The Wolves of Willoughby Chase” is a gleefully gothic children’s adventure set in an England that never was. Joan Aiken pits the cousins Bonnie and Sylvia, helped by Simon the goose-boy, against their scheming governess Miss Slighcarp and the grim Mrs. Brisket, and some readers relish how villainous the adults are. Others find the twists easy to foresee, or think the wolves and menace may be too much for children under ten.
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 Wolves of Willoughby Chase is a children's novel by Joan Aiken, first published in 1962. Set in an alternative history of England, it tells of the adventures of cousins Bonnie and Sylvia and their friend Simon the goose-boy as they thwart the evil schemes of their governess Miss Slighcarp, and their so-called "teacher" at boarding school, Mrs. Brisket.
Reading order · The Wolves Chronicles
Full order & progress →- The Wolves of Willoughby ChaseThis book
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Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.9 across 52 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 26% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Children’s books average of 7.9. That is how 7.9 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.9 | 7 | 14% |
| Hardcover | 7.8 | 45 | 87% |
Frequently asked
What age is The Wolves of Willoughby Chase for?
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase 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 181 pages — shorter than 60% of the ranked books in Children’s books.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Children’s books — with scores between 7.9 and 8.0, closest to this book.
