Mystery, Magic, and Midnight Feasts! by Poppy

Posted on May 15, 2013 by worldofblyton

By Poppy Hutchinson

Recently, I was invited to the very first viewing of the brand new Enid Blyton Exhibition at Seven Stories – Mystery, Magic, Midnight Feasts, The Many Adventures of Enid Blyton. I was invited through on a rather special occasion – BBC Breakfast was going to be there and film a slot for the show which was shown on Wednesday. Not wanting to spoil the surprises for all those who are planning to go there, but I will tell you some interesting details and some of the amazing things that are there!

First of all, I would like to express what a great job Seven Stories have done putting together this brilliant exhibition. The room it is set up in, is dedicated to all sorts of exhibitions so before the Enid Blyton one could be put together, the previous one had to be taken out, so in total, Seven Stories only had a week or so to put the new exhibition together.

There are a few amazing details, which I’m sure you’ll all want to know about, about the exhibition. I will begin by saying the very large room is split up into a few different parts – a Malory Towers section, a Famous Five section, a Faraway Tree section, a Noddy part and a bit about Enid Blyton. There are a few other bits in between such as a Secret Seven Society Shed! There was also Enid’s actual type writer which was amazing to see, as well as quite a few of her hand written diaries!

There was also a very clever machine which was made to look like an old TV, and you could press a button and next to it, it had the year, and on the screen it showed some of the books that were published that year. When pressing the last few buttons, it showed how the books progressed into the modern ones which are sold today. It was a very clever aspect!
Also, the films I was involved in making were amazing! They had all been put together to make a new opening theme tune to the 70’s series song. It was great to see and everyone looked great! I was very proud that I had been involved in making such a fantastic exhibition. Of course there is a lot more to see if you go there yourselves – the amazing faraway tree, Toyland, and the Malory Towers common room! It really is well worth a visit and I would encourage anyone to go, along with children of any ages. There was so much to interact – it was a great experience and I can’t wait to go again!

Seven Stories were very interested in our World of Blyton Blog, and are going to advertise it on their own face book page! Thank you all for reading this, and I hope you can all make it to Seven Stories. If not, it will be going on tour in about a years time. It’s really to good to miss!

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Pictures Taken from the Seven Stories Facebook Page

Posted in Blyton in the media, Personal Experiences | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Monday’s here again!

Posted on May 13, 2013 by pippastef

Where has our GORGEOUS Blytonesque weather gone? It’s all cold and wet again, and once more the forecasts are suggesting that we’ll have a summer like the last one – how dull!

In happier news, we have reached over 15,000 hits on the blog and we are into our seventh month of blogging. Time goes far too quickly!

This week’s posts are a bit of muddle, I know for sure that we have Poppy’s account of Seven Stories Enid Blyton Exhibition opening as our guest blog this week.

If I get chance to get it finished and tarted up with the pictures, I shall treat you to my Mayday walk at Bourne End this week. If I am unsuccessful I shall have to let you have the next part of Julian’s News to enjoy. (To catch up, click here!)

Quite honestly, I don’t know what Fiona will treat you to. It may be her review of The Sea of Adventure, it may not. So we’ll all have a surprise!

Just a little reminder for our readers on the 15th June there is a gathering in Enid Blyton’s childhood home of Beckenham where there will be a tour of her old houses. If you’re interested check the Enid Blyton Society Thread here, and feel free to email Tony Summerfield about joining the group!

Some of my week included exciting news. The duck (henceforth called Jemima Puddleduck) who flew into the small enclosed garden at work has been sitting on her eggs for the last month, and has now hatched her eggs into 16 cute cheeping little balls of fluffy ducklings.

Jemima and the ducklings are all doing fine, swimming in the pond and  wandering around the garden.

These 16 little bundles have broken Woodley Library’s record for ducks which was set at 12. Not only that but they have proved to be the biggest distraction at work. I hope you agree with me, and enjoy the pictures!

Happy Reading!

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Recovering from illness in Blyton’s books, part 2

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Fiona

Part one covered the flu, and this blog will look at measles, coughs and colds. Not all of these illnesses lead to holidays and/or adventures, though the other illnesses still contribute to their stories’ plots.

MEASLES

The measles (or as Mam’zelle Dupont would say the measle) appear in at least seven books!

THE SEA OF ADVENTURE

The book begins opens with the Trent/Mannering children all having had the measles. Philip came down with them as soon as the hols started, and passed it on to Dinah, then Lucy-Ann and finally Jack. They’ve mostly recovered by the time the book starts, but they’ve already missed the start of term. Their doctor recommends that they go away ‘for a change.’ Dinah, especially, is not to do any school-work as she ignored his orders and read while she was ill, and as a result is left with watery, light-sensitive eyes. Dinah grumps about going away at first, as she loves the summer term, as does Philip who is sure he’d have been near the top of his class.

They soon change their tune when Bill offers to take them on a holiday to the islands of Scotland. This is convenient, as he has to drop ‘out of sight’ for a while and it gives Mrs Mannering a well-deserved rest – especially useful as she comes down with measles the morning after Bill arrives! Bill says he has had measles “dozens of times,” (I suspect he’s exaggerating slightly!) to which Lucy-Ann replies “but you can only have measles once.” But of course Philip has had measles before – he is at Mr Roy’s house getting extra tuition over the summer at the start of The Island of Adventure because he had measles right after scarlet fever and  missed most of his school-work that term.

HOLIDAY HOUSE

Pat and Mary are at the Holiday House as they have had both chicken-pox and measles recently. They have recovered but their mother suggests a holiday I wouldn’t want them to go on an exciting trip like [America] – they want to laze about by the sea somewhere.

THE CHILDREN OF CHERRY TREE FARM 

As mentioned in part one the Cherry Tree Farm children had measles as well as the flu and bad coughs before being sent away for six months on a farm.

UPPER FOURTH AT MALORY TOWERS

Alicia starts to feel ill during the School Cert. exams. She can’t think straight and develops a head-ache. She can’t sleep that night, and goes through the rest of the week worrying about what’s wrong with her brains. During the final exam she faints over her desk and is taken to the san where Matron diagnosis measles. Alicia noticed she had a rash but she thought was just a heat rash. She is put to bed for a week and is not allowed any visitors during that time. She doesn’t pass the exams, but is allowed to move up with the rest of her form and re-do the tests later.

CLAUDINE AT ST CLARE’S

Claudine is a week late arriving at St Clare’s because she has had the measles.

THE SECRET OF MOON CASTLE

Two of Prince Paul’s brothers in Baronia have caught measles and cannot come to England for a few weeks. This gives the Arnold children and Paul time to have an adventure in the castle before it is over-run by Baronion royalty and servants.

MR PINK WHISTLE’S PARTY

In the story Mr Pink-Whistle’s Party (in the book of the same name) Mr Pink-Whistle meets a kind young girl called Merry who helps people cross the road outside her house. Later, she is very upset as a friend of hers has come down with measles, and now Merry is to be quarantined for three weeks in case she has caught them. This means she can’t help people across the road, and she will miss a lovely birthday party. This is the reason for Mr Pink-Whistle throwing the party in the title of the story.

FIVE HAVE A MYSTERY TO SOLVE

Wilfrid’s sister has the measles, and that is why he is staying with his grandmother and thus around during the Five’s penultimate adventure.

SOME FACTS AND FIGURES

To modern readers it might seem strange that so many of these children had the measles. But in 1948 (the year Sea was published) there were almost 400,000 cases of measles reported in England and Wales, resulting in 327 deaths. In 2008 there were just over 5,000 reported cases of measles and just two deaths*. So Blyton’s frequent usage of the measles probably wasn’t  unreasonable for the times.

COUGHS AND COLDS

Plain old coughs and colds are actually quite rarely featured – perhaps they were not considered serious enough for many holidays!

FIVE GET INTO A FIX

The Famous Five were sent to Magga Glen in Fix after the four children had a bad cold. Dick said that the Christmas holidays were the worst [they’ve] ever had. They were so bad they spent Christmas day in bed and couldn’t even eat anything! Dr Drew visits once they’re back on their feet (though their legs don’t feel like they belong to them yet) and suggests they get away somewhere hilly, not too far from the sea. Somewhere really bracing, but not too cold – where the snow will lie to get rid of their coughs before going back to school. The Five are certainly not themselves – they’re exhausted after their car journey to Magga Glen and sleep for twelve hours that night – though their appetites have returned by the time they’re on their way. Thankfully by now the food no longer tastes like cardboard! Their coughs start to get better after just a day at Magga farm, and their legs are more steady so they can have a wander round – but poor George is obviously not quite herself just yet as she sheds a few tears after Timmy’s scuffle with the farm dogs. Conveniently the Five are absolutely fine by the time they move into the hillside cabin and start their adventure!

FIVE HAVE A WONDERFUL TIME

George  has a cold at the start of Five Have a Wonderful Time and can’t join the others at Faynights Castle at first. Her mother blames it on bathing in the third week of April and staying in the water too long.

THE CHILDREN OF CHERRY TREE FARM

As above, coughs were part of the reason the children were sent to Cherry Tree Farm.

And I think that’s all there is to say about the measles and coughs/colds. If I’ve missed out anyone who’s had those in the books just give me a ticking off in the comments. There will be a part three which will look at mumps, scarlet fever, whooping cough and being ill at school.

*Measles statistics from The Health Protection Agency.
Posted in Plot Devices | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

In The Fifth at Malory Towers

Posted on May 10, 2013 by pippastef
Original dustjacket by Stanley Lloyd in 1950.

Original dustjacket by Stanley Lloyd in 1950.

I know it’s been a while since my last Malory Towers review and I apologise. I just kept having new ideas. Anyway, I’ve managed to start and finish the fifth Malory Towers book in one day and I’m now in a position to be able to review it for you.

