Julian’s News, prequel

Posted on November 22, 2012 by pippastef

For a long time now I have been interested in Enid Blyton fan-fiction, namely ones involving the Famous Five and Malory Towers. Sites sometimes have some distinctly non-Blyton fan fiction on them, but that’s not something I have a huge issue with (as you will see if you continue reading!) The problem I have with fan fiction is if the characters that have been written deviate too much from those in the original creation.

In this way, my own fan-fiction efforts were born. I decided to create a story and some short pieces based on Blyton, and I’ve tried to use her characters as they were written by her.

I have taken some liberties in this piece: Julian has grown-up, very un-Blyton like I know, and is off to university, the same university as Darrell and Sally are supposed to attend. There is a hint of romance in the air, again un-Blyton like, but I hope to have kept to the personalities of the characters.

So please, give it a chance, and let me know what you think of my little story!

(Just as a note, this is a St Andrews Story but it was written before The Mystery of the Missing Papers, and doesn’t fit into the canon which is then followed by all our other St Andrews Stories.)

 

THE WAY YOU MAKE ME FEEL

Summary: Julian Kirrin is on a trip up to the University of St Andrews in Scotland to their open day just before school starts again in September. During his visit to the town and university he meets a very pretty young lady. So does St Andrew’s meet the standards of the Famous Five’s oldest member? Find out! One Shot. Famous Five and Malory Towers cross over.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Characters part of Enid Blyton’s imagination! The story line is my own however.

Julian Kirrin felt the bus jolt to a stop in the sleepy old town of St Andrews on the east coast of Scotland. The bus was full of final year students from various boarding schools all over the country who had made their way up to the small town to attend the open day for one of the oldest universities in Britain.

Julian and his parents had travelled up to Scotland by train the day before and were staying in the small town of Leuchars, a few miles from St Andrews. Julian was attending the open day on his own, promising his parents that if he liked it in St Andrew’s then he would return there with them the next day, so that they could look around and voice their thoughts.

On the bus Julian and realised that he had made the right choice: not many of the people visiting St Andrews had brought their parents. He was glad that he wasn’t going to stick out like a sore thumb. The bus from the university had been specially commissioned to collect the prospective students. Julian had bought his ticket from the driver and sat down on the bus behind two girls. One had lovely light-blonde hair that caught the light, whenever the sun shone on it, and the other had striking short dark hair with curls. They were chatting away animatedly as they waited for the bus to set off. Julian overheard them discussing their school in Cornwall, so guessed correctly that they were friends already.

The journey from Leuchars only took half an hour and the students were taken straight to the main reception to sign in and be grouped off for tours. Julian lost sight of the two girls who had been sitting in front of him on the bus. He was too busy being grouped with the boys who, like him, were interested in the science subjects most notably biology and physics. They were shown around the state-of-the-art laboratories and then the library and the boy’s dormitories on the other side of the town.

By the time it came to a break for lunch, before talks from the principle and lecturers, Julian was chatting amiably to some of the boys he had been grouped with and was finding himself very much at home amongst these like-minded people.

During the lunch break, however, Julian wandered out of the lunch hall to take a closer look at the buildings around him; his interest spiked by the history of the buildings and how old they were. If he was lucky there would be lots of secret tunnels to explore when he came up next year; if he was fortunate enough to pass his exams, that was.

He arrived outside the campus chapel, St Salvador’s, and stood outside looking at the craftsmanship of the building. He was so busy studying the gargoyles on the roof of the Chapel  that he didn’t notice anything else until  someone spoke.

“Nice looking place, isn’t it?”

Julian looked over his shoulder and spotted the blonde haired girl he had sat behind on the bus from Leuchars. She was alone, her friend must have been eating, thought Julian.

“Yes, certainly grand,” Julian said, turning around to talk to her. He stretched out his hand in greeting. “Julian Kirrin,” he said politely.

“Sally Hope,” the girl said, holding out her own hand to shake his. She smiled shyly at him. “I thought I recognised you from on the bus when you sat behind us. You’ve been in the paper haven’t you? I swear you have!” She laughed a little nervously, not usually so forthright.

Julian smiled a little, feeling a touch awkward.

“Once or twice,” he said carefully, a small laugh escaping his lips. “So what do you think of St Andrew’s then?” he asked, steering the conversation away from himself and his past adventures with his brother, sister and cousin.

Continue reading →

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Fiona’s Three Favourite Characters

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Fiona

Reading Pippastef’s blog post on her three favourite characters inspired me write my own. When it came to it though, I had real trouble coming up with three characters. Other people seem to be able to instantly produce a few characters they would call their favourites but I really felt like I only had one. I thought a lot about the various Enid Blyton characters I like and I think my trouble is that I enjoy the characters as a group rather than as individuals. I like the kids in the Secret Series for example, they all have good points, but which is my favourite? None of them, really – on their own I can take them or leave them. Together is where their magic lies. The one exception – my immediate favourite  – is Julian Kirrin.

JULIAN KIRRIN

Probably my first ever crush – a very innocent one as I was only a child – Julian was everything I wanted a boy to be. He is kind; to his family, his friends and to the people he comes across from small and frightened children to vulnerable old ladies. He is brave; facing dangerous situations and dangerous people all the while trying to protect those in his care. He is unfailingly polite, able to negotiate rates on food and lodging with almost any farmer’s wife, and even when he’s being rude it’s politely rude. He’s tall, athletic and good-looking, need I say more?

Julian is first to explore the cellar at Two-Trees, though he sensibly takes Timmy with him. From “Five on a Hike Together” illustrated by Eileen Soper.

After further thought (and some conversations with Stef) I decided on my next favourite character and it’s not even a person. This character really seems to divide opinion, you either love her or hate her.

KIKI THE PARROT

I’m not really an animal person, and the animals I like tend to be small and furry rather than feathery. Yet here I am declaring a parrot as one of my favourite characters.

