Author Archives: Fiona

Monday #317

Posted on April 29, 2019 by Fiona

April round up and More letters to Enid The two boys held their breath. Good gracious! They were right in the middle of something very queer! Why were these men meeting at this tumbledown place? Who were they and what … Continue reading →

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Five on Kirrin Island Again

Posted on April 27, 2019 by Fiona

This is an important book, I always think. It was where Blyton originally intended to end the series, nicely bookending the series with two Kirrin Island adventures. There is a fair amount of character development from George and we get … Continue reading →

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Short stories from Rainy Day Stories

Posted on April 24, 2019 by Fiona

Rainy Day Stories is the first of a two book series published by Evans Brothers, the second book being Happy Day Stories. Despite it having been the best weather we’ve had all year this past weekend, I chose this book … Continue reading →

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Monday #316

Posted on April 22, 2019 by Fiona

Short stories from Rainy Day Stories and Five on Kirrin Island Again “This bird,” he said, looking at Kiki suddenly, “this bird – it must be in a cage. I order it.” Gus and Kiki get off to a bad … Continue reading →

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Enid Blyton, praise and criticism part 2: The Child and the Book

Posted on April 19, 2019 by Fiona

A few weeks ago I looked at what the Who’s Who of Children’s Literature had to say about Enid Blyton, and it was overwhelmingly positive. This time I want to see what The Child and the Book has to say. … Continue reading →

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Letters to Enid 2: From volume 1 issue 11

Posted on April 17, 2019 by Fiona

Two weeks ago I posted the first ever letters page from Enid Blyton’s Magazine, and here’s the second one. Letters page from Volume 1, issue 11. August 5th – 18th 1953 OUR LETTER PAGE  1. A letter from Jean Shaw, … Continue reading →

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Monday #315

Posted on April 15, 2019 by Fiona

More Letters to Enid and Enid Blyton in The Child and the Book SORRY NOT TO SEE YOU THESE HOLS. HAVE GOT A MYSTERY TO SOLVE IN TIPPYLOOLOO, AND AM LEAVING BY AEROPLANE TO-DAY. ALL THE BEST! FATTY Fatty sends … Continue reading →

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The Secret Seven – Mystery of the Skull

Posted on April 12, 2019 by Fiona

Clearly I’m a glutton for punishment as I picked up a copy of the new Secret Seven book while at my nearest library for Bookbug with Brodie. That branch is closing for a while to be refurbished so I grabbed … Continue reading →

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The Barney Mystery covers through the years

Posted on April 10, 2019 by Fiona

In the not-too-distant past I have looked at the various different covers that have been used for the Famous Five, Malory Towers, Secret Series and the Adventure Series. Now it is the turn of The Barney Mysteries, or as they … Continue reading →

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Monday #314

Posted on April 8, 2019 by Fiona

Barney Mystery covers through the years and The Mystery of the Skull The Mystery of the Invisible Thief is the 8th Find-Outers mystery. As the title suggests there is a thief in Peterswood. An invisible thief. One who is never … Continue reading →

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Letters to Enid 1: From volume 1 issue 10

Posted on April 5, 2019 by Fiona

Recently someone commented on the blog asking how they might find a letter they had written to Enid Blyton many years before. It had been published in Enid Blyton’s magazine in the mid-fifties. I checked all of the copies I … Continue reading →

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March 2019 round up

Posted on April 3, 2019 by Fiona

What I have read I’ve done a bit better this month, having finally picked up a couple of books that have been sitting on my shelves for ages (one I’ve had on loan since before Brodie was born!) I’m now … Continue reading →

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Monday #313

Posted on April 1, 2019 by Fiona

As it is April Fool’s day today, I had thought about opening this post with a false story about a brand-new and never- before discovered Enid Blyton book. But I wasn’t sure that I could carry it off convincingly. March … Continue reading →

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New Term at Malory Towers by Pamela Cox

Posted on March 29, 2019 by Fiona

This is the first of Pamela Cox’s sequels to the Malory Towers books. I wrote a bit about the six new books here, and have just got around to reading the first one. My initial impressions Within the first few … Continue reading →

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Enid Blyton, praise and criticism part 1: The Who’s Who of Children’s Literature

Posted on March 27, 2019 by Fiona

Enid Blyton’s life and writing career might seem as if it was a perfect, rosy thing. Half of that is her skill in writing. Even in her autobiography and her letters to children she would never let on that things were less … Continue reading →

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Monday #312

Posted on March 25, 2019 by Fiona

Enid Blyton in the Who’s Who of Children’s Literature and New Term at Malory Towers by Pamela Cox Mam’zelle saw with great pleasure that once again she could lock somebody into somewhere. She began to think that burglar-catching was the … Continue reading →

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Noddy and the Case of the Hiding Pirates

Posted on March 22, 2019 by Fiona

Noddy and the Case of the Hiding Pirates is a soft cover children’s book, based on the latest TV series. It was published by Hodder in 2017, and is the second Noddy tie-in book for that series, though it is … Continue reading →

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The Malory Towers covers through the years part 2

Posted on March 20, 2019 by Fiona

I’ve already looked at the covers from the first editions through to ones from 1990, and now it’s time for the rest of the 90s through to the present day. Here comes the nineties While we have had some modernisation … Continue reading →

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Monday #311

Posted on March 18, 2019 by Fiona

Malory Towers covers part 2 and Noddy and the Pirates Mystery Moor was once called Misty Moor, because of the terrible mists that crept across it from the sea. Then, one day, the Bartletts who ran a small train to … Continue reading →

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Short stories from Enid Blyton’s Happy Story Book

Posted on March 15, 2019 by Fiona

Recently I wrote a post about Enid Blyton’s short stories with the intention of then reviewing some of the stories. Well, being short stories I thought they would be quick to do and therefore kept putting it off, the end … Continue reading →

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