For me In the Fifth at Malory Towers is tied for first place with Third Form at Malory Towers. There is something about this book, perhaps the characters’ development, the revelation of Darrell’s talent, the mire of problems that the girls face and some well-developed  new characters for us to enjoy.

We dive straight into the action with this book, starting with Darrell and Felicity on the last leg of their journey to Malory Towers. After that we’re almost immediately plunged into the world of Malory Towers with Darrell. In this book you can feel a shift in the reader’s perception – In the Fifth offers more of an insight into Felicity River’s time at Malory Towers than the last book. This shift is almost to prepare the reader for the next book, where there is more focus on Felicity and her friends.

But for this book, we are safe and sound with Darrell and the gang.

Immediately we are back in the swing of things, girls everywhere and it’s not long before we’re up in the girls’ new form room taking in the view, discussing what the term will bring and the new girls. As Fifth Form at Malory Towers actually follows on from the end of the Upper Fourth at Malory Towers, we have some fluidity in the transition from Fourth Formers to Fifth Formers and the girls do talk about those members of their class that they have left behind or failed their school certificate. Very pointedly we’re told that Alicia is allowed to go up to the Fifth Form with the others because Miss Grayling wrote to Ms Johns (Alicia’s Mother) and, as Alicia puts it, said  “I could pass the school cert. on my head any time I liked” and that she was to work for it on the side.

Bill and Clarissa on their horses.

Bill and Clarissa on their horses.

Once all the girls are back, and settled – with Bill and Clarissa who played significant parts in the last book “whinnying” away together about horses and Ruth Batton without her twin Connie – we’re introduced to the new girl. Maureen Little who, believe it or not, is worse than Gwendoline. A Gwendoline Mary 2.0 if you will as she’s basically Gwen without half as many corners knocked off.

The girls know instantly that they will have to do something about Maureen!

We technically have three new girls this term, as two have been left down from the old Fifth Form, Catherine Grey and Moira Linton. Neither are a great favourite with our old friends. Moira – who is made head of the Fifth – is domineering and bossy while Catherine is described as a doormat, self-sacrificing, martyr-like and over-helpful.

Felicity's first match

Felicity’s first match

The first big surprise of the Fifth Form is that Darrell is made head of Fifth Form games, which means that she gets to help pick teams for the younger school, and helps train them. She immediately imagines her first class lacrosse team that includes her sister Felicity. And as it turns on Felicity does make it onto a match team on Moira’s insistence. The match teams which she has put together so far have won their matches, but the match we are treated to is one where her little sister Felicity plays – much to the disgust of Alicia’s little cousin June, who accuses Darrell of favouritism.

The next big surprise is that the Fifth Form are allowed to produce the school’s Christmas entertainment. This sends the girls into a frenzy of delight until the dominating Moira takes control, organizing meetings and so forth.

Moria takes charge

Moira takes charge

In the end Darrell is asked to write the script for a pantomime of Cinderella. This at first stuns our heroine until she gets going. At one point she asks Sally “do you think I might possibly have a gift?” to which Sally’s reply is that she thinks Darrell does.

We have an interesting term as the pantomime progresses, we have tricks from Alicia’s cousin June – in the first form – but none from the Fifth Form as they feel that they are too old to play tricks on the mistresses now.

It’s a fascinating trick that consists of a balloon arrangement under June’s clothes, she inflates the balloons by pulling a string, and tricks Mam’zelle into thinking she’s getting fat. I shan’t spoil it for you, but nothing goes as planned, with hilarious consequences.

With the build up to the pantomime, Darrell’s drafting and being head of games, she’s very busy.

Now we move to the main focus of the book – the pantomime, which Darrell has completed writing, Irene has finished composing and all the other bits and pieces are half way through being completed. The only things left are to cast the pantomime and then rehearse.

Gwendoline and Maureen immediately see themselves as Cinderella, but after some cutting remarks from Moira, and the girls trying to take Maureen down a peg in a particularly viscous scheme, they realise that they won’t get to be Cinderella at all, but still hold out hopes for being another main park in the show. Both girls are self-centred enough to believe that they stand a chance of getting a good part.

In the end, Mary Lou is cast as Cinderella, to much delight. It’s a perfect piece of casting because even though she will be scared, she’s perfect for Cinderella.

From the casting, things pick up quickly, mostly because we haven’t got many pages left. We are ‘treeked’ by Mam’zelle, rather terrifically, Alicia and Moira have an explosive row, and then a big plot point of the book comes around, the sending of anonymous letters to Moira.

Darrell taking in the response to her Pantomime.

Darrell taking in the response to her pantomime.

It’s a quick finish  with someone learning a very sharp lesson and getting a good talking to, but soon all is glossed over as the pantomime is ready to start.

The parents are settled, and the orchestra is in place. We stand backstage with Darrell as she gazes solemnly out on to the stage worrying whether the pantomime will ever be a success…

I think I’ll have to let you read on to find out for yourselves.

Overall, In the Fifth at Malory Towers is one of my favourite books, lots of things to keep you busy, and interesting plot twists and the pantomime adds an extra dimension to Darrell’s character. So a brilliant read with one of our favourite heroines. Definitely worth picking up if you haven’t before!

In the Fifth at Malory Towers 1957 dustjacket reprint by Lilian Buchnanan

“In the Fifth at Malory Towers” 1957 dustjacket reprint by Lilian Buchanan

Next review: Last Term at Malory Towers

Or read a review of the audio adaptation of In the Fifth here.

Posted in Book reviews | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Sunskriti’s *NEW* Character Exploration: Dinah from the Adventure Series

Posted on May 8, 2013 by worldofblyton

You might be wondering why I changed from animal character explorations to character explorations. Well, I realized I had done all the animals from the series that I have read. Most other animals are mentioned too little to write about.

So, my first character exploration is on Dinah. I generally like to pick less mentioned, or ‘in the shadows’ kind of characters, which is why I didn’t pick George, or Darrell, or someone like that.

Dinah Mannering of the Adventure Series, drawn by Stuart Tresilian

So, now for Dinah. Dinah Mannering (later Cunningham)  is a girl from the Adventure Series. She has a brother called Philip, who she often fights with. Everything about her is shown as fiery and hot-tempered. She can be a bit scornful and unkind at times, especially at any weakness shown. Lucy-Ann is often a victim of her scorn, as she is the weakest of the 4 (forgive me, 5!) and scared easily, while Dinah tends to be much braver.

In The Valley Of Adventure, once, while discovering the path to behind the waterfall, the two girls are alone as the boys have gone to get food. Before they know they are coming out behind the waterfall and they hear a roaring noise. Dinah suggests it might be a fire in the heart of the mountain, and Lucy-Ann is scared to face a fire that makes a noise like that. She begs Dinah to turn back, but her request is rudely declined as Dinah tells her to go back alone or walk with her. This is an example of Dinah’s scorn and a little unkindness.

Dinah is also very impatient, and always like to be doing something. She never likes to sit still. Numerous moments in the series proves this. Whenever doing anything, while the others stop to discuss something, or sway off their original path of discussion, it is Dinah who spurs them on, with her usual impatience and desire to do something.

Her dislike and disgust of all living animals often leads to conflict between her and her brother Philip, who loves all animals and always has some running about him. They yell and kick at each other and Dinah is ready to lash out slaps by the dozen. Dinah’s not all bad though, her tempers go as fast as the come and she’s very loyal to Philip, Jack and Lucy-Ann.

In all, we can describe Dinah as a hot-tempered, scornful, impatient, active girl who hates anything to get in the way of what she’s doing.

valley of adventure tunnel crawl

Illustrations are by Stuart Tresilian and are taken from the Cave of Books

Find more of Sunskriti’s character explorations here, or more posts about Blyton’s characters here.

Posted in Characters | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The first Monday in May

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Fiona

It’s the first Monday in May which, in Britain, means it’s a bank holiday. Hooray! I’m off to St Andrews with my family for a wander round the charity shops and lunch in one of our favourite restaurants. I’ve got a list of books to look for in the charity shops, fingers crossed there will be some Blytons I don’t have!

This week on the blog we new series from one of our regular contributors. Sunskriti is moving on from looking at animals and instead will be focussing on the human characters in Blyton’s books. Her first human character is Dinah from the Adventure Series.

Stef has lots of possible posts for this week so I don’t know what she will pick – perhaps her review of In the Fifth at Malory Towers, one of her fabulous Blyton recipes or maybe a new chapter of her fan fiction.

As for me, I’ve got a couple of possibilities (none of them are quite finished yet, though!) I might post the next part of my look at illnesses in Blyton’s books, or I may finish reviewing  Humpty Dumpty and Belinda, or start my review of The Sea of Adventure.

There’s not any other news from the blog this week so, as I often do, I will leave you with a few of my favourite photos from last week.

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Making Blyton’s Food: Recipes to make your mouth water

Posted on May 5, 2013 by pippastef

Last week at work I spotted this book “A Perfect Day for a Picnic” by Tori Finch on the new shelf at work, and I decided to take a look and see if it contained any of the wonderful food mentioned in Blyton’s books. Sadly, I have to say, it was very lacking in Blytonian food.

A Perfect Day for a Picnic by Tori Finch. The Book that started it all.

“A Perfect Day for a Picnic “by Tori Finch. The Book that started it all.

And then I had this idea!

Why don’t I do some searching, find a shed load of recipes for all the food that gets eaten in Blyton’s books and cook all the recipes and see which one’s the best? Then I can take pictures, tell you about them on here and give you a smashing, memory-stirring recipe to your favourite Blyton foods.