Kiki may be a bird (and bird-brained along with it) but she still has a huge amount of personality. Her critics say she’s too unrealistic, but I don’t care. She’s hilarious. From her infamous express-train-in-a-tunnel screech to her police-whistle imitation. From her rhyming obsession with fusty-musty-dusty and busy-dizzy-Lizzy to her Welsh “look-you, whateffer”. From comforting Aunt Polly with murmurs of “Poor Polly” to confusing the life out of Uncle Jocelyn, Kiki never fails to make me laugh. Hiding under someone’s bed and barking like a dog? Hilarious. Her angry war-dances on Jack’s shoulder? I love them. Mournful coughing from a darkened corner? Extremely funny, and also very useful as often this is enough to scare off the enemy. The Trents and Mannerings would have been in real trouble on many occasions had it not been for Kiki’s amazing repertoire of words and noises. As a child it never struck me as odd that Kiki always seemed to know the right thing to say, but then Blyton didn’t consider criticism from the over 12s as worth listening to, and in this case I think she was right.

Kiki puzzles Phillip in “The Island of Adventure” illustrated by Stuart Tresillian.

The third character on my list was the hardest to decide on. I’m imagining people reading this and thinking “how can they be her favourite if she couldn’t even decide on them?” They might have a point.

I considered George Kirrin for a bit. She’s feisty, determined, loyal, stubborn (something I relate a lot to) and has a real temper (again, something I relate to) but in the end while I’m amused by her “as good as a boy” shtick, I don’t relate to that much.

I thought about the four Adventure Series kids and I briefly considered Darrell Rivers, Sally Hope and Mary-Lou from Malory Towers. And then I had it – for definite.

IRENE FROM MALORY TOWERS

How could I forget Irene? Coincidentally, forgetfulness is one of Irene’s most memorable characteristics.  At Malory Towers for the full six years of the series, Irene provides real comedy moments throughout the terms – turning up to the wrong class at the wrong time (and sitting for an age wondering why nobody else is there), doing other people’s class chores when it’s not her turn, leaving her hat and cloak lying around the school and driving poor old Matron batty by losing her school cert almost every term. Irene isn’t daft, though, her brains are just too busy focusing on her two loves – maths and music (two things I am terrible at, by the way).  Even more amusing, is that in Second Form at Malory Towers Irene makes friends with a new girl, the equally scatterbrained Belinda Morris, and despite their best efforts the two of them are of no help to each other – quite easily watching the other walk around the school still wearing their out-door hat and cloak without noticing anything amiss.

Irene brandishing her hairbrush so fiercely she nearly hits Belinda in the face in “In the Fifth at Malory Towers” illustrated by Stanley Lloyd.

For the reasons above, Belinda gets an honorary mention as my fourth favourite character. Well that and her collection of scowls – how I wish I could flick through and see all the drawings! So from struggling to choose three characters, I now have four. Bet you didn’t see that one coming!

Do you consider any of these characters your favourite? Whether you agree or disagree you can have your own say in the comments – or better yet – write your own list for us to post!

Find more favourite characters here.

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November Flowers

Posted on November 20, 2012 by pippastef

In the Nature Lover’s Book, Enid Blyton wrote about the joys of nature and included things such as what flowers you can expect to see in which month, distinguishing bird species and telling trees apart.In this blog post we can look at her list of flowers in November from Enid Blyton’s Nature Lover’s Book, 1944.

NOVEMBER FLOWERS

Devil’s Bit Scabious: This little flower also blooms in the summer but may be found now in open woods and fields. It has a small, round, bright mauve-blue head, even more like a pin-cushion than the field Scabious. The upper leaves are narrow, the lower leaves broader.

Photo credit: swan-scot / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND

Bur Marigold: Look for this flower in ditches and marshy places. You will know it by its dull yellow-brown flowers, which will remind you of the button-like flower-heads of the tansy. The Bur-marigold flower-heads are set in the middle of a frill of green bracts that stand out round it. Notice the hooked and bristly fruit. The leaves are lance-shaped, and toothed round the edge.

Photo credit: jpc.raleigh / Foter / CC BY-NC

Ivy: The ivy is not usually in flower until October, and can be found easily in November, its green-yellow clusters attracting many insects with their nectar. Everyone knows the prettily-shaped ivy leaves. Notice the aerial roots of the ivy on the climbing stems.

Photo credit: Ram-Man / Foter / CC BY-SA

Hemp Nettle: Look for this common dead-nettle in the fields. It has the lip-shaped flowers we know so well. They are pale pink-purple. Notice the oval leaves, toothed and hairy.

Photo credit: CameliaTWU / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND

Petty Spurge: You will very often find this petty spurge flowering in late autumm, in fields of in the garden as a weed. It looks like a shower of green drops, for it is much-branched, and the leaves and flowers, both small, are green.

Photo credit: pellaea / Foter / CC BY

Common Comfrey: You will find this common water-side plant blooming in summer and autumn. Look for the flowers in drooping clusters, sometimes yellow, sometimes dull purple. The five petals join to make a drooping bell. Notice the rough hairs on the stalk, which is hollow and ridged. The upper leaves are narrow and hairy, the lower ones are broad and hairy.

Photo credit: amortize / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA

And that concludes Blyton’s advice on finding flowers in autumn. How many of you will be out searching for these autumn delights?

Enid Blyton's Nature Lover's Book

Enid Blyton’s Nature Lover’s Book (Dustjacket). Published 1944 by Evans Brothers. Illustrators: Donia Nachshen and Noel Hopking.

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Green Hedges – The inspiration for my watercolour

Posted on November 19, 2012 by worldofblyton

by Julie Heginbotham

To any Enid Blyton fan, Green Hedges, Enid’s home in Beaconsfield from 1938 to 1968 was the most famous address known to them.

A letter from “Five on Kirrin Island Again”.  “Green Hedges” is at the top right. From the Cave of Books at http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk

On all of my 60s hardback dust jackets of the Famous Five by Hodder & Stoughton, is part of that famous address on a letter heading on the rear cover.But it wasn’t until many, many years later, as an adult, that I was able to see exactly what Green Hedges looked like, and that was from a black and white photo in a book titled The Enid Blyton Dossier by Tony Summerfield and Brian Stewart. I loved the house as soon as I saw that photo, a lovely architect designed house of character with a partial mock Tudor look.  The saddest part for me was the photo was an auction one, for the house stood empty, alone and deserted of love, waiting for someone to buy it and bring it back to life once more. But even more sadness was to fall on Green Hedges, for it was purchased by developers and was demolished in 1973 to make way for a housing development, which is there now to this day, on Blyton Close. For me two words describe what happened to Green Hedges, and those words are ‘criminal’ and ‘greed’!

