She clearly delights in thinking up magical creatures and placing them in sticky situations more than pondering the forces of good and evil and the nature of humanity. Like Roald Dahl, who's books can also be read as a social commentary at times, Ibbotson's writing does not have multiple layers of meaning. Ibbotson, as gifted a writer as Rowling, keeps her writing grounded in the realm of children's literature and is really more reminiscent of classic children's writers like the wonderful Edward Eager ( Half Magic ) who's works were first published in the 1950s and the magnificent E Nesbit, who published most of her books in the early 1900s. And, while the similarities between the Trottles and their treatment of Ben over their birth child, Raymond, are strikingly similar to the Dursleys, Dudley and their abuse of Harry, the precise coincidences end there. There is a downtrodden but kind hearted orphan boy, an obnoxious mother and her spoiled son and, of course, a magical train platform. Written a few years ahead of JK Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, readers will wonder if she read Ibbotson's book as she was writing her own. Eva Ibbotson's The Secret of Platform 13 is a magical romp with creatures almost crawling out of the woodwork - or sewers, in the case of the merrow.
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