Freaky Families

Diana Wynne Jones

Two groups of children learn that while you can choose your friends, dealing with your family can make you wish you could choose a different one. The Four Grannies: Two children are left alone for a couple of days, while their parents go away on a business trip. They have four very different grandmas a mean one, a snobby one, an anxious one, and a delicate one. Erg (the boy) tries to make all the grannies leave him alone, but manages to turn them into one 'Super-Granny'. Auntie Bea's Day Out: Annoying Auntie Bea always does things HER way. And when she decides to take the three children (Nancy, Debbie and Simon) to the seaside, despite what the signs say, she is determined that they will sit on the small, fenced off and isolated island. It turns out to be a magical island though, and whisks her & the children (and dog) around to different places trying to get rid of them.