But I could see the beauty of that house, and it inspired me so much that I just had to paint a watercolour from the photo. I took advice of the colours from Barbara Stoney’s book Enid Blyton the Biography and Imogen Smallwood’s book A Childhood at Green Hedges.  When the watercolour was finished, I then had a Wentworth wooden jigsaw of 250 pieces made up from the painting.

Julie’s watercolour of Green Hedges, photo by Julie.

I took the jigsaw to an Enid Blyton Day in 2009 and happily for me, Imogen Smallwood, Enid’s youngest daughter, bought one.  The following year at the 2010 Enid Blyton Day I met Imogen once again, and she came up to me and said – “Julie, thank you so much for the jigsaw, I spent a lovely few hours during the winter months doing it. It was so pleasurable.” You can imagine just how overjoyed I was at Imogen’s words to me.

Upton Leigh

Upton Leigh, Julie’s own picture of Green Hedge’s next door neighbour that was has not been affected by the redevelopment.

I have been to Beaconsfield, and stood at Blyton Close, where Green Hedges once proudly stood, and have walked a short way down Penn Road to see if the house that stood next door to Green Hedges – Upton Leigh – was still standing. It was. I took a photo of the entrance to Upton Leigh, just as a reminder that it once was a neighbour to Green Hedges.

Julie’s jigsaw nearly complete, with the specially shaped pieces around the edges.

Green Hedges may not be around any more, but I see it every day as it hangs on my wall, a reminder of one of the most famous houses in the literary world.

Posted in Personal Experiences | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

World of Blyton Blog has hit 1,000 views!

Posted on November 18, 2012 by Fiona

It’s true, today at just 17 days old the World of Blyton Blog has been viewed 1,000 times. Actually 1,081 times as I am writing this. Stef and I have become quite obsessed with all the statistics that are generated about our blog, including where our readers are from – here’s the top 10 countries:

Country Views
United Kingdom FlagUnited Kingdom 735
Australia FlagAustralia 132
India FlagIndia 37
United States FlagUnited States 29
South Africa FlagSouth Africa 25
Malaysia FlagMalaysia 22
Thailand FlagThailand 21
New Zealand FlagNew Zealand 15
Indonesia FlagIndonesia 13
Netherlands FlagNetherlands 10

We’ve so far had 37 comments and have 18 subscribers, as well as different 6 authors contributing – 7 if you include Enid Blyton! We’ve also had views from Germany, Italy, Spain, Finland, Portugal, Ireland,  Russia, Singapore, Denmark, Republic of Korea, Greece, Switzeland, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Poland and France.

We’d just like to thank everybody who has taken the time to read our blog, and especially to those who have commented whether that’s here or on the Enid Blyton Society Forums. We are enjoying blogging, but knowing people are reading and enjoying our blog really makes us happy.

Photo credit: woodleywonderworks / Foter / CC BY

Posted in Blog talk | 2 Comments

Su’s Five Find-Outers and Dog Collection

Posted on November 18, 2012 by worldofblyton

This article was sent to me by Su, a regular on the Enid Blyton Society forums. I recently posted this article about how I completed my Find-Outers collection and at the end asked “Have any of you gone to great lengths to obtain an Enid Blyton book? What was your most difficult find?” Turns out Su had a similar story to tell, and here is is.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Reading Fiona’s epic tale of how she has finally completed her set of Find-Outer’s books really struck a chord with me.  It could almost have been my tale as I too started out with one hardback book – The Mystery of Holly Lane – that I had obtained at a car boot sale and ended up just needing that elusive Banshee Towers at the end.

I had all the FFO in paperback that I had collected at various fêtes,  school fairs and as ex-library books.  When I had eventually replaced all the books in hardback, apart from Banshee Towers (surprise surprise) I decided to sell them as a set.  They sold on ebay and went over to a lovely lady in Canada.  I was browsing the forums about a month later and one of the forumites mentioned reading a FFO book that she had recently purchased.  From her name on the forum, her ebay ID and her location it turned out that this was the person who had bought my books!  Sadly she no longer posts on the forum but I hope she is still getting enjoyment out of the books.

When I sold the paperbacks I still had to obtain that elusive last title.  I was going to the Enid Blyton Day in 2010 and was determined that I wouldn’t leave without a copy regardless of the cost.  My 40th birthday was coming up and this was to be my (early) present.  I managed to buy a copy at the day for £45 and judging by what people have said, this was a bargain as it is in near perfect condition.  Along the way I lost out on a copy without dustjacket, which went for £7, but I’m glad I didn’t get it in the end, as the feedback given stated that the book was scribbled in and had all the pictures coloured in.  I don’t mind inscriptions or incomplete jackets but pictures coloured in are the one thing I don’t like.

I am still on the lookout for FFO bargains with jackets as I only have 7 with jackets and one of those – The Mystery of the Secret Room – is missing the spine and back flap.  As I have a very small budget for each book this is taking quite a while.  Here’s a picture of the whole collection which cost me a total of, wait a moment while I go to my spreadsheet (yes I know how very organised), £112.  Not too bad when you consider how much one of the books cost.

Su’s Five Find-Outers and Dog collection, complete with the elusive “Banshee Towers”

Now I just feel like having a re-read, it’s pity I have so many other things to do.

Posted in Personal Experiences, Purchases | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Banshee Towers, You Are Mine

Posted on November 17, 2012 by Fiona

Well, it has happened. Much sooner than I’d anticipated; my long wished for copy of The Mystery of Banshee Towers arrived today. “But weren’t you going on about ordering it just the other day?” I hear you ask. Yes, I placed the order on Thursday night and received the book on Saturday morning. My sincerest thanks to Windmill Books over at abebooks for obviously posting my book first thing on Friday, and also to Royal Fail ahem Mail for managing to deliver a first class item in one day.

I really couldn’t believe it when I staggered downstairs in search of food (I have the worst flu cold right now) and saw a book-sized package addressed to me sat on the arm of the settee. “It can’t be” I said, “maybe it isn’t” said my mum, “IT IS!” I cried looking at the sender’s details. I proceeded to rip it open while my parents stood and watched with bemused looks. Mum knew what it was after listening to me go on about it on Friday night, but Dad (clearly knowing me too well) said “what, is it a rare first edition of some Enid Blyton book?” So well done, Dad, right first time (though he did seem to think £10 was a bit much to pay for a book with a page missing, silly man.)

