When Arabel's father, Ebenezer Jones, drives his taxi home late one night he comes across 'a large black bird, with a hairy fringe around its beak.' He takes it home and from that moment on, life is never the same again for the Jones family. Arabel's raven is called Mortimer - and he's one in a million. 'Nevermore!' he cries when astonished or upset, 'Down the hatch' he thinks before gobbling bowler hats, stairs, telephones. He dislikes flying except in emergencies, and with disaster-prone Mortimer around there are plenty of those. There are six hilarious stories in this classic collection by the much-loved storyteller Joan Aiken and renowned illustrator Quentin Blake. Including: ARABEL'S RAVEN; THE ESCAPED BLACK MAMBA; THE BREAD BIN; MORTIMER'S TIE; MORTIMER AND THE SWORD EXCALILBUR and THE SPIRAL STAIR.