I’m sure you all know what food I’m talking about. The food that make your mouth water just through the descriptions, and you enjoy every mouthful with the Five, the Adventurers, the Find-Outers, the Secret Seven, Malory Towers and St Clare’s girls, wishing you could enjoy the magical food just as they do. The food in Blyton’s books are almost as famous as the woman herself!

Well that is my plan. So far I have raided my mother’s cookery books, and a couple I had gotten from work. I’ve compiled an Excel spreadsheet of 118 recipes to try. Some of those do need to be looked into as I’m unsure whether they just sound Blytonian or actually feature in the books.

The Kind of Blyton food we all think of! Taken from http://postwarthatchedcottage.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/food-glorious-food.html

The kind of Blyton food we all think of! Taken from http://postwarthatchedcottage.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/food-glorious-food.html

There you are, that is my proposed plan. I’m not saying that you’ll get a blog every week about a recipe, but I shall try to keep up a good momentum. Naturally some weeks may be busier than others.

So far I have tried my hand at the two recipes for ginger biscuits that I have, one of which – owing to the late start of the project – hasn’t done very well. I shall probably give them another go tomorrow to try to make them correctly. After which, I will hopefully be able to present you with a good solid recipe for ginger biscuits as featured in Five Go To Kirrin Island Again.

I think it’s a good thing that cooking always means you have no shortage of taste testers, and willing mouths to feed because I’m not sure how I’d manage to eat everything I’ll be making.

Still, it never stopped the Five!

P.S. If you have any foodie ideas for me to try, do share them!

Posted in Food and recipes | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Who’s Who in Enid Blyton by Eva Rice, a (very critical) review 3: Toys and Enchantment

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Fiona

Welcome to the final part of my review. The first (Adventure Stories) was a rather bad review while part two (School Stories) was a bit more positive. Let’s see how this one fares.

TOYS AND ENCHANTMENT

Enid Blyton’s Fairy Folk
The Enchanted Wood
The Wishing Chair
Mr Pinkwhistle
Amelia Jane
Mr Twiddle
Mr Meddle
The Three Golliwogs
Brer Rabbit
Noddy

As I mentioned before I don’t believe Mr Twiddle should be in this section, as he’s a real man in the real world. OK, he’s a fictional character in a fictional world – but it is supposed to be real. There’s no magic, and no toys coming to life.

ENID BLYTON’S FAIRY FOLK

It’s not clear until you reach this section that the heading doesn’t refer to an Enid Blyton book or series. Rather, it’s descriptions of the different types of fairy folk to be found in Blyton’s books. It covers brownies, elves, fairies, gnomes, goblins, pixies and trolls.

Rice is quite critical of some of the Faraway Tree illustrators for giving Silky wings which are not in the text. If Silky could fly several exciting escapes would have been unnecessary.  I was interested to find out where the wings came from, so I’ve investigated a little. The first edition illustrations of all three books are by Dorothy M. Wheeler and show Silky without wings. Later editions of these books had a variety of illustrators such as Rene Cloke, Georgina Hargreaves and Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone. Unfortunately Rice doesn’t mention which editions she is referring to. I do have a Dean and Son copy of The Folk of the Faraway Tree which does seem to show Silky with wings on one occasion (there are only about eight illustrations in the book, most of which she isn’t in.) I don’t know if subsequent illustrations continued to put wings on Silky, but I assume if they did it was because of Cloke’s illustrations. (You can see Wheeler’s and Cloke’s illustrations in the Cave of Books)

THE ENCHANTED WOOD

The Enchanted Wood by Dorothy M. Wheeler

The Enchanted Wood by Dorothy M. Wheeler

Time for me to admit something – I’ve never read any of the Enchanted Wood books. So I will have little idea about any mistakes in this section.

On the plus side, the characters are listed by their original names, Fanny, Bessie, Jo, Dick and Dame Slap rather than the modern updated versions Frannie, Beth, Joe, Rick and Dame Snap. Nothing is said anywhere about the updated names, though, for people with newer editions.

One mistake I can identify is that this book says there are many pop, biscuit or goggle bun-munching sessions in Moon-Face’s home. That should read pop biscuit as that’s one item, not pop and biscuits, (they are correctly referred to later in Silky’s section) and google bun. I’ve also no idea why there’s a hyphen between bun and munching… as the munching applies to both the buns and the biscuits. In addition, I think that Slippery Slip should be written as Slippery-Slip to match the name in the books.

I question why the three children’s father is listed as Mr Jones while their mother is listed as Mother to Jo, Bessie and Fanny.  If they were under Mr Jones, Father to… and Mrs Jones, Mother to… they’d be one after the other instead of pages apart.

Apart from what are mostly typos this is a good section, and I find myself a bit more knowledgeable about the series. Although I’ve not read the books I was aware of most of the main characters and of the general plot from reviews and discussion over at the Enid Blyton Society Website. I’ve recently  bought The Enchanted Wood (1949) from Amazon, and I hope to get the others soon.

THE WISHING CHAIR

The WIshing Chair by Hilda McGavin

The WIshing Chair by Hilda McGavin

Shamefully I’ve never read either Wishing Chair book. Until recently I only had the first book, and was waiting to find the second before I read it. Anyway this isn’t supposed to be about me or my book-buying addiction, so back to the book review.

Rice says something interesting about the Gnome Doctor, that he is obviously intelligent as he “has something in common with a lot of clever Blyton characters – he wears several pairs of glasses.” I can’t think of any Blyton character knowing for wearing several pairs of glasses, either all at once or one after the other… though that may be a common thing in one of the series/books I haven’t read, so an example or two would have been useful.

The Polite Pixie is mentioned a couple of times – we know the chair was made invisible to escape him, but he doesn’t get his own section so I’m left wondering who he was, and just how polite he was to warrant escaping from.

As far as I can tell this was a decent section for the book, though there may have been many mistakes and omissions I couldn’t spot!

MR PINKWHISTLE

Mr Pink-Whistle by Hilda McGavin

Mr Pink-Whistle by Dorothy M. Wheeler

The name really should be Mr Pink-Whistle, rather than Mr Pinkwhistle. Pinkwhistle has been used – the cave shows it in two Sunny Stories magazines, a few jigsaws, some story tapes and in two post 1970 short stories but these seem to be exceptions rather than the rule. It’s a minor thing, but as he has a double-barrelled name with a hyphen in a vast majority of his published works, I tend to think that would be the correct spelling – and the spelling Rice is most likely to have seen herself.There are 18 books with Pink-Whistle, 97 short stories and 46 magazine entries (many of these are the same story or book reprinted but they always kept to the same spelling.)

In this and several other sections there is suddenly no introductory paragraph, we jump straight in to the first character to be described, and the general plots/setting of the books are conveyed in the characters description.

Other than that Mr Pink-Whistle’s section is short but sweet. He and his cat Sooty are the only characters to get mentioned, but that’s completely understandable as Mr Pink-Whistle encounters hundreds of children in his books, all of whom appear very briefly – usually in only one chapter.

AMELIA JANE

Amelia Jane by Sylvia I. Venus

Amelia Jane by Sylvia I. Venus

The first fault is that only two Amelia Jane books are listed, More About Amelia Jane (1954) is missing.This is another section without an introductory paragraph (luckily Amelia Jane is alphabetically first, so we can start with an explanation of the series through the main character description.)

The Amelia Jane books feature a large cast of regular characters (the teddy bear, the golliwog, the sailor doll, the clockwork mouse, the brownies in the garden, Nurse, the pink rabbit, the clown and more.) However, there’s only a single page here with Amelia Jane, Mister Noah, Tibbs and  the cowboy doll the only toys to get their own section. The cowboy doll is only in one story Amelia Jane and the Cowboy Doll from Naughty Amelia Jane, as he doesn’t belong to the children who own the nursery but has been lent to them by friends. Tibbs (in original and Dean versions called Tibs) apparently he has an uneasy relationship with the other toys as he chews on them, but there’s no mention of the fact he is a cat.

I find it the choice of characters chosen to be featured ludicrous! Why not pick a couple of toys who appear in just about every story and have distinct personalities?

Having an early edition (7th impression 1947) to hand I can see the quoted description of Amelia Jane Rice has missed out the word long in describing her black curls (but at least she’s not blonde like in some updated texts). Rice also refers to Nanny’s scissors in the original texts it is Nurse not Nanny who cares for the children (Nanny appears in the updated versions.) I point this out as up until now (leaving aside the Jo/Joe/Jo-Jo issue) Rice has used names and information from the original texts.

She also gives the characters’ names capital letters Pink Rabbit etc, whereas Blyton, always using the in front of names, used lower cases the pink rabbit, as the rabbit’s name is not pink rabbit, he is a pink rabbit, and is actually called Bunny by the other toys in speech. Likewise Blyton says “the clown walked off” but when another toy speaks to the clown, it is “we’ll do it Clown,” and the toy soldier is called Tom. It should also be the brownies not the Brownies. Rice also calls the teddy bear just Bear…  It may seem silly, but Blyton was consistent in her capitalising. Normally using the capitals would be fine and sensible, but when you’re discussing characters from a book I think you should write them exactly as they appear – hyphens and capitals included. (I’ve checked both early editions and the Dean versions, though later editions may have started using capitals.)

A rather poor section for me.

MR TWIDDLE

Mr Twiddle by Hilda McGavin

Mr Twiddle by Hilda McGavin

Like with Amelia Jane, Rice has missed out one of the books in the series – the second book, this time – Don’t Be Silly Mr Twiddle! (1949). Again, there’s no introductory paragraph – and worse, Mr Twiddle is the only character listed. His wife is mentioned, but doesn’t warrant her own heading, despite being the second biggest character.

Not a great section.