Banshee Towers

After listening to me babble about “tight bindings… mostly clean pages… slightly faded spine… minor tears and creases to some pages… very little text lost…” my parents slowly backed away and left for their usual weekend hill-walking.

One of the most badly damaged pages, though it doesn’t impact on readability.

Another slightly damaged page, but again there’s no text lost.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I lost no time in carefully examining the whole thing page-by-page and I just couldn’t see where the missing page should have been – every page from 1 to 184 was present and correct. On checking the Cave of Books, my copy has all the illustrations shown there, so I’m not sure why the seller thinks there’s an illustration missing. Not that I’m complaining – they probably would have sold it for more had they thought it was a complete copy.

A little text is lost here, but it’s fairly obvious what the missing words are

The page is quite loose, though, so I will have to see if I can repair it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The only down-side is there’s no room on my bookshelf for it. At the moment there’s the 15 Secret Seven books, 14 Find-Outers, 3 Galliano’s Circus, and two stand-alone circus titles. I suppose the two circus books can be put somewhere else, but goodness knows where. All my bookshelves are crammed full.

All in all I’m extremely happy with the book, both condition and price.

All 15 Find-Find Outers books, together at last.

Now, what’s next on my “most needed” list?

Posted in Personal Experiences, Purchases | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Enid’s Inspiration: Bourne End in the autumn

Posted on November 17, 2012 by pippastef

Yesterday I went adventuring. Well I say adventuring but I have been to Bourne End before, on several other occasions actually, but always in bright summer and spring sunshine. The visit today was my first time seeing Bourne End in its autumn coat.

Bourne End by the River Thames, on the way to High Wycombe, just next door to Marlow in Buckinghamshire is a very special place for Enid Blyton fans. Why you may ask? Well quite simply Blyton lived at Bourne End, in a wonderful house called Old Thatch.

Blyton and her husband Hugh Pollock moved in to Old Thatch in 1929 and she wrote about it in one of her Sunny Stories collections, and it inspired a series of nature books.

“It is perfect both outside and in … just like a Fairy Tale house … roses bloom everywhere – there are dozens all hanging gracefully down.”

“You enter through a funny old lychgate. There are big fruit trees shading one end of the house and a lovely silver-leaved tree at the other end.”

It was while living at Old Thatch that Blyton’s two daughters were born, Gillian Mary in 1931 and Imogen Mary in 1935.

Old Thatch still stands surrounded by its two acre garden with many of the features still there as they were in Blyton’s day. The house was also once an inn, reported to have been used by Dick Turpin and his horse Black Bess.

The gardens of Old Thatch are open to the public during the summer months, and they are a sight to behold. Ducking under the lychgate and into the gardens it almost feels like you’re in another world. It is easy to see how Blyton was able to write like she did in this fabulous place.

However, because of the time of year (it being November and everything!) I did not get to go into the magnificent garden, but satisfied my friend and myself by strolling down by the river, and admiring the beautiful autumn colours.

Our first port of call was to walk along the boundary of Old Thatch, admiring the brightest yellow leaves I have ever seen. We walked around the curve in the road and then noticed a footpath off to the fields.

Up for an adventure we started to follow the footpath but all too soon I discovered a small pond of water and a bridge that crossed it. It was almost directly opposite the bottom of Old Thatch’s garden and I thought it might have been part of the stream that had once flowed through the bottom of Blyton’s garden.

 

 

Perhaps part of the stream that flowed through the Old Thatch garden?

After crossing the bridge we headed back towards the River Thames, taking the footpath by the side of a field and under the wonderful yellow leaved trees. As we walked the ground became carpeted with yellow and it felt like we were walking on the yellow brick road from The Wizard of Oz (not very Blyton I know!)

We re-emerged by the old lychgate and set off with great speed towards the river path to enjoy the scenery.

The mist of the day added terrific amounts of atmosphere to a place so full of magic and serenity making you feel like there was an adventure around the corner.

Getting across the level crossing was the first excitement really, stopping at the big metal gates and peering along the straight track for a train (we saw one train slip past on our approach to the level crossing, but that is no reason not to be sensible and STOP, LOOK and LISTEN for trains!)

 

We scuttled across the tracks and were faced with the River Thames and
some boats, with the hills in the distance being barely visible above the clouds. We set off downstream, choosing muddy paths and civilisation in favour of wet and muddy fields (we did not escape those for long, I assure you!)

We walked along the path between the riverside houses, taking in the boats and the birds. We even came across an inquisitive goose as well as the ducks and moorhens you expect to see along the river. Bourne End riverside is truly crawling with wildlife. Little birds flitted across our path and chirped overhead. I wish I was more knowledgeable on birds as it would have been nice to be able to tell you which birds were there. It isn’t hard to see why Blyton was so inspired to write her nature books when living in Old Thatch.

We walked with gusto across the sailing club grounds and through the marina where great boats were moored up, lifeless in the November gloom. For a short while we sat on a grass verge by the marina and watched the river flow past and the ducks floating about in the water, before we took the muddy path towards the bridge further downstream.

Surrounded by fences, from the backs of people’s gardens and high trees and bushes, we felt as though we were in a sunken lane. Meeting people on this path is a battle of who can slip past first. Luckily the people who live in Bourne End seem to be some of the friendliest people around and are polite when you pass them.

Once we had reached the bridge we climbed up admiring the view of the river and the heavy fog. The train track runs directly parallel to the footbridge, so if you’ve timed your walk right, you can walk across the bridge with the train speeding past you. This didn’t happen to us today but it has in the past.

When we reached the other side of the bank, we continued downstream into the National Trust patch of land called (don’t laugh) Cock Marsh. Through some twisted and gnarled trees we walked the river back, getting thoroughly muddy and enjoying every second of it.

We stopped to watch the world go by on the other side of Cock Marsh, enjoying the autumn colours, the not too chilly air and the first heavy fog of the year. It is not hard to see why such a place could be such an inspiration to a great writer like Blyton.

After a little while we decided to turn back and face reality once more, but it was a pleasure to walk back through that lovely scenery, taking in everything once more.

Bourne End is a great place for ‘pilgrims’ of Enid Blyton because of Old Thatch and for the added fact that Peterswood in the Five Find Outers books is supposed to be modelled on Bourne End.

