Joan Aiken, 79; British Author Produced Popular Children’s Books

Joan Aiken, the author of popular children’s books including “The Wolves of Willoughby Chase,” “The Whispering Mountain” and “The Winter Sleepwalker,” has died. She was 79.

Aiken died Sunday at her home in Petworth, England, her family said Friday.

No cause of death was given.

Born in Rye, England, to the American poet Conrad Aiken and his Canadian wife, Jessie McDonald, Aiken was educated at home until the age of 12.

Later at boarding school, she completed the manuscript of her first novel at 16.

After failing the entrance exam for Oxford University’s Somerville College -- where her elder sister, writer Jane Aiken Hodge, studied -- she worked for several organizations, including British Broadcasting Corp. and the short-story magazine Argosy.

Her first book of short stories, “All You’ve Ever Wanted,” was published when she was 18, followed by “More Than You Bargained For.”

Later, she read children’s stories on the BBC program “Jackanory.”

Aiken’s 1994 collection of stories, “The Winter Sleepwalker,” illustrated by Quentin Blake, is regarded by many as her finest book. She sent her last manuscript, “The Witch of Clatteringshaws,” to her publishers just days before her death.

A very private woman, she nevertheless enjoyed the company of children and would give copies of her books to any who visited her.

Her two husbands died before her; she is survived by a son and a daughter from her first marriage. The family said a memorial service was planned, but no date was announced.