MR MEDDLE

Mister Meddle by Rosalind M. Turvey and Joyce Mercer

Mister Meddle by Rosalind M. Turvey and Joyce Mercer

Another name issue here – I think it should be Mister rather than Mr Meddle. Mister is in the first edition titles of all three books, though some reprints of the first two books have Mr on the front cover. As far as I am aware he is always Mister Meddle or just Meddle in all book text. As before, this is a small error but an annoying one, and it’s more likely you will come across Mister in any published work than you would Mr.  (Mister is in 10 books, 116 short stories and 47 magazines, while Mr in in 6 books, 2 tapes, 10 short stories and 19 magazines.)

This section also has no introductory paragraph and there’s only one character listed. Even Meddle’s poor long-suffering Aunt Jemima doesn’t get mentioned.

THE THREE GOLLIWOGS

The Three Goliwogs by Rene Cloke

The Three Golliwogs by Rene Cloke

Redeemingly, Rice is sensible about this book, and asks us to remember the time it was written in. She also recognises that the three golliwogs are kind and friendly characters, and do not promote racism. She doesn’t, however, give any of the characters their own headings, or an introductory paragraph.

BRER RABBIT

Brer Rabbit by Grace Lodge

Brer Rabbit by Grace Lodge

Again, there’s no introductory paragraph and are no sections for different characters here – just a brief overview of the stories and short descriptions of some characters. Rice does explain the origins of Brer Rabbit who wasn’t a creation of Blyton’s.

NODDY

Noddy by Harmsen Van der Beek

Noddy by Harmsen Van der Beek

Noddy doesn’t get an introduction either – though a large number of characters get their own sections. I’ve never read a Noddy book before (and I call myself a Blyton fan!?) so I probably won’t catch any mistakes here.

Unless Rice writes sentences that make no sense: Big-Ears himself resides in Toadstool House in the Dark Wood, with Whiskers his cat, and his days helping Noddy out of scrapes and cycling round on his little red bicycle. Apart from being a rather long sentence (try reading it out loud without running out of breath) it should probably say and spends his days helping Noddy. It also sounds like Big-Ears helps Noddy ride his bike, when it actually means Big-Ears rides his own bike.

We do get a very interesting story about the Mary Mouse books, they are the size and shape they are as the publisher used offcuts from normal-sized books because of war-time paper rationing.

Interestingly, Noddy gets two whole pages dedicated to him (by far the largest description of any character covered in the book.)

Mr Sparks is listed as the mechanic of Toy Town, with no mention that the original garage owner was actually a golliwog, before the books were updated.

FINAL THOUGHTS

And with that, we are at the end of the book.

To summarise my 5,000+ word review in around 100 words:

  • This book is inconsistent. The depth of examination changes drastically from series to series, and the content/layout is not consistent between series either.
  • There are too many opinions stated as fact –  The most loveable Pixie [is] Chinky, [the Wishing Chair is] the most alluring of all… inventions, Noddy is the best loved and most celebrated of all Blyton’s characters, [Noddy’s] appeal is indisputable, and so on. 
  • There are countless mistakes – books missing from lists, people with their name written wrongly or with the wrong name altogether, facts that are just completely incorrect and several examples of poor writing and grammar.

So, that was a rather scathing review, wasn’t it? It’s really unfortunate as the book could have been good.

I think it’s obvious which books the author was most familiar with, and I wonder why she chose to then write about books she clearly didn’t know much about. In her introduction she does say I am not pretending to have included every single Blyton character and that although she will write in detail about several series she will only mention characters from a number of other series. I can’t help but feel that’s a poor excuse given to explain the number of important characters who are missing. It may suit Rice’s work ethos, but it makes for a poor book.

I would still be interested to read the later, revised, edition to see exactly what alterations are made, though I’m not keen to buy it. According to Anita from the Enid Blyton Society Forums:

“Unfortunately, practically all those mistakes and omissions were repeated in the second edition, though it was expanded slightly to include a section on the Barney Mysteries.”

Perhaps I can get it from the library? If I do, I’ll certainly review the Barney section and have a look to see if the biggest mistakes have been corrected.

And with that I’ve finished reviewing this book. I’m actually very, very glad, as being so critical is hard going. (I bet reading it wasn’t a picnic either!) I honestly feel like I’ve written a review as long as the book itself.

Next up: Who’s Who in Enid Blyton the revised edition

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Go Ahead Secret Seven – a review by Ben

Posted on May 1, 2013 by worldofblyton

Go Ahead Secret Seven was first published 1953

A peculiar-looking George is out in the dark of night, practising his shadowing for the SecretSeven, when he is given the shock of his life and suffers a huge disappointment. Dressed up in a black overcoat, rubber shoes and holding a rubber truncheon the white-toothed black-faced George expertly follows a tall, stooping man who had just got off the bus. Suddenly a young man grabs the startled George from behind and accuses him of attempting to beat up and steal from the tall, stooping man. The angry young man forces George all the way back to his parents’ house.

George following the tall, stooping man.

George following the tall, stooping man.

Next morning the rest of the Seven hear, much to their dismay, that George has had to resign after being banned from the society by his father. Thankfully George’s replacement is Scamper, Janet and Peter’s dog! Following on from this Colin decides to do a bit of shadowing and sees a man with a distressed-looking and whining bull terrier. Intrigued, Colin follows the man down Hartley Street and across Peter Square, where he turns into a dark alleyway and then comes back out without the dog. Meanwhile, George’s loyal friends vow revenge on the young man for getting George banned from the S.S, when Colin, Jack and Peter pay a visit to Starling’s Hotel, where he happened to be staying.

During the conversation Colin realises he had seen the same young man the night before going down the alleyway with the bull terrier. Excitedly Colin ushers the boys down to the same desolate alleyway he had seen the night before and the boys search through the rubbish for a passageway where a dog could lie. Eventually Jack and Colin tire, before finding a wooden box to sit on. The pair fight over the box and come tumbling down with it, only for the box to reveal what looks like a coal hole.

Discovering the coal hole

Discovering the coal hole

At first it looked dark and seemingly empty, but Colin decides to whistle down the hole and hears dogs barking. Realising they are on the trail of another mystery the boys also happen to stumble across the same young man walking down the alleyway with a lead, which was strange as he had no dog. This only adds to their suspicion and when Pam and Barbara visit the local library and find out that expensive dogs have been stolen from their homes, the Seven know they are on the trail of some dangerous dog thieves. Convinced they are right Jack, Colin and Peter use a rope ladder to get down the coal hole one night, and make a discovery. To their horror the boys are discovered by the caretaker and are locked up. However, there is a twist as someone is waiting to rescue the boys. Scamper hears this someone, who can it possibly be?

Trapped!

Trapped!

In my view, this book has a very strong message to it. Blyton once again expresses her feelings on animal cruelty. Narratively, the plot involves a number of expensive breeds of domestic dogs stolen from their owners. Jack, Colin and Peter are alarmed to think that there could be dogs in the underground coal hole, and even more shocked that they might be caged. The most telling example of Blyton’s views is when Jack describes the treatment of the dogs as “animal cruelty”, before saying that the RSPCA should be informed about the men. Personally, I think a comparison can be made with the first book, The Secret Seven, when the boys find a racehorse locked in a dark cellar. In both these books animals are kept in the dark, ready to be sold on for money.

Due to this, I find Go Ahead, Secret Seven, quite upsetting. Having said that, George being forced to leave the Secret Seven due to the beastly young man was also a moment in the book I did not enjoy. To be fair, Scamper was a great replacement and it is nice to see he plays a more prominent role in the adventure when he alerts Jack, Colin and Peter’s rescuer at the top of the coal hole, but I was really left hoping that the angry young man would be punished for how he treated George and the dogs. Overall, this book really touches my heart as a dog and animal lover, and I thank Blyton for writing such a book. Let’s hope George returns to the Secret Seven, and the dogs are returned to their owners!

First edition dust jacket by Bruno Kay

First edition dust jacket by Bruno Kay

Next review: Good Work Secret Seven

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Another Monday

Posted on April 29, 2013 by pippastef

Monday comes around far too quickly doesn’t it? And we’re so close to the end of April that it doesn’t seem possible. At least we’ve had some much improved and decent weather this week. Such good weather in fact that I got sunburnt while re-reading In the Fifth at Malory Towers which was supposed to be my blog for you yesterday, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to finish it in time. Fiona swooped in like a saviour and sorted out the April showers  poem for you to enjoy.

This week we passed 14,000 views! We’re so grateful to everyone who pops in and even more grateful for our regular readers who keep coming back!

This week we bring you Ben’s next Secret Seven review; Go Ahead Secret Seven. You can check out his past reviews here.

I know that Fiona’s got a couple of blogs to choose from, for example the next part of her Eva Rice reviews or her next recovering from illnesses blog. Like you, I look forward to seeing what she treats us to!

As for me? Well. I dropped the ball (in more ways than you could imagine) last week, but I have a new piece on baking Blyton’s food that should be ready for you to view.

I’m afraid I can’t offer you much else, even in the way of Fan Fiction as my Julian’s News pieces have rather hit a brick wall. Any ideas are welcome! And on that particular issue, I have added a new tag to the fan fiction to make it more user-friendly. Just check the bottom of the page for the tag “Julian’s News” to see the series of fan fiction together.

I can’t really think if there is any more to tell you, so I’ll leave you with some of my favourite nature pictures to enjoy!

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April Showers – A poem by Enid Blyton

Posted on April 28, 2013 by Fiona

Unfortunately Stef’s piece for this week isn’t ready due to technical issues, so here is a poem I think is just right for this week.