With that said, I feel I can now recommend that any fan of Enid Blyton, however big or small if they haven’t already, should make a trip to Bourne End and Old Thatch. A word of warning about visiting Old Thatch however, they are only open from May until August; so if that is high on your list when considering a trip to Bourne End, I do suggest that you check out their website and go when the gardens are open to the public.

http://www.oldthatchgardens.co.uk/default.htm

However if you are lucky enough to live closer and don’t mind not seeing Old Thatch on your first visit, I urge you to explore Bourne End, and the river path in the Autumn. It is truly magnificent.

You never know, you may be so inspired by the magic of the place that you end up as the next Enid Blyton!

If you’ve been to either Old Thatch or Bourne End, why don’t you share your own experiences of your adventure?

Posted in Personal Experiences | Tagged , | 5 Comments

The Weather – A poem by Enid Blyton

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Fiona

November is truly upon us now, and the weather seems to be all over the place. Here are some wise (and rhyming) words on the matter from Blyton.

I don’t mind the weather to-day,
It can rain or freeze,
The sky can be blue or black or grey,
There can be a breeze
Or a bitter wind or even a gale
Or a terrible storm with frozen hail!!
You see, I’ve got these –
A macintosh hat, an oilskin coat,
Wellington boots, a scarf round my throat,
A fine umbrella – and so I say,
WEATHER, DO WHAT YOU LIKE TO-DAY!

Are you prepared for whatever the weather throws at you?

* Cati Kaoe * / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA
Posted in Poetry | Tagged | 2 Comments

The tale of how I completed my Five Find-Outers collection

Posted on November 15, 2012 by Fiona

Something fantastic happened to me tonight.

I have finally acquired ordered a copy of The Mystery of Banshee Towers – the final Five Find-Outers book. I’ve been buying original hardbacks for nearly ten years – I started by filling in the gaps in my Famous Five series (I did have all the books, but some were paperbacks of varying quality)  and then branched out into other series like Malory Towers and the Adventure Series. I only had one hardback Find-Outers book to start my collection – The Mystery of the Hidden House which at some point belonged to my aunt Elizabeth and then my mum as both their names are written in the front. As I had fourteen more books to buy, it did take me a few years to find them at affordable prices.

Banshee Towers, however, has eluded me all this time. It’s often referred to as “the weakest book” in the series, everyone’s least favourite, and yet it’s also the rarest title. As far as I can tell, it’s never been reprinted in hardback, unlike all the others which have varying numbers of impressions. Maybe it’s because just five years after the first edition Armada published their paperback version of the book, I don’t know.

Either way, there’s not many Methuen hardbacks around, and the ones that do appear for sale tend to be above my admittedly somewhat meagre budget. I usually don’t pay more than £5-10 for my Enid Blyton books. There are a few exceptions, but on the whole I go for bargains. I don’t expect first editions for this (though I have quite a few) or dustjackets (of which I have a handful) just reasonably sound original hardbacks.

It’s said Blyton wrote something like 700 books, and even allowing for a lot of them being collections of already printed works, there’s a good few hundred unique titles. If I want to own as many of them as I can find, even at £5 a book, that’s… well… a heck of a lot of money, so I can’t go blowing 10 books worth on a single title.

When I realised I wasn’t going to get a hardback of Banshee Towers for my usual budget, I decided I would make an exception and up my limit to £20-25. I then missed the end of two auctions on eBay for books that sold within that price range (once through my own stupidity and once as I was at a relative’s hospital bedside). It seemed that it just wasn’t to be.

I still checked eBay every week (and got angrier and angrier at the million rubbish and overpriced paperbacks and the facsimile dustjacket that’s permanently listed). I also checked abebooks frequently and stared longingly at lovely copies priced at £50, £60, £100. I just couldn’t justify that much money on one book however much I wanted it

Then, tonight, I stumbled semi-accidentally onto a copy I could afford.

A member of the Enid Blyton Society Forums posted a link to a blog where someone had written about the prices of Enid Blyton first editions. On that blog was a link to a site which would search multiple websites for books – amazon, abebooks, independent sites – and then display them all in one place.

And there it was. On abebooks, where I’d looked last week and got disheartened yet again. Banshee Towers. Methuen. 1961. First Edition. £7.50.

It’s not perfect, there’s a little text loss on one page, and a missing illustration, but for £10 I’m still very, very happy.

I’m sure the rest of the Enid Blyton Society Forumites will be thrilled too, as it means they won’t have to read my many, many posts lamenting the fact that my Find-Outers collection is incomplete. In order to shut me up help me out, several members had even offered to keep an eye out for affordable copies.

So thank you Maureen who posted the blog link, as if I’d not seen the abebooks listing tonight, it may have been sold before I saw it. Also, thank you to Stef for encouraging me to just go for it and forget about slight internal damage.

Now I just have to anxiously wait for Royal Mail to  deliver my precious book. I hope I haven’t counted my chickens before they’ve hatched.

This very copy of Banshee Towers will be mine!

Apologies for the length of this post, but I really am very excited about all this.

Have any of you gone to great lengths to obtain an Enid Blyton book? What was your most difficult find?

P.S. I do recommend abebooks (www.abebooks.co.uk, http://www.abebooks.com) for Blyton books, even if some of them are way, way over-priced but that’s a blog for another day 😉

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Series Synopsis: The Famous Five Books 4-6

Posted on November 15, 2012 by Fiona

A guide to the Five’s next three adventures, and again, if you haven’t read the books this might contain some spoilers.

First edition dustjackets from “Five Go to Smuggler’s Top”, “Five Go Off in a Caravan” and “Five on Kirrin Island Again” illustrated by Eileen Soper.

FIVE GO TO SMUGGLER’S TOP, 1945

The Locations: Smuggler’s Top is a huge, old, rambling house on top of Castaway Hill. Also on the hill is a small town, with a thick wall running right around it. The hill is almost an island, with just one road running to it through the marshes from the mainland.

The ‘Baddies’: Mr Barling, an eccentric local smuggler and someone from Smuggler’s Top itself.

Significant Other Characters: Uncle Quentin, Mr and Mrs Lenoir who own Smuggler’s Top, Pierre ‘Sooty’ Lenoir, Julian and Dick’s school friend, and Annabelle his little sister.

