Diana Wynne Jones (1934–2011) spent her childhood in Essex and began writing fantasy novels for children in the 1970s. With her unique combination of magic humour and imagination she enthralled generations of children and adults with her work. She won the Guardian Award in 1977 with Charmed Life was runner-up for the Children's Book Award in 1981 and was twice runner-up for the Carnegie Medal.
<p>In this beloved modern classic young Sophie Hatter from the land of Ingary catches the unwelcome attention of the Witch of the Waste and is put under a spell…<span style="font-size: 1rem;">Deciding she has nothing more to lose Sophie makes her way to the moving castle that hovers on the hills above her town Market Chipping. But the castle belongs to the dreaded Wizard Howl whose appetite they say is satisfied only by the souls of young girls…</span></p>