“What, take and umbrella on such a fine day!”
Cried an elf to his mother, and frowned;
“Just look at the sunshine, so golden and gay,
And the sky is quite blue all around!”
Off he went skipping in a new suit of yellow,
But before he had gone very far
There blew up a cloud, an enormous big fellow
(You know what these April clouds are!)
And down came a shower that pelted and stung
And soaked the poor elf; with a sigh
He squeezed out his new suit and carefully hung
The tunic and knickers to dry.
The sun shone out warmly, and dried them again,
But alas! when he tried to get dressed,
He found they had shrunk in the soft April rain –
So he had to walk home in his vest!
And now pray be careful, since April is here,
That  you are not caught like the elf.
Watch out for the clouds, and when they come near
Do hurry and shelter yourself.

Copied from the revised edition of Enid Blyton’s Book of the Year (originally published in Teachers World No.1717 Apr 22, 1936)

I got caught in a few April showers (both rain and hail!) on Friday, though at least I had a waterproof coat on.

An April shower falling on Templeton Woods pond in Dundee on Friday.

An April shower falling on Templeton Woods pond in Dundee on Friday.

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Recovering from illness in Blyton’s books, part 1

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Fiona

We’ve just had a very long and very cold winter, and I think just abut everybody I know succumbed to an illness at some point. This got me thinking about the all the times characters in Blyton books fell ill – and were quarantined or sent away to recover. I wish I could have gone away somewhere nice instead of going back to work after being ill!

The idea of these holidays wasn’t Blyton’s, but they were popular in the Victorian era when it was believed that sea air had health benefits. Sea air, or indeed any fresh air, was undoubtedly better for them than breathing polluted  air in industrial cities. Blyton didn’t just send her poorly characters to the sea-side though, they got trips to the mountains, farms and even abroad to recover.

Nowadays holidays just to get over the flu are pretty much the preserve of the rich and famous, though I’m not sure if they were as common in Blyton’s day as her books might imply. It is worth remembering though that many illnesses were much more prevalent and serious in her lifetime for several reasons such as a lack of immunisations and treatments.

I’m going to start with the flu as strikes in a few of Blyton’s stories and allows the children to have many an adventure on their convalescing holiday.

THE CHILDREN OF CHERRY TREE FARM

The four children have had the flu – after the measles (there’ll be more about measles in another post) and before two of them have a bad cough – and are thin, pale and don’t eat enough. So on doctor’s orders they are sent to Cherry Tree Farm for a six month holiday. Mother says you have all had such a lot of illness so there must be no more school for you for some time. Just the country air and good food and lots of walks. When they arrive Aunt Bess notes their pale cheeks and Benjy’s sticks of legs. The children develop good appetites quickly at the farm though for several days they are tired out by their explorations.

THE RING O’ BELLS MYSTERY

At the opening of the book Dinah, Roger and Snubby are supposed to be going back to school – but Dinah and Snubby have temperatures. Mrs Lynton says Snubby must be ill as he can’t eat even a sausage for his breakfast. Snubby himself says I do feel bad… do you think you could possibly take Loony out again?… He’s such a scrapey dog. Poor Dinah says she couldn’t possibly get up. I got up in the night to get a drink and could hardly stand.

The doctor diagnosis it as the flu – and a pretty nasty one at that. He recommends they stay in bed for several days and after that they shouldn’t go back to school for ten days or so, suggesting they get away somewhere to recover. Mrs Lynton says the doctor wants them sent somewhere inland, but not too low – and somewhere fairly warm. They head off to Ring O’ Bells village and are quite tired out by their car journey, though are all able to eat well at tea-time. They have a long sleep that night and eat heartily at breakfast before going exploring – but Dinah suddenly goes pale and the boys walk her back home. They’re all tired out and can’t eat much lunch before going for a nap. The holiday must do them good though as they all seem fine after that!

ringobellsill

THE RIVER OF ADVENTURE

The Mannering/Trent/Cunningham children all have the flu at the start of The River of Adventure, and poor Kiki has been kept away from the boys as Philip couldn’t bear her noises. When the book starts the boys are still unsteady on their feet but the girls have managed out of bed to play cards. The next day all four are up and about though all are still not feeling quite themselves. The doctor stops by and says they must go away somewhere for convalescence – ten days or a fortnight, say. Somewhere warm and sunny. This flu they’ve had is a bad kind – they will feel very down all winter if they don’t go away somewhere. Conveniently Bill is to be sent somewhere warm and sunny to spy on someone and having his tired wife and four children recovering from illness with him would be a great cover. The children are a touch pale when they arrive on their holiday, and are tired by bed-time that first night but after that they seem to be recovered.

riverflu

There are also a few unfortunate occasions when characters catch the flu yet don’t get a holiday.

The Five Find-Outers have all caught the flu by the start of The Mystery of the Strange Bundle, with poor Bets apparently being the one who caught it first and then gave it to the others. She also recovers first and so spends her time visiting the others, still stuck in bed, to cheer them up. They’re all better in a few days and can start looking for a mystery to solve.

fattyflubundle

One of the background characters in Holiday House is Ruth, the daughter of the woman who runs the house. She’s rather snappy with the visiting children and one of them suggests it was because she had influenza so badly and couldn’t go to school this term. Presumably the fact Ruth lived by the sea already meant a holiday was unnecessary. The main characters, though, are actually at Holiday House as they’ve been ill, but there’ll be more about them in part 2.

SOME FACTS AND FIGURES

A bit of background information on flu makes for interesting reading. There were several flu pandemics which affected Britain during Blyton’s writing career. There was an outbreak of Spanish Flu  from 1918-1920 which killed around 250,000 Brits and anywhere from 20 to 100 million people worldwide. In 1947 and 1951 (the year Ring O’ Bells was published) there were further Swine Flu pandemics (Swine Flu is the same strain as Spanish Flu)  – the outbreak in 1951 reportedly having a worse weekly death toll in the UK than in 1918-20. There  was a further flu pandemic in Britain in 1957, and by December 3,550 people in England and Wales had died from influenza, due to it being a new strain from China. Despite there being no pandemic in 1956  there were still over 1,000 flu deaths in England and Wales that year.

Nowadays most people will catch the flu at some point and be stuck in bed for a week or so. There have also been some nasty flu outbreaks in recent years; such as the Swine Flu pandemic in 2009. However the death toll was relatively low in comparison to the outbreaks mentioned above: in Britain just over 450 people died.

I don’t want to stray too far into anecdotage territory (my fellow forumites will know exactly what I mean) but I’m interested in the notion of Blyton using a real and current illness as an excuse to send the children to a new location where they can have an adventure. Whether it was something that came from her under-mind or a more conscious thought I wouldn’t be surprised if reading the flu pandemic reports in the newspapers had influenced her in using the flu to start these stories with – just a wild theory though! A list of relevant events might make my point clearer:

  • 1918-1920 Spanish Flu pandemic
  • 1940 The Children of Cherry Tree Farm is published.
  • 1947 Flu pandemic in Britain
  • 1951 Flu pandemic in Britain and The Ring O’ Bells Mystery is published
  • 1952 The Mystery of the Strange Bundle is published
  • 1955 River of Adventure and Holiday House are published

I’m mostly basing my theory on a few of the books published in the year of or years following large flu outbreaks, but even if the outbreaks themselves didn’t overly influence Blyton her giving the characters flu so frequently was still a wholly believable situation for the times.

I had planned to cover all the books featuring convalescences in one post but I’ve gone on too long and probably bored you all to tears already so I will leave the rest to another day. I’d be really interested to hear anyone’s stories of being sent away to recover in their childhood – or if you know of anyone who was.

Also, I apologise for the lack of actual Blyton content in this post! There wasn’t an awful lot to say about each book other than “they had the flu and then went on holiday” as the illnesses really were just a convenient excuse for an adventure!

Facts and figures taken from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the BBC, Science Daily, and Wikipedia.
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The Famous Five Go to Hogwarts, Fan Fiction by Abi, chapters 1 & 2

Posted on April 24, 2013 by worldofblyton

CHAPTER ONE: THE LETTERS

It was a normal day in Kirrin. Seagulls were squawking and fishermen in boats were out on the water. Kirrin Island looked out silently over the waves as they crashed onto its beach. Julian, Dick and Anne had just arrived at Kirrin Cottage. Aunt Fanny was there to welcome them at the door.

“Hallo! How has your summer been, Julian?” said Aunt Fanny, bustling around. “I hope you behaved yourself Dick. Anne, don’t look like that, George and Timmy are in the kitchen.”

“Come on, Dick, Julian! Let’s go see George and Timmy!” Anne shouted, running into the kitchen. George was leaning against the table with Timmy at her heels. Her hair was short like a boy’s and curly. She wore boys’ shirt and shorts. If you hadn’t known she was a girl, you would think she was a boy

“Hallo! Timmy’s been eager to see you!” It was true; as soon as they walked into the kitchen, Timmy was running straight for them and it was such a shock for Anne that she fell over!

“Timmy, get off! Yes, I know it’s been a long time but it doesn’t mean you have to run at me and knock me over!” Anne said while Timmy was licking her face. Eventually, Aunt Fanny, had to scold Timmy into leaving Anne alone.

“Sorry Anne. “ George said. Before Anne could reply Joanna sent them up to their rooms to unpack. George, who had been forced to watch Anne put the many soft toys from her trunk onto her bed, was very bored. Presently there was a knock on the front door.” I’ll get it. Mother!” she shouted, running down the stairs. The postman was there.

“’Allo, George. Sorry the post is late. Sorter fell ‘sleep on the job, poor girl. Anyway, you’ve got post and there’s also post for your cousins. ‘Right? Bye!” She clutched the four letters. The handwriting was almost unreadable and she didn’t recognise it. Also, it included the bedroom they normally slept in at Kirrin. She flipped her letter over. A stamp covered the opening of the envelope. It was a crest with a large H in the middle with a lion, serpent, eagle and badger surrounding it. She tore it open, confused. It took George several times to take in what it said.