The Plot: Before the five have time to enjoy their holiday at Kirrin the giant ash tree in the garden falls on the house. Uncle Quentin’s scientist friend and son were supposed to come and stay, but it’s arranged for the children to stay with them while Aunt Fanny and Uncle Quentin sort out the cottage. George is told she can’t take Timmy but sneaks him along anyway.

When they arrive Sooty smuggles Timmy up to his room through a secret passage, and at nights they sneak Timmy to George’s room. One night Block – Mr Lenoir’s deaf servant – lies in wait and ends up getting bitten. When Uncle Quentin arrives he is given Sooty’s room, and the children have no time to smuggle Timmy out. George is punished by Mr Lenoir for sneaking into his study to rescue Timmy and is locked in her room. She climbs out of her window and sees someone suspicious conspiring with Mr Barling. Meanwhile, Sooty and the boys see someone signalling from the top of the tower, who then disappears into Block’s room.

One night Sooty sneaks into Uncle Quentin’s room to try and let Timmy out, but catches Mr Barling – a known smuggler – kidnapping Uncle Quentin. He too is kidnapped and left in one of the catacomb tunnels with a drugged Uncle Quentin.  Mr Barling is trying to buy Uncle Quentin’s plans to drain the marshes, because this would end his smuggling. It’s then up to Timmy to lead the rescue mission.

My Favourite Parts: Smuggler’s Top is and always has been my favourite Five book, in fact it’s probably my favourite Enid Blyton book, my favourite children’s book… maybe even my favourite book full stop. It has secret passages, which I always love, but my absolute favourite part of the book is the ash falling on the house, and how Julian saves everyone.

Julian warns everyone about the falling ash tree in “Five Go to Smuggler’s Top” illustrated by Eileen Soper.

FIVE GO OFF IN A CARAVAN, 1946

The Locations: Merran Lake and a camping spot halfway up the Merran Hills

The ‘Baddies’: Tiger Dan, Nobby’s uncle, and his friend Lewis ‘Lou the acrobat’ Allburg.

Significant Other Characters: Nobby the circus boy, Pongo the chimpanzee, and Barker and Growler Nobby’s dogs.

The Plot: The five are at Julian, Dick and Anne’s home trying to decide what to do for the hols when they see a circus go by. Nobby, a circus boy tells them where they are headed and the five decide to rent caravans and have a holiday near the circus camp.

When they arrive and camp near by, Nobby’s uncle Tiger Dan is not pleased to see them and warns them away. They camp up a hill overlooking the circus and the lake. Tiger Dan then tries to persuade them to camp down by the circus but Julian refuses. Barker eats some poisoned meat and becomes very sick, and they realise that Tiger Dan and Lou were trying to kill Timmy. Julian sends the others to the town for the day, and hiding on a caravan roof watches Tiger Dan and Lou show up and move the caravan to one side and disappear down a hole underneath.

The Five explore with Nobby and make an amazing find, but also get caught by Dan and Lou, who trap them inside. This time it is Timmy, Pongo and Dick that save the day.

My favourite parts: The caravans are pretty cool, I like all the little features like the running water and little cupboards. I also enjoy the bit of circus life we see, and Nobby’s admiration for the five is touching. Pongo is very funny, with his pick-pocketing and faux shame at being caught. His interactions with Timmy are amusing too, particularly when shaking paws and he goes round the back to shake his tail too.

The Five are inspired to take a caravan holiday in “Five Go Off in a Caravan” illustrated by Eileen Soper.

FIVE ON KIRRIN ISLAND AGAIN, 1947

The Locations: Kirrin Cottage, Kirrin Island, the Quarry and the Coast Guard’s cottages.

The ‘Baddies’: Mr Curton, who introduces himself as Martin’s father, is not very nice to Martin and prevents him from doing what he loves – painting. Mr Curton also has a few men who help him with his scheme.

Significant Other Characters: Uncle Quentin, Aunt Fanny, Martin and the Coast Guard.

The Plot: The five are back at Kirrin for the hols, but they can’t go to Kirrin Island as usual because Uncle Quentin is there doing some experiments. George of course, is furious that her father is using her island, and has built a plastic tower in the centre of it. Out walking on the cliffs the five meet Martin and his father, Mr Curton. Mr Curton appears to be too interested in the island, according to Dick, but he thinks George is a boy, so she doesn’t agree (she can’t always be right about these things!) Playing around at the old quarry the five – thanks to Timmy – find the start of a secret tunnel.

The five and Aunt Fanny visit Uncle Quentin, but can’t work out where his work room is. Uncle Quentin tells his family that he thinks that he’s not alone on the island, and asks George to leave Timmy to guard him. George agrees, as long as when Uncle Quentin signals at 10am and 10pm he takes Timmy up to the top of the tower too. Every day at 10 George goes to the Coast Guard’s cottage to look through his telescope so that she might catch a glimpse of Timmy. One day he isn’t there, and she begins to worry, so that night she sneaks out of Kirrin Cottage and rows to the island to investigate. She discovers another entrance to the dungeons, and goes down to locate her father. She finds him a prisoner of two men who want to steal his experiment, and have shut Timmy in a small cave. George, her father and Timmy then have to escape the island before it blows up.

My Favourite Parts: George seeing TV for the first time, Anne telling Mr Curton exactly what she thinks of him and the rather touching moment between Uncle Quentin and George towards the end of the book.

Aunt Fanny stops the pony-trap so the Five can see the tower on Kirrin Island in “Five on Kirrin Island Again” illustrated by Eileen Soper

Part 3 will hopefully be up next week, until then, what’s your favourite part from these books?

Next post: Books 7-9

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Dead Leaves – A poem by Enid Blyton

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Fiona

I’ve been admiring all the autumn leaves when I’ve been out recently, and then I read this poem and thought I should share it.

Did I hear some one say that the leaves were dead?
Well, it’s quite a mistake, for in brown, gold and red
They’re hustling,
Bustling,
Rustling about,
Hurrying,
Flurrying,
Scurrying out,
Lively and mischievous, merry and gay –
No, I don’t think the leaves can be dead to-day!

The Poem “Dead Leaves” by Enid Blyton, as it is written in the book “The Enid Blyton Poetry Book” (School Edition) published in 1934.

