Uncle is a children's novel written by J. P. Martin, the first book of six forming the Uncle series. It is named after the main character, a rich philanthropic elephant

Elephant

Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...

 who lives in a huge fantastical castle

Castle

A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

 populated by many other eccentric animals and people. It was illustrated, like the others in the series, by Quentin Blake

Quentin Blake

Quentin Saxby Blake, CBE, FCSD, RDI, is an English cartoonist, illustrator and children's author, well-known for his collaborations with writer Roald Dahl.-Education:...

.

Plot summary

The book introduces the main characters in the series; Uncle, his helpers, including the Old Monkey, Cloutman, Gubbins and the One-Armed Badger, and his enemies, the Badfort crowd, including Beaver Hateman, Sigismund Hateman, Nailrod Hatema, Filljug Hateman, Jellytussle, Hootman and Hitmouse.

Reprint

The book was reprinted in paperback in 2000 by Red Fox (ISBN 0099411415). It was reprinted in a facsimile hardback edition by the New York Review of Books in 2007 and again in 2009 (ISBN 1590172396).

External links

• New York Review of Books reprint and Uncle page