The Ogre Downstairs facts for kids
First edition
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| Author | Diana Wynne Jones |
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| Cover artist | Juliet Stanwell Smith |
| Country | Great Britain |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fantasy, children's literature |
| Publisher | Macmillan |
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Publication date
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1974 |
| Media type | |
| ISBN | 0-06-447350-3 |
| OCLC | 48984549 |
The Ogre Downstairs is a fantasy novel for children, published in 1974. It was written by the British author Diana Wynne Jones. This book was her third novel to be published.
Contents
Story Summary: The Ogre Downstairs
A New Family and a New Nickname
The story begins when Sally, the mother of Caspar, Johnny, and Gwinny Brent, gets married again. Her new husband is Jack McIntyre. Caspar and Johnny quickly decide they don't like their new stepfather. They even start calling him "the Ogre" because he can be very strict and say harsh things.
Jack also has two sons, Douglas and Malcolm. Now, seven people live in their small house. The two groups of children don't get along at first. This makes life even more difficult and tense for everyone.
Magical Chemistry Sets
One day, Jack buys chemistry sets for Johnny and Malcolm. Soon, the children discover something amazing. Some of the chemicals in these sets have magical powers!
Johnny accidentally makes his younger sister, Gwinny, fly. This is how Douglas and Malcolm find out about the magic. A fun race begins between the two groups of siblings. They want to find out which chemicals are magical and what they can do.
Flying High and Getting Home
Caspar, Johnny, and Gwinny try flying using the magic chemicals. But they learn that the magic wears off if they go too far from home. Meanwhile, Malcolm accidentally shrinks himself with another chemical. Douglas has to visit the mysterious shop where the sets came from to find an antidote.
Douglas helps the others get home when their flying magic starts to fade. But as they get close, the magic wears off completely. Douglas is left stranded outside the house. Jack, "the Ogre," catches Douglas and thinks he was sneaking out. Jack reacts very harshly, which makes the children even more scared of him.
Strange Swaps and Growing Bonds
The other chemicals cause even more strange things to happen. One chemical makes Malcolm's mind switch into Caspar's body, and Caspar's mind goes into Malcolm's body! They have a terrible day trying to be each other.
Douglas figures out how to switch them back. This experience helps Caspar and Malcolm understand each other a little better. All these magical adventures and misadventures start to bring the children closer. They begin to work together, especially when dealing with "the Ogre."
Mother Disappears
The bad feelings between Jack and the children lead to many arguments between Jack and Sally. One day, Sally leaves. Jack tells the children that everything is fine between him and Sally. But the children, who already think the worst of him, believe "the Ogre" has done something terrible to their mother. They fear he has made her disappear.
Dangerous Plans
Gwinny is very upset and worried about her mother. She decides to bake a cake for "the Ogre" and secretly adds some chemicals from the set, hoping to make him sick. After she leaves the cake, it turns invisible because of the magic chemicals!
When Gwinny sees the cake "gone" and hears Jack making noises in his sleep, she thinks her plan worked. She feels terrible and wakes him up, confessing what she did. But then she realizes the cake wasn't eaten; it just became invisible. Jack thinks Gwinny is having a bad dream. He talks to her kindly and promises to try to understand the children better.
Johnny also tries to get rid of "the Ogre," but his plan is more direct. He uses invisibility to try and drop a vacuum cleaner on him. The other children realize Johnny has gone too far and save Jack. Jack doesn't fully understand how much danger he was in.
Johnny then tries to make it look like "the Ogre" has hurt him and hidden his body. But Caspar and Douglas stop him. Jack notices Johnny is missing. Caspar tells him Johnny ran away to a distant aunt. Jack takes Caspar in the car, saying they will go to the aunt's house.
Truth and Understanding
It turns out Jack took Caspar to question him. Jack knows Caspar is not a good liar and heard Johnny's voice at home. Caspar soon tells Jack everything: about the magic chemistry sets and Johnny's dangerous plans. Jack is convinced when he sees one of Caspar's fingers, which Johnny's experiments have made partly invisible.
During their talk, Jack and Caspar start to understand each other better. Jack realizes how his strict behavior has affected the children. They drive home to find Johnny slowly becoming visible again. The others are making him stand in the rain because water is the antidote to that chemical.
Jack takes Johnny for a long talk behind closed doors. Afterward, Jack looks tired, and Johnny looks a bit smug.
A Happy Ending
Sally is found at a relative's house, and she is convinced to come back home. Jack then returns the magic chemistry sets to the mysterious shop where he bought them.
After Jack and the children clean the house, they have one more small adventure at the supermarket with some chemicals the children had kept. Finally, Sally returns.
But there is one last chemical left. This special chemical can turn regular metal into gold! They make enough gold to buy a much bigger house. With more space and less tension, the family starts to get along much better. The children realize that "the Ogre's" bark is worse than his bite, meaning he sounds scarier than he actually is. They run wild and happy in their new home.