What are the leaves like where you are?

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First Term at Malory Towers

Posted on November 13, 2012 by pippastef

First Term at Malory Towers is the first of six Malory Towers books by Enid Blyton. Malory Towers is the third school series written by Blyton, and was started the year after she finished the St Clare’s series. Malory Towers was inspired by Blyton’s oldest daughter Gillian going to boarding school.

In the books we follow the heroine, Darrell Rivers, through her school life which include her ups and downs, friends and enemies. It has to be my favourite school series and has always made me want to attend Malory Towers.

Malory Towers by illustrator Stanley Lloyd.

We meet an excited Darrell ready to set off to school in her brand new uniform. It’s nice to have a book start with someone being excited to go off to school and even though the idea of a brown and orange uniform sounds quite unappealing, I do think it could look very nice if matched properly.

We follow Darrell from her home to the station to catch the train for Cornwall, where Malory Towers is located. Naturally Darrell is nervous about her new school, wondering what it will be like and if she’ll make friends. Blyton makes it very easy for the reader to relate to Darrell from the beginning, and these nerves that Darrell experience make her more human. The fun really begins when Darrell is plunged into the world of Malory Towers at the station. First she is introduced to the sensible Miss Potts who is to be her form mistress and head of North Tower where Darrell is to sleep.

From the formidable Miss Potts we are then introduced to Alicia Johns, a girl in Darrell’s form who has been at Malory Towers for some time (though we are not told how many terms Alicia has been at the school). Darrell takes an instant liking to Alicia, hoping that this older girl will be her special friend.

Alicia comes across as a hard character from the start and I’ve always wondered why Darrell so wants her as a friend when it’s easy for the reader identify her as a a class clown and a bit of a bully. Alicia does get a little better, but I’ve never really ‘warmed’ to Alicia or understood why you would want her as  friend. She reminds me of the ‘popular’ girls at school who would bully you without a thought to your feelings if you got on their wrong side.

Gwendoline Lacey is also a new girl, however she has none of the characteristics Darrell has which make her so instantly likeable. Gwendoline is painted as a cry baby, spoilt and worst of all in the sporty world of Malory Towers, overweight. The girls  don’t make Gwendoline’s life easy, and Alicia especially says some quite spiteful things to Gwendoline over the course of the book.

The only other new girl to join them is quiet Sally Hope who seems the complete opposite to everyone else in the train carriage.

So on to Malory Towers, with its four towers North, South, East and West which hold the girls’ dormitories and common rooms. Darrell, Sally and Gwendoline are all in North Tower together, with a stern matron and Miss Potts to keep an eye on them.

Alicia pretending to be deaf by illustrator Stanley Lloyd.

The term begins quite calmly with lots of fun but hard work as well. Alicia plays a trick where she pretends to be deaf to tease Mam’zelle Dupont but it backfires when Miss Potts discovers the trick, and later on in the story (but I won’t give that away!).

Soon Gwendoline’s spiteful nature becomes apparent, as she starts being mean towards the smallest member of the form, Mary-Lou, and playing nasty tricks on her. The tricks escalate after Darrell snaps at Mary-Lou for following her around. Gwendoline’s truly spiteful nature shows just how wicked a person can be, especially to vulnerable younger  girls.

Darrell also behaves appallingly towards Mary-Lou at the beginning of the book, and she doesn’t seem to realise that she’s almost as bad as Gwendoline in that respect. After Sally’s illness, when she explains to Darrell that she’s been trying to buck Mary-Lou up the wrong way, Darrell’s whole attitude towards Mary-Lou does suddenly seem to do a complete 180 degree turn.

Darrell pushes Sally by illustrator Stanley Lloyd.

The real drama starts during half term weekend, when Darrell’s parents come to see her, and her mother spots Sally Hope in the distance and would like to have a word with her because she knows Sally’s mother. Sally behaves quite rudely towards Darrell, insulting her parents when Darrell tries to give Sally the message, and Darrell’s temper gets the  better of her. She sends Sally flying across the room, and causes her great pain. I shan’t give away what the cause is, you’ll have to read it yourself to find out!
Sally’s brief illness acts as a catalyst for a complete change of character. After being a very closed off character who often fades into the background, Sally’s persona changes and she becomes a very lovely person very quickly and  she becomes like an open flower instead of a closed one. The new Sally is instantly likeable. I think you see more of Sally’s personality in those last few chapters than you ever do in the rest of the books, except in the 3rd form where Sally’s jealousy gets the better of her, but at the same time she does fade into the background a lot of the time.

I hope I haven’t given too much away from First Form at Malory Towers, but I don’t want to ruin the book for you. Personally I love this book. The ups and the downs of the term make it such a thrilling read, for instance when  Darrell is nicer to Mary-Lou and the spiteful tricks Gwendoline plays.

If you like Blyton’s other school series, Malory Towers is one not to miss. Trust me, you won’t regret picking up these gorgeous books!

Wraparound dustjacket from the 1957 reprint of Malory Towers by illustrator Lilian Buchanan.

Next review: Second Form at Malory Towers

Or read a review of the audio adaptation of First Term here.

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Sunskriti’s Animal Character Exploration: Buster from the Five Find-Outers Series

Posted on November 12, 2012 by worldofblyton

By Sunskriti, age 10.

You might wonder why I haven’t chosen Timmy for my first blog post. The reason is simple, while Timmy seems an extremely intelligent dog; Buster is an excited little Scottie who often stumbles upon the right clues just by chance. This seems more natural to me, somehow, than good old Timmy. Of course, I’ll be writing soon about Timmy for the blog. For now though let’s focus on Buster.

Buster seems still like a little puppy. He is overly excitable, and loves his master more than anything. Buster wouldn’t live without Fatty if he was paid to. In The Mystery of the Invisible Thief, we see Buster as a sad little puppy when Fatty is downcast. This shows the bond of emotions between dog and master. Also Buster is shown to frequently dance around snapping at Mr Goon’s ankles and basically annoy him. I think that the reason he does this might be that Buster knows Mr Goon detests Fatty and vice-versa. As well as not liking Goon himself he probably wants to please Fatty by annoying Mr Goon. Mr Goon tries to get Buster into serious trouble by blaming him for killing sheep in The Mystery of Holly Lane. This shows that Mr Goon doesn’t like Buster either, trying to blame him for something he doesn’t do.

