Very annoyingly I’m having to skip an entry again. Got volume 5 issue 6 out and discovered it was missing the middle two pages, which just happened to be where the letters page was. I guess I’m adding another volume to my search list then!

Previous letters pages can be found here.

Letters page from Volume 5, issue 7.
March 27th – April 9th, 1957

OUR

LETTER PAGE

A letter from Donald J. Daniels, Mont Albert E. 10, Victoria, Australia.
Dear Miss Blyton,
I am writing to tell you about two big boys about fifteen years old. They had caught a cat and were stoning it. I knew I couldn’t stop them, because I was much younger, so I ran to find a policeman. He came back and ordered the two boys away. I took the poor frightened cat home and fixed up its wounds. We could not find the owner so the policeman said that we could keep it.
Good wishes to you, from
Donald Daniels.

(I think you were very sensible, Donald! If we cannot stop cruelty ourselves, we can always try to get help. The one thing we must NOT do is to allow it to go on. I am sending you my prize for a very good letter.)

A letter from Wendy Naude, East London, South Africa.
Dear Enid Blyton,
I must tell you about Jacko, our crow. When Border, the cricketers were playing cricket here in South Africa, against the M.C.C., Jacko kept shouting “Come on, Border, come on!” just as if he were at the cricket match! He can also say “Hallo, Jack! and he can imitate the crowing of the bantam cock, a hen cackling, doves cooing; and he has a very fantastic laugh!
I must tell you another story which is perfectly true, about a robin which flew into the kitchen to my Daddy as soon as it saw a snake. My daddy called his daddy, and they went and followed the robin, and it showed Daddy where the snake was. It was a dangerous snake, so they killed it. Many snakes were discovered by the robin, who was a great friend and hero of the family.
Love from Wendy Naude.
(Sunbeam, Busy Bee, Famous Five and Magazine Club member.)

(What an interesting letter, Wendy -and how pleased I am to see that you belong to ALL our clubs!)

A letter from Carole Mortimer, Sheffield 11.
Dear Miss Blyton,
I have read every one of your Adventure series. Do you remember the cruise that Jack, Philip, Dinah, Lucy-Ann and Kiki went on in “The Ship of Adventure? Well, for our holidays we went to the very same places – Portugal, Madeira, French Morocco, Spain, Italy and the Aegean Islands!
Love from Carole Mortimer.

(You must have expected to meet them all on your ship Carole.)

Varied letters from varied places this week!

Given Blyton’s love of animals it’s not surprising that she gave Donald the prize this week. He sounds like he should have been a Busy Bee. It’s a good moral, though, that even if you don’t have the resources/ability to help, you can still help by getting help.

Wendy’s robin was clearly an impressive bird! Maybe even more so than Jacko the crow. Talking and making noises is a skill, (just as Kiki) but acting as an early warning system for deadly snakes? That’s the kind of garden bird you want around. Wendy was likely writing about a Cape Robin-chat which looks a little different to a European robin (which doesn’t run into all that many dangerous snakes. Probably).

I assume Carole didn’t fall into an adventure on her cruise (beyond the adventure of travel) else she would have said so in her letter.