Best Books About Family-Friendly Fantasy by Diana Wynne Jones

Diana Wynne Jones is one of the great fantasy writers of the twentieth century - the author of more than forty novels, beloved by readers of every age, and admired by her fellow writers as one of the finest imaginations the genre has produced. Her books are also, for the most part, wonderfully clean: witty, warm, and full of wonder, with none of the graphic content that makes parents hesitate. The darkness in her books is comic and moral - the selfishness of wizards, the silliness of adults - rather than graphic, and her novels can be shared with readers of almost any age.

Jones’s books are not all equally well known, and they reward discovery. If you are new to her - or if you have seen the film of Howl’s Moving Castle and want to know what else she wrote - this guide will take you through her best work, organized by what each book offers.

The Essential Start: Howl’s Moving Castle#

Howl’s Moving Castle (1986)#

The best possible introduction to Jones, and one of the most beloved fantasy novels ever written: Sophie Hatter, the eldest of three sisters - and therefore, in the world of the book, doomed to a dull life - is cursed by the Witch of the Waste and transformed into an old woman. She goes to work for Wizard Howl, the vain and idle wizard who lives in a moving castle, and the book is about the three of them - Sophie, Howl, and the fire demon Calcifer - untangling the curse and each other.

It is the essential Jones for every age: funny, warm, and full of the wit and invention that made her famous. It inspired the beloved Studio Ghibli film, but the book is its own delight - stranger, funnier, and deeper than the film. If you read only one Jones book, this is the one.

Howl’s Moving Castle, and Why It Endures#

The book’s genius is its heroine: Sophie Hatter, who believes she is doomed to a dull life because she is the eldest of three - and who is, in fact, brave, stubborn, and entirely unaware of her own power. The book is about her discovering what she can do: she talks her way out of everything, she refuses to be a victim, and her quiet courage is the engine of the whole story. The book is also very funny - Howl’s vanity, his tantrums, his elaborate attempts to avoid work - and it is an argument about love and self-knowledge that has never gone out of style.

The Chrestomanci Books: Jones’s Great Series#

Beyond Howl’s Moving Castle, Jones wrote several series, and the greatest of them is the Chrestomanci sequence - a series about a powerful enchanter and the parallel worlds he watches over. These are the essential reads for the series.

Charmed Life (1977)#

The first Chrestomanci book: Cat Chant, a boy with a wild and magical sister, goes to live at Chrestomanci Castle, home of the great enchanter - and the book is about the discovery of what Cat’s sister is really doing, and what Cat himself can do. It is the essential start to the series: the castle, the enchanter, the parallel worlds, and Jones’s comic genius at full power.

The Lives of Christopher Chant (1988)#

The prequel to Charmed Life: Christopher Chant, the boy who will become Chrestomanci, discovers that he can travel to other worlds in his dreams - and the book is about his childhood, his education, and the discovery of what he is. It is one of Jones’s best books, and it is the essential read for readers who want the backstory of the great enchanter.

Witch Week (1982)#

The third published Chrestomanci book: a school where witch-fever has broken out - because in this world, witchcraft is a capital offense, and someone in the class is a witch. It is the essential read for the series’ most school-based adventure, and it is one of Jones’s funniest books.

Conrad’s Fate (2005)#

A later Chrestomanci book: Conrad is told he has a “bad fate” and must work it off - and the book is about his adventure with Christopher Chant, in a house full of secrets. It is the essential read for the series’ later adventures.

If You Loved Howl: Jones’s Wizards#

Jones’s wizards are the best in the business: vain, silly, powerful, and secretly good. These are the essential reads for the wizards.

Howl’s Moving Castle, and the Wizard Who Refuses to Be Serious#

Howl is one of the great comic creations in fantasy: the wizard who is terrified of commitment, who dyes his hair and throws tantrums, who is known for chasing beautiful women and for being utterly unreliable - and who is, underneath all of it, a deeply good man. The book is about Sophie seeing through the performance, and the two of them becoming, slowly, exactly what the other needs. It is the essential read for Jones’s wizards.

The Merlin Conspiracy (2003)#

A later Jones novel about parallel worlds and the magicians who keep them running: the book is full of Jones’s wizardry at its most inventive. It is the essential read for readers who want the wizards at full scale.

The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, and the Enchanter#

Chrestomanci himself - the nine-lifed enchanter who oversees the parallel worlds - is Jones’s great wizard: elegant, powerful, and completely unflappable. The series is the essential read for the wizard at his greatest.

If You Loved the Magic: Jones’s Inventions#

Jones’s magic is never generic: every book has its own rules, its own inventions, its own strange logic. These are the essential reads for the magic.

The Magicians of Caprona (1980)#

A Chrestomanci book set in an Italian city-state of dueling magical families: the book is about the feud between the two great houses, and the spell that only the children can cast. It is the essential read for the magic at its most inventive.

Fire and Hemlock (1984)#

Jones’s most literary novel: a retelling of the Tam Lin ballad, about a girl named Polly who has memories of an impossible friendship - and the book is about the discovery of what the memories really are. It is the essential read for readers who want Jones’s magic at its most beautiful and strange.