Dear Georgina Kirrin,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.
From
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
 (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

But one thing was for certain. The Kirrins were going to Hogwarts.

CHAPTER TWO: UNCLE QUENTIN IS NOT PLEASED

“You’re what?!” Uncle Quentin boomed. The Kirrins were standing in Uncle Quentin’s study. They had been in there for two hours. Anne was wearing a face of terror; George, Dick and Julian were rather excited; Aunt Fanny looked rather proud and Uncle Quentin looked like a time bomb.

“Father, we’re witches,” George pointed at Anne and herself, “and Julian and Dick are wizards. It’s not abnormal.” she said, solemnly.

“Abnormal?! Everything is abnormal about magic!” he roared. “You know what I’m going to do with you, Miss Georgina Wilhelmina Kirrin! You are going out of this house! Forever! Your freak cousins, too!” After what he had said, George ran out of the room, tears of anger and shock in her sparkling blue eyes.

“Darling, darling, I think you’re over reacting. You should be proud of your daughter! Your nieces and nephews, too! Come now, do any of your fellow scientists say ‘I have a daughter who can do magic!’ No, they don’t! Now, dear, I’ve got a secret to tell you. A secret that I haven’t shared with anyone except Joanna. I was hoping that George and her cousins wouldn’t be affected through my Kirrin ancestors, but apparently they are. I am a witch, Quentin.”

It was unbelievable. Aunt Fanny, a witch? ‘I suppose it explained why she made such good cakes,’ Julian thought. He looked across the room at Uncle Quentin.

His uncle had gone quite green and his lips were quivering. Eventually Quentin whispered “I need some time to think about this. I need everyone to get out of this house. Now. Pack your bags. Don’t talk. Just get out.”

Aunt Fanny didn’t look offended or pleased. Everyone obliged. By the time Julian, Dick and Anne had walked upstairs, George had already packed. Timmy was at her heels. Apart from the sounds of Dick loudly putting his clothes and other knick knacks in his trunk, Kirrin Cottage was silent. In an hours’ time, Aunt Fanny, now quietly sobbing, and the rest of the Kirrins left the house. Anne was also sobbing into Julian’s chest while he held her hand as they walked down the road towards the beach. Aunt Fanny was taking them to the station so they could take a train somewhere that Aunt Fanny had not revealed. Dick was trying to keep everyone’s spirits up but no-one laughed.

The waves rolled mournfully onto the pale sand. Buildings were damp from the crying of the heavens above. Seagulls cried sombre tunes. The world seemed to be in pain. After the half-hour walk to the station, they arrived. Pony traps were lined up, the owners looking bored and angered because the five – no, six – did not order them to take them and their trunks.

“Aunt Fanny, why didn’t you get one of those men to bring us here?” asked Dick, pointing to the pony traps. This was the first time someone had spoken directly to her since Uncle Quentin’s speech because they were afraid that she would zap them with the wooden wand sticking out of her skirt pocket.

“Because Uncle… because Uncle… he cut the telephone wire.” she replied, stuttering slightly. It looked like she couldn’t say Uncle Quentin because it would upset her so. Before anyone could chip in, she said “now, let’s get into the station. The train will be leaving soon.” Silently, they walked onto the platform. The well-built and kind porter was standing by the wall next to the entrance. Aunt Fanny walked over to him.

“What destination, ma’am?” he asked. Aunt Fanny mumbled something but Dick, who was closest to her, couldn’t hear. Then, she showed her wand to the porter. “Ebony, 11-and-a-half inches, unicorn hair. You must be Fanny Georgina Kirrin. Train arriving in one minute,” he said. Gripping her wand firmly, she bustled over to a plain brick wall. To everyone’s utter surprise, she started tapping random bricks. Then something happened, something more thrilling than anything they had seen before.

The wall shifted apart to make a narrow archway. Nobody around them seemed to notice what had happened. Julian pinched himself. It was unreal. A wall had opened and revealed another train platform. But that shouldn’t be there. Outside, where the other side of the wall was, bushes were normally surrounding it. A deep purple train could just be seen pulling into the mysterious platform. “Well don’t hang around children. This way, on to the train,” said Aunt Fanny.  Slowly and cautiously, they made their way through the archway. Aunt Fanny was ushering them into a carriage, full of sleeping people. Anne saw a sign on the side of the train. It read: The Knight Train.

Continued in chapter three

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Spring into Monday

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Fiona

It would seem that spring has sprung at last! We’ve had some sunshine (and rain, and wind but that’s not important) the birds are out and chirping all day long, the daffodils and crocuses are out and we’re starting to see the wildlife waking up.

Mr Frog
Daffodils
Frogspawn
Crocus?

I now need to look out any nature books I have by Blyton to read about frogs and tadpoles. I hope when I go back soon I will see some tadpoles and then see them developing into frogs!

Anyway, on to blog matters! This week we are going to have the first two chapters of a new fan fiction, Five Go to Hogwarts by Abi. As you might have guessed this is a Famous Five and Harry Potter crossover, so to read about Aunt Fanny with a wand you’ll have to come back to the blog on Wednesday.

From me this week is a post about influenza. That may not sound very Blyton-y to you, but it’s the first of a few  posts about illnesses featuring in Enid Blyton books. From Stef, a surprise this week. I’ve no idea what she’s got up her sleeve!

And that’s all the news from the blog this week, hope you enjoy what we post this week.

Posted in Blog talk, Nature | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Who’s Who in Enid Blyton by Eva Rice, a (quite critical) review 2: School Stories

Posted on April 21, 2013 by Fiona

As you may remember I was fairly unimpressed with the first section of the book – Adventure Stories. My main issue was how some series had every conceivable character mentioned, while other series barely got two pages, as well as noticing several small errors and omissions.

Before I get myself all worked up again, let’s move on to the second part of the book.

SCHOOL STORIES

St Clare’s
Malory Towers
The Naughtiest Girl in the School

The only other potential book for this section would be Mischief at St Rollo’s (originally published under the pseudonym Mary Pollock.) I’ve no issue with that title not being featured, it’s not particularly well-known.

ST CLARE’S

St Clare's by W. Lindsay Cable

St Clare’s by W. Lindsay Cable

I’ve only read the St Clare’s series once, so although I remember the general plots and most of the main characters, this could be a good opportunity for the book to remind me of what I’ve forgotten.

On reading the St Clare’s section it is obvious the author is very knowledgeable about the series and the characters. We not only get a description of their personalities – but we get several examples of their behaviour and escapades too. More minor characters get described much like in the Famous Five section, though there are not nearly so many. Also good are some of the parallels, coincidences and patterns noted – such as the various Blyton characters called Pamela.

Over all I think the St Clare’s section is really very good, and it shows how good the whole book could potentially have been (unfortunately this also makes the poor sections look even poorer by comparison.) I found the majority of the St Clare’s section very interesting, and found it all a very good reminder of the characters and the major plots in the series. 

Unfortunately Rice gets rather carried away with some of her ideas. She speculates that Carlotta Brown of St Clare’s is also Lotta (from the circus the school girls see in the first book) who appears in Mr Pink-Whistle and the Circus along with her horse Black Beauty, as well as Jimmy and Lucky. That clearly makes her the Lotta we know from the Galliano’s Circus books though Rice doesn’t make that connection. We know Lotta’s parents (Lal and Laddo) are both circus performers with Galliano’s Circus whereas it’s said that Carlotta’s father is a gentleman who ran off and married a gypsy.

Rice also asks “was Blyton writing about the same circus every time she referred to one?” To which the obvious answer is no. I can think of at least five circuses in other books (The Circus of Adventure, Five Are Together Again, Three Boys and a Circus, Come to the Circus!,  Boys’ and Girls’ Circus Book [reissued as Enid Blyton’s Circus book]) and none of them are about Galliano’s Circus. This is another example of a lack of knowledge about other series that spoils large sections of this book.

Another odd conclusion drawn is that Blyon’s ‘most unpleasant’ characters often have names beginning with E. The examples given are Elsie Fanshaw, Eileen Paterson and Erica. I’m not sure three counts as often (though if you add Edgar Stick perhaps you have a slightly stronger case.) I would say PC Goon is very unpleasant, as are many other characters whose names do not begin with E.

Likewise, we are told that “all of Blyton’s slightly wild and sharp-tongued characters have older brothers who encourage them in their mischief.” This seems based  purely on Janet Robins and Alicia Johns. I’d say Jo from the Famous Five is sharp-tongued and slightly wild, as are Carlotta Brown from St Clare’s, Elizabeth Allen from The Naughtiest Girl and Lotta from Galliano’s Circus. None of these girls are known to have brothers older or otherwise.

The only omission I could identify in this section is the inclusion of Mr and Mrs Ray, the parents of pupil Felicity Ray who doesn’t get a section herself (perhaps worse is that a ‘Specialist from London’ who comes to see Felicity has his own section too.)

MALORY TOWERS

Malory Towers by Stanley Lloyd

Malory Towers by Stanley Lloyd

I’ve read the Malory Towers books several times so I know them much better than the St Clare’s stories.

The first problem I can see is in the introduction of this section. Rice states that Miss Grayling gets the best out of the girls that attend the school, and the girls flourish in the Cornish air etc. That’s all fine, and she says there are exceptions to this – you’d imagine she means Gwendoline Lacey, or Josephine Jones perhaps  – but no, she lists Prudence Arnold and Eileen Patterson… girls from St Clare’s. Well, of course those two don’t do well at a school they’ve never attended. Also, Eileen’s surname has gained an extra T here, it was Paterson in the St Clare’s section.

