Moondial
by Helen Cresswell
Moondial is a novelisation of the children's television serial of the same name.
Television Details
Moondial
6 × 25 Minutes / BBC1 / Colour

10/02/88
Episode One
Helen Cresswell

17/02/88
Episode Two
Helen Cresswell

24/02/88
Episode Three
Helen Cresswell

02/03/88
Episode Four
Helen Cresswell

09/03/88
Episode Five
Helen Cresswell

16/03/88
Episode Six
Helen Cresswell

Archive Details / DVD Releases
An edited compilation of Moondial has been released on video and Region 2 DVD in the UK (amazon.co.uk).
Cover image of Faber & Faber edition
Cover scan and blurb supplied by
Stephen Barker
Flag of UK Moondial


Even before she came to Belton, Minty Cane had known that she was a witch, or something very like it.' Sometimes she saw shadowy figures, sometimes she heard footsteps. She was so used to it all that it didn't worry her, but when she came through the gates of Belton House, old World, the lodge-keeper, saw it at once. 'The minute I clapped eyes on you, I knew. That's the one to turn the key.'

It was perhaps because Minty herself was so unhappy during those strange days in Aunt Mary's cottage that she was able to understand the secret of the moondial and carry out the special task that awaited her in the great house.

Publisher Faber & Faber Format Hardback Publication Date 1987 ISBN 0-571-14805-0 Original Price £6.95 Illustrator PJ Lynch
Country UK
amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Cover image of Macmillan edition
Flag of USA Moondial


Publisher Macmillan Format Hardback Publication Date 1987 ISBN 0-02-725370-8 Original Price $13.95 Country USA
amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Cover image of first Puffin Books edition Cover image of second Puffin Books edition
Flag of UK Moondial


Minty has heard stories of strange happenings in the big house across the road from her Aunt's cottage. And when she walks through the gates, the lodge-keeper knows it is Minty who holds the key to the mysteries. She has only to discover the secret power of the moondial, and she will be ready to carry out the dangerous mission which awaits her...

Publisher Puffin Books Format Paperback Publication Date 1987 ISBN 0-14-032523-9 Original Price £2.25 Illustrator PJ Lynch Country UK
amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Cover image of first Oxford University Press edition
Flag of UK Moondial


Publisher Oxford University Press Format Paperback Publication Date July 1996 ISBN-10 0194227596 ISBN-13 978-0194227599 Original Price UNKNOWN Illustrator Gerry Grace Country UK
Edition Notes
  • Heavily abridged version of the original novelisation, re-told by John Escott.
amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Cover image of second Oxford University Press edition
Flag of UK Moondial


'Moondial!' As Minty spoke the word, a cold wind went past her, and her ears were filled with a thousand frightened voices. She shut her eyes and put her hands over her ears — and the voices and the wind went away. Minty opened her eyes...and knew that she was in a different morning, not the one she had woken up to. And so Minty's strange adventure begins — a journey through time into the past, where she finds Tom, and Sarah...and the evil Miss Vole.

Publisher Oxford University Press Format Paperback Publication Date July 2000 ISBN-10 0194230090 ISBN-13 978-0194230094 Original Price UNKNOWN Illustrator Gerry Grace Country UK
Edition Notes
  • Heavily abridged version of the original novelisation, re-told by John Escott.
amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Cover image of third Oxford University Press edition
Flag of UK Moondial


'Moondial!' As Minty spoke the word, a cold wind went past her, and her ears were filled with a thousand frightened voices. She shut her eyes and put her hands over her ears — and the voices and the wind went away. Minty opened her eyes...and knew that she was in a different morning, not the one she had woken up to. And so Minty's strange adventure begins — a journey through time into the past, where she finds Tom, and Sarah...and the evil Miss Vole.

Publisher Oxford University Press Format Paperback Publication Date January 2008 ISBN-10 0194791238 ISBN-13 978-0194791236 Original Price £5.25 Illustrator Gerry Grace Country UK
Edition Notes
  • Heavily abridged version of the original novelisation, re-told by John Escott.
amazon.co.uk amazon.com
General Notes