Archer’s Goon (1984)#

A very strange and very funny book: the Goon arrives at Howard’s house demanding the “Archer’s two thousand” - and the book is about the family of magicians who rule the town, and the mystery of what the Archer is owed. It is the essential read for Jones’s comedy at its most absurd.

If You Loved the Family: Jones’s Households#

Jones’s books are full of families - real, messy, squabbling families - and her great subject is the way families work (and fail to work). These are the essential reads for the families.

Howl’s Moving Castle, and the Household That Becomes a Family#

The moving castle is a household: Howl, Sophie, Calcifer, and Howl’s apprentice Michael - four very different people who squabble and bicker and slowly become a family. The book is an argument about family: that it is not about blood but about the people you live with and love, and that a household of misfits can be the warmest place in the world.

Dogsbody (1975)#

A very unusual Jones book: Sirius, the Dog Star, is condemned to live on Earth as a dog - and the book is about his life in a human household, and the discovery of what it means to love. It is the essential read for the families at their most unusual.

The Homeward Bounders (1981)#

A darker Jones book: Jamie is thrown out of his own world by the Them - the beings who play with worlds as if they were games - and the book is about his wandering through the worlds, looking for home. It is the essential read for the theme of home at its most serious.

If You Loved the Comedy: Jones’s Humor#

Jones is one of the funniest writers in fantasy - the wit, the satire, the sheer inventive silliness - and her humor is one of the reasons her books have never stopped being loved. These are the essential reads for the comedy.

Howl’s Moving Castle, and the Comedy of Vanity#

The book’s humor is driven by Howl’s vanity: the tantrums, the hair-dyeing, the elaborate courtship rituals, the terror of being ordinary. The book is a comedy of character - Howl’s performance, Sophie’s exasperation, Calcifer’s commentary - and it is one of the funniest books in the genre.

The Ogre Downstairs (1974)#

A comic novel about a blended family - and the magic chemistry set that makes things very strange. It is the essential read for Jones’s comedy in a domestic register.

Witch Week, and the Comedy of the School#

The book’s school setting gives Jones room for her satire: the teachers, the cliques, the witch-fever. It is the essential read for the comedy of institutions.

If You Loved the Parallel Worlds: Jones’s Multiverse#

Jones’s great invention is her multiverse - the parallel worlds that run alongside each other, with their own versions of everything. These are the essential reads for the worlds.

The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, and the Many Worlds#

The Chrestomanci books are set in a multiverse: parallel worlds, each with its own history, watched over by the enchanter. The series is the essential read for the worlds, and each book visits a different corner of them.

The Dark Lord of Derkholm (1998)#

Jones’s great satire: a fantasy world where, to satisfy tourists from our world, the inhabitants must stage an annual “adventure” - complete with a Dark Lord, a prophecy, and a quest. The book is an argument about the fantasy genre itself, and it is the essential read for readers who want Jones’s multiverse at its most satirical.

Year of the Griffin (2000)#

The sequel to The Dark Lord of Derkholm: the children of the previous book’s heroes attend a wizarding university - and the book is about their adventures, and the satire of academic life. It is the essential read for the satire at full power.

Building Your Own Shelf: A Reading Order#

Here is a suggested path through Jones’s best work:

• Start with Howl’s Moving Castle for the essential introduction.
• Move to Charmed Life and The Lives of Christopher Chant for the Chrestomanci series.
• Try Fire and Hemlock for her most literary novel.
• Pick up The Dark Lord of Derkholm for the satire.
• End with Archer’s Goon when you want the comedy at its most absurd.

For more books in this spirit, our family-friendly clean books for teens list gathers more wholesome, substantial reads, and our family-friendly books without explicit content list extends the shelf into stories that are rich without being graphic. The stories section of our site is full of guides like this one, so there is always another world to enter.

A Note on Jones’s Place in the Genre#

It is worth understanding why Jones is so admired by her fellow writers. She published her first novel in 1973 and wrote steadily for forty years, and her influence on modern fantasy is everywhere: J. K. Rowling has acknowledged the debt, Neil Gaiman has called her “the best writer of magical fantasy for children that this century has produced,” and her books are studied by the writers who want to learn how fantasy is done. What her admirers praise is her craft: the invention that never stops, the logic that underlies even the silliest magic, the understanding of families and children that gives her books their warmth. Her books are funny, but they are never silly; they are magical, but the magic always means something. That combination - the wit and the depth, the invention and the craft - is why she is the writer’s writer, and why her books reward re-reading at any age. The reader who discovers her as a child will find different books as an adult, and both readings are true.

Why Jones Endures#

Diana Wynne Jones wrote more than forty novels, and she is beloved by readers of every age - by children who found her books on the library shelf, and by adults who have never stopped rereading them. Her books are witty and warm and full of invention, and they are clean in the truest sense: pure of heart, full of light. Her heroines are ordinary girls who turn out to be extraordinary; her wizards are vain and silly and secretly good; her families are messy and real and full of love. She is the writer’s writer - admired by Neil Gaiman, J. K. Rowling, and every serious fantasy reader - and her books reward discovery at any age. Sophie Hatter is waiting, and so is the moving castle.