Like the St Clare’s section, this one shows Rice does know a lot about the series and its characters, and again we see good descriptions of characters and events.

However, there is one rather large omission. Belinda Morris doesn’t have her own section. In fact, she only gets mentioned in passing twice: as the girl who did sketches of the two Mam’zelles at war with each other, and the girl who picked up Georgina Thomas’ suitcase.  What’s worse is she’s named as Belinda Green both times – Belinda Green is a girl from Whyteleaf – the school of Elizabeth Allen, aka the Naughtiest Girl. Belinda Morris is a wonderful character – one of my favourites in the series. She’s as scatterbrained as her best friend Irene, and as talented at art as Irene is at music. She has a magnificent collection of scowls that she has drawn – most of which are provided by Gwendoline. I can’t understand why she’s not covered, she’s at Malory Towers from the second form right to the end.

There’s also a smaller mistake – Rice describes Darrell’s involvement in the invisible chalk trick but she says that Darrell chalks ‘OY’ on to Mr Young’s piano seat. That’s wrong, as it was Alicia who put the chalk on his seat (and it didn’t spell anything) while Darrell later chalked the OY onto Mam’zelle Dupont’s seat.

I feel that a distinction should have been made by Rice when discussing Jo’s theft of money from Matron. It’s said in Jo’s father’s section that Jo is caught stealing money from Matron. In the strictest sense, yes that is true. However, Jo was actually just trying to take back the three pound-notes Matron had confiscated from her, and accidentally took too many notes. Jo needed the money to fund her foolish plan to run away from the school with Deirdre from the first form. I don’t excuse Jo’s behaviour – she should have handed in her money to Matron in the first place, so Matron was quite right to confiscate it – but the situation isn’t quite as black-and-white or evil-sounding as it may sound from the description in this book.

I’m deliberating over whether there’s a grammatical error when Rice describes Jo Jones’ parents as “nouveaux riches,” which is the plural of “nouveau riche” (literally meaning ‘new rich’.) I’d use the singular “nouveau riche” as we’re talking about a single pair, a family unit, rather than a group of different newly rich people, but I will concede that some style guides might advocate Rice’s of the phrase.

THE NAUGHTIEST GIRL IN THE SCHOOL

The Naughtiest Girl by W. Lindsay Cable

The Naughtiest Girl by W. Lindsay Cable

The Naughtiest Girl is another series I’ve read several times, so I am fairly confident in my knowledge here.

This section starts off in a manner inconsistent to all the others so far – it doesn’t have a general paragraph of introduction, instead we jump straight into Allen, Elizabeth.

Rice states that the twelve monitors are present at the school’s weekly meeting and make decisions and answer requests in much the same way that teachers would in Blyton’s other school stories. I’m not sure that’s quite an accurate description of the monitors’ role. They do attend the meetings, and sit at the front, rather like a jury. However, it it William and Rita, the head boy and girl, who make the decisions and answer the requests. They do ask the opinions of the monitors often though, as they will often know the child/ren in question personally or have witnessed events relevant to the issue discussed.

Apart from those small issues, the Naughtiest Girl section of the book is generally good. It is similar to the two other school sections, in that it describes the characters and their behaviours, actions and friendships.

Overall the school section of the book is much better than the adventure one. It still has its inconsistencies, mistakes and omissions, but not as many as the previous section did. The style is also slightly different in this section, the characters are described with more context surrounding them which helps.

Who’s Who in Blyton’s School Stories could be a strong book on its own, if some of the silly assumptions were removed, two or three details were corrected and poor Belinda Morris added properly.

Next up: Who’s Who in Enid Blyton part 3: Toys and Enchantment

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April Flowers

Posted on April 19, 2013 by pippastef

I suspect that this year the flowers may be a little late in blooming, with the cold weather and so many snow flurries so late in the year.

So let’s see if you can spot any of these beautiful flowers as the weather gets steadily warmer.

Blyton didn’t precede her April Flowers, from the Nature Lover’s Book, with a little note for April so we’re just going to dive right into the flowers!

April Flowers

Marsh marigold: This big buttercup-shaped flower can be found in any damp or marshy place by the hundred. Its big golden blossoms are lovely to see. Notice how glossy the petals are, and what a big bunch of stamens there is. In the centre you will see the green seed-vessels. The stalks are thick and hollow. The leaves are heart-shaped, very smooth and glossy.

Marsh Marigold.

Marsh marigold.

Germander speedwell: The banks are blue with this brilliant-eyed speedwell in April. Look at the four-petalled flowers, very bright blue, and notice the tiny white centre that looks like an eye. The leaves are dark green and hairy. They are oval in shape, and toothed round the edge. They grow opposite one another and have no stalks.

Germander Speedwell.

Germander speedwell.

White dead-nettle: This is a very well-known flower, and should not be mistaken for the stinging-nettle. Look at the snowy-white circle of lipped flowers round the square stem. Notice how the top lip bends over like a little hood. Look for the four stamens in the hood. Notice how prettily the lower lip is fringed. The leaves are rather like those of the stinging nettle in shape, but paler green.

White Dead Nettle

White dead-nettle

Common arum, wake-robin, cuckoo-pint, or lords and ladies: This strange plant is very easy to known for it has a poker-like tongue rising in the centre of a green sheath. The tongue may be dark or light. The sheath is like a monk’s cowl. Below the “poker” or tongue are the stamens and seed-vessels, which can only be seen by tearing away the sheath. The leaves are large and glossy, arrow-shaped and marked with purple  blotches. Look for the spike of brilliant berries in the autumn, when the arum ripens its seeds.

Common Arum

Common arum

Greater stitchwort: This pretty white flower, with its five notched petals, grows along the hedges everywhere in spring. Its white head hangs from a thread-like stalk, and this stitch or thread like stem gives the flower its name. The stem of the plant is weak, and both it and the leaves are bristly. The leaves are rather like blades of grass.

Greater Stitchwort

Greater stitchwort

Lady’s smock, cuckoo flower, or milkmaid: The flowers of this pretty little plant are pale lilac, the colour of old-fashioned smocks. (Sometimes you may find them with white flowers.) Look at the four-petalled flowers growing in a cluster at the end of a stout stalk. Notice that the lady’s smock has two different kinds of leaves – the lower ones are cut open into leaflets, the upper ones are long and narrow.

Cardamine pratensis (Cuckoo Flower or Lady's Smock)

Cardamine pratensis (cuckoo flower or lady’s smock)

Jack-by-the-hedge, or garlic mustard: This flower may be easily found growing in the hedgerows. It has clusters of small, white, four-petalled flowers at the top of its tall stem. The large leaves are heart-shaped, and if you crush them, they smell of garlic.

Garlic Mustard

Garlic mustard

Wood sorrel: This is a dainty, delicate-looking plant, with large, white, pink-tinged flowers. The four petals show very fine veins. Look for the wood sorrel in damp woods. Notice the beautiful leaves, shaped rather like clover leaves. The three leaflets are pink-stalked. The upper-surface is pale green, and the under is pale pink. The wood sorrel has a pretty habit of placing its leaflet back to back in bad weather.

Wood-Sorrel

Wood sorrel

Dove’s foot crane’s bill: This little plant may be found on banks by the wayside, its small, pinkish-purple flowers looking up at us as we pass. The pink flowers have five petals which are notched. Notice what happens when the pink petals fall off. The leaves are soft and downy, rounded in shape, and covered with fine hairs. Notice that each leaf is divided into seven parts.

Dove's Foot Crane's- Bill

Dove’s foot crane’s bill

That concludes the April flowers. In between the April showers, why don’t you see if you can find any of the flowers?

Given the weather it might be worth checking for March’s flowers as well! Happy Hunting!

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Find-Outers in Retirement by Julie

Posted on April 17, 2013 by worldofblyton

After reading through the complete Mystery Series for the umpteenth time I suddenly started to wonder what they would all be doing now, at this moment in time.  That was in the year 2008.  I quickly did some calculations of their ages by the information Enid had given in her books.  Fatty was twelve in the first book, and the year of publication was 1943, so that would put him as being born in 1931.  So that’s when it all began for me in that year of 2008.  Fatty would have been seventy-seven, if he were a real person, and retired. So what if I brought them to life as they would be today, all retired, and still being the Find-Outers?

I set about writing the stories of Fatty and Co in retirement, which for me, kept them alive and I would lose myself in the stories I created for them all.

As any Find-Outer fan knows, Fatty always wanted to be the best detective in the world, and wanted to be as good as his hero – Sherlock Holmes.  So inevitably in my stories he’d joined the police force and on retiring had reached the position of Police Commander.  Bets having always admired Fatty as  a child became his wife and over the years they’d had not only two sons, who joined their father in the police force, but they’d also owned a few black Scottie dogs and named them all Buster.

In the first story I wrote – Returning to Peterswood – I had Fatty walking around the village of his childhood with his present dog, Buster, stopping outside the various houses which brought back his childhood memories.  The Red House where Pip and Bets used to live, Larry and Daisy’s house, and the police house where Mr. Goon had lived but was now a private residence. And of course his own house – the White House – which was being refurbished ready for he and his wife Bets to move into as they’d decided to move back to the village of their childhood.

After his nostalgic walk around the village, Fatty goes to meet Bets who is sitting in the garden of Daisy’s cottage having tea.  Daisy wasn’t married at that time, but she would be later in the series of stories. In fact, surrounding Daisy and her husband would be a rather complex series of events, all explained in a couple of the stories, one entitled – Peterswood Players – and the other one – Find-Outers Head Westward.  In the latter story not only do they discover the background of Daisy’s husband but they also run into Ern Goon, who they thought was deceased!  So here we have another intriguing plot surrounding Ern!

Back in Daisy’s garden, Pip and Larry join them shortly after Fatty’s arrival. Pip being a retired school teacher and living in Burnham Beeches and Larry being a retired solicitor in the city, but soon to return to Peterswood also.

At this stage of the first story, I hadn’t really thought about writing any further stories but once Keith had put that very first one on his website – Enidblyton.net – I then got quite a few responses back asking for me to write more, which of course I did.

I then set about trying to add a bit of mystery and intrigue into the stories and brought back some of the characters they’d known from childhood.  Here I had quite a bit of working out to do, as we were now in present times, and ages etc had to be worked out along with Enid’s information from the original books.

A few characters they once again met with were – Inspector Jenks and Hilary, his God-daughter, who had her own mystery surrounding her. Not only had she been married and divorced, having had a family with her husband, but years before meeting him she had a child out-of-wedlock,  Alison. Alison’s daughter, Lisa, is involved in a few of the stories helping to solve the mysteries with Fatty and Co.

Eunice makes an appearance as an author in Author of Mystery as she too holds a secret which Fatty uncovers.  We also meet Mr. Goon’s son, who turns out to be a threat to Fatty, and the reasons for this are told in the story of Just An Ordinary Sunday Afternoon.

In the very end story, which is in two parts, not only do the Find-Outers take a holiday away in Derbyshire, but another plot of intrigue unfolds. Fatty learns much to his annoyance that he has been used by Ern Goon’s ex employer, in the shape of M15, which puts Fatty and the lives of the other Find-Outers at risk.

Here I ended my group of stories which loosely follow on from number 1 right through to number 16.  I have contemplated writing just one more short story, as this year of 2013 will be The Find-Outers 70th Anniversary, but as yet I haven’t really decided as I always feel that it is best to end on a good story, rather than to keep writing, only to end up with a story that doesn’t quite reach the readers expectations.

Enid always tried to respond to her readers’ letters, of wanting more and more, and some of her later books at the end of certain series never quite lived up to the rest of the books.  I’m referring here to what I think is the weakest of the FFOs The Mystery of Banshee Towers, and for the Famous Five  Five Are Together Again.

Before I close, I would just like to add that in 2010/11, the first 13 of these stories were stolen by a ‘man of the cloth’ named, M.E. Rosson, who took them from Keith’s website and put them into a self-published book of his own entitled The Return of the Five Find-Outers.  He copied all my work, word for word, and only changed the titles, giving them chapter headings.  Here are a few brief words from the acknowledgements of his self-published book:

I have enjoyed the works of Enid Blyton as a child and later as an adult.  I was convinced that I could re-create the atmosphere of her works… I hope you enjoy my attempts…

Of course everyone hopefully now knows that those stories are all my own work and not his!  At the end of the final ‘stolen story’ he adds his own work of 11 lines, which are a big mistake.  He had Fatty die in his sleep!

The Return of the Five Find Outers, as not written by M. E. Rosson

The Return of the Five Find Outers, as not written by M. E. Rosson

Big mistake, as these characters are not his or mine to kill off.  They are Enid Blyton’s characters, and as Enid is no longer with us to make that decision, then these characters will live on and on, thankfully, as it should be. AMEN.

Copyright Julie Heginbotham

To read all of Julie’s wonderful stories just click here

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Musing of a Monday

Posted on April 15, 2013 by pippastef

We’re in the middle of April already, and the blog is approaching its six month birthday. And we’ll be approaching it with over 13,000 views to boot.

Last week we had Poppy’s blog on The Mystery of the Missing Necklace, My Fanfiction part six where George’s strop puts strain on the Five’s friendships, and Fiona treated to you her holiday pictures and how every part of her holiday reminded her of Blyton.

I suppose that you’ll want to know what’s going up this week on World of Blyton. We will have a very special contributor’s blog about the Five Find Outers – from our very own Julie. I don’t know what Fiona might give you, possibly the next instalment of her Eva Rice’s Who’s Who Review.

And from me April Flowers is ready and raring to go, with flowers that you’re supposed to be going out to find. With the weather being what it has been, I somehow doubt if you’ll be able to see them, but good luck in hunting for them.

On to other business, I mentioned last time the Enid Blyton Society are having a day out in Beckenham in June to look around Blyton’s old stomping grounds. You can check out all the details here. Why not email Tony Summerfield and add your name to the list?

They’re a nice bunch!

So I think that is all the news from me.  Enjoy!

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How every part of my holiday reminded me of Blyton

Posted on April 14, 2013 by Fiona

As I think I’ve mentioned a least a couple of times recently, I was on holiday last week. I didn’t go anywhere exotic, instead I stayed a couple of miles outside a small town (Grantown-on-Spey) in the Cairngorms National Park.

Where I was on holiday

Where I was on holiday

Being a Blyton (oh how to describe myself) geek? aficionado? obsessive? I can usually relate any given topic back to Blyton and whenever I’m out in rural areas I can identify a good camping spot for the Famous Five.

The week was full of little Blyton-y moments (some you have to squint at to make them out more than others.)

1. The water for our cottage was pumped directly from a spring just across the road. Unfortunately it was not “crystal clear,” instead sort of “peaty-brown” though it was icy-cold!

2. I went looking for secret passages in a ruined castle. Ok, I failed, but still, I looked. I think my shortcoming might have been picking Urquhart Castle, which is maintained by Historic Scotland, where all the interesting bits are fenced off… and there are several staff and about another hundred tourists all milling about. That sort of thing didn’t stop the Five in Five Have a Wonderful Time though, so I’m always hopeful.

Too many people around to find any secret passages

Too many people around to find any secret passages

I also looked for them at Ruthven Barracks – which was practically deserted and unstaffed, but again there were bars preventing access to some of it… and unless I’d spotted a potential hostage I didn’t really have a good enough excuse to go clambering about against the rules.

The barred-off section of the ruins

The barred-off section of the ruins

3. I also went looking for a cave – and found it. It was more of a gap in the rocks, though, so no real adventure was had. It is named after Lewis Gordon, 3rd Marquis of Huntly, who hid there for a time in the early 1640s, because he was a Royalist loyal to the king Charles I.  While there he was looked after by Mary, the daughter of Sir John Grant of Freuchie, who he later married. (History from ambaile.org.uk)

Huntly's Cave

Huntly’s Cave

4. I had several picnics when I was away, and I even used the famous line food always tastes much nicer when it’s eaten out of doors on a few occasions. My other half, needless to say, did not get the reference.

5. I explored around a couple of lochs and was terribly tempted to dip my toes into them as they looked lovely. I didn’t though, as the layers of ice in places hinted that the water may not have been as warm as it looked. I think even the Five would have given bathing a miss.

Loch Garten, still a bit frozen on day, but oh so tempting a few days later.

Loch Garten, still a bit frozen one day, but oh so tempting a few days later.

6. I found time to go book shopping, and found myself a nice Enid Blyton book Humpty Dumpty and Belinda to take home. There were a few other Blytons at Leakey’s Bookshop (the largest second hand bookshop in Scotland) but I had them all. Humpty Dumpty and Belinda is an unusual story featuring colour photographs, and blending well known nursery rhyme characters with a brand new story. I will hopefully review it for the blog soon.

Humpty Dumpty and Belinda, 1949

Humpty Dumpty and Belinda, 1949

7. Ewan (my boyfriend) drank lashings and lashings of ginger-beer while we were away (I’m not joking, he must have gone through nearly five litres of the stuff) though it was fiery Jamaican ginger-beer, a variety I’m not sure the Five would have been familiar with.

8. We did a spot of bird watching, much like the Five sometimes did, except without field-glasses (what Blyton often calls them, rather than binoculars) we were reduced to squinting at the sky and saying “It’s…big! Very big…and it’s black-ish-brown-y… it’s a…. buzzard?” We enjoyed it anyway! If we’d had field-glasses, of course, we might have spotted a kidnapped scientist at a window or some other nefarious situation. I did watch a ‘suspicious’ man in the woods through some field-glasses (ones chained to a window-ledge in a bird-hide) but it turned out he was an RSPB staff member getting something out of a shed.

What a buzzard in the distance looks like without field-glasses

What a buzzard in the distance looks like without field-glasses

9. There were gnomes in our garden. Real, live gnomes, I kid you not*.

*I’m totally kidding, they were statuettes or at least they were in the day-time…

The gnomes

The gnomes

10. Just as Blyton promises, the countryside is full of animals. We saw sheep and lambs, pheasants, robins, blue tits, goldfinches, deer, and rabbits.

Pheasant

Pheasant

Lambs

Lambs

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I think those are all of my Blyton-y holiday moments. Anything else would be really stretching it. Do you relate everything you see and do to Blyton?

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Julian’s News, chapter 5

Posted on April 12, 2013 by pippastef

Part five of my fan fiction seemed to slowly sink into the depths of the internet with a woeful glugging sound. For those of you who liked the piece, I present you with part six.

The other parts can be seen here:
Prequel – The way you make me feel
Part One –  Telling Dick
Part Two – Back at Kirrin
Part Three – The first day
Part Four – George

Enjoy.

GEORGE AGAIN

“Where’s George?” Dick asked as Julian took off his coat.

“Sitting on the beach, ignoring me,” Julian said, hanging his scarf up with his coat.

Dick folded his arms and watched Julian closely for a moment, while Anne looked on concerned. For a moment the three siblings looked at each other, each knowing that there was not a lot that would shift George from a sulk.

“Maybe you should have told us all together,” Dick said after a moment, voicing the shared thought of the three siblings.

Julian fixed his brother with an angry look but didn’t say anything as Anne cut in. She disliked that George had already lost her temper today, and she was determined that her brothers were not going to fall out.

Continue reading →

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