Buster annoying Goon on the front cover of “The Mystery of the Invisible Thief”, drawn by Jean Main.

The Five Find-Outers Series is a series with suspenseful yet humour filled mysteries that a group of children solve, largely thanks to Fatty, their intelligent and big-headed leader. Most of the time the Five Find-Outers and Dog are not in dangerous situations needing their brawn, but their brains are needed quite a lot to solve the mysteries they stumble upon. Buster rarely barks or growls at the villains, giving the children time to run, but he is quite useful in sniffing out clues! Like turps, yuck! In The Mystery of the Disappearing Cat, little Bets sniffs out the smell of turpentine in the cats’ cage, and Fatty thinks it might be a clue. Indeed, it does turn out to be, but I won’t disclose how! The Find-Outers wouldn’t have been able to crack the case if it wasn’t for old Buster, as he sniffs out the bottle of turps and a few other essential clues too.

I wouldn’t classify Buster as ‘intelligent’ that would be Timmy. In her stories, Enid Blyton sketches this little Scottie’s nature beautifully. At times, we see him as someone who accidentally gives away things, affecting the Find-Outers badly. For example, in The Mystery of the Secret Room, while Larry, Daisy, Bets and Pip are snooping around a house, Mr Goon happens to sail by on his bicycle. The children hide in bushes, hoping he’ll go right past. But Buster, who is on guard outside, gives the game away by barking at the policeman. He then comes to investigate which sets him on the track of a mystery the children themselves are trying to solve. But at times he proves useful finding things with his doggy-sense that the Find-Outers wouldn’t have otherwise found. The children don’t have quite as good noses, though Bets might have come quite close in The Mystery of the Disappearing Cat.

When Buster does something wrong, Enid Blyton makes us feel sad for him, and we yearn to comfort him. Though he isn’t as praised as the popular Timmy, Buster is an important character in the series, and readers feel for him.

Basically, I would sum up Buster as a lovable little Scottie who loves his master and is loyal towards him. He doesn’t have much of an intelligent brain, but he proves useful in mysteries, and is an active member of the group. Lovable and excitable he is happy just where he is, surrounded by people who love him. I can’t imagine this innocent creature any other way!

Buster presents a clue in “The Mystery of the Strange Bundle” illustrated by Treyer Evans, Buster and the Find-Outers in “The Mystery of the Burnt Cottage”, illustrated by Joseph Abbey and Buster chases a Tramp in “The Mystery of the Missing Man” illustrated by Lillian Buchanan.

You can click on any of the images to see them larger. All images are taken from the ‘Cave of Books’ at http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk.

More of Sunskriti’s animal explorations can be found here, or posts about Blyton’s animals in general are here.

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Poppy’s Book of the Month: The Secret Island

Posted on November 10, 2012 by worldofblyton

By Poppy Hutchinson age 11

Title: The Secret Island
Series: The Secret Series
Main Characters: Jack, Peggy, Mike & Nora
Published: 1938
First Published by: Basil Blackwell Ltd
Rating (out of 5) : 5 out of 5

The Secret Island (the first book in the Secret Series) is a marvellous read, packed with action and adventure. It was the first adventure novel Blyton ever wrote and what a great job of it she made! The story is based on four children who are all very unhappy due to being mistreated by relatives. Jack is an only child and his grandfather wants rid of him, and Mike, Peggy and Nora are all brothers and sisters being mistreated by a horrid aunt and uncle. Their parents were believed to have been killed in a plane crash. They long to run away, so when Jack shows them a secret place he knows of: The Secret Island, the plans begin to hatch. The children finally run away to the Secret Island taking with them all the things they could possibly want. They avoid searchers, and live a happy, adventure packed life until… I’ll leave you to find that out for yourself. I would recommend this book to 7+ boys or girls.

I gave this book a 5 star rating (the best you could possibly get!) because it is such a fun, exciting book, suitable for almost every age and very enjoyable. It even has humour included such as Daisy the cow swimming all the way from the main land to the Secret Island and Jack hiding in a hen house! I loved this book and am raring to read the rest of this magnificent series.

Happy reading all!

Frontis from the 1st edition, illustrated by E.H. Davie. Taken from ‘The Cave of Books’ at http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk

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My three favourite characters

Posted on November 8, 2012 by pippastef

In this post I’m going to talk about my three favourite characters from Enid Blyton and the reasons why they are my favourites.

Sally Hope

Series: Malory Towers.

Reason:
In First Term at Malory Towers, Sally Hope starts off as a rather sullen character, with none of the spark that surrounds the series main protagonist, Darrell Rivers. However, this is only the beginning of Malory Towers and first appearances and perceptions can be deceiving. In Sally’s case this is true and without giving away too much of the plot, by the end she is a completely different character.

Sally gains a reputation amongst readers and other Malory Towers characters of being sensible and steady so she rather gets overshadowed by the brasher characters, such as Alicia, and even Darrell at times. Sally is always described as ‘Darrell’s steadying influence’, and the opposite to Alicia (so much so that the two often come to blows!)

The main reason that sensible and steady Sally Hope appeals to me over the other characters (bar one – but we’ll talk about her later!) is because I can relate to Sally where I couldn’t relate to the others characters so well. I will always be the steady (mostly) sensible one, and Sally’s sometimes two dimensional personality appeals to me. I also believe that she has a wealth of untapped potential such as; flashes of jealousy (Third Term at Malory Towers), sparks of humour (Second Term at Malory Towers; Third Form at Malory Towers and Upper Fourth at Malory Towers), intelligence, and, above all else, loyalty to her friends (First Term at Malory Towers and Upper Fourth at Malory Towers).

There is something about Sally’s unseen character that appeals me as well, which could be why I’ve written her as a central character in my very own Blyton Adventure. I think that Sally Hope deserves a lot more credit than people give her, because she’s that best friend who we all love so dearly!

Wilhelmina ‘Bill’ Robinson

Series: Malory Towers

Reason:

Wilhelmina Robinson doesn’t want to be at Malory Towers if it means missing out on her time with her beloved horse Thunder and throughout her first term at Malory Towers which is the Third Term at Malory Towers she is disobedient to her form tutor’s wishes and goes out to see her horse, regardless.

Wilhelmina is a tomboy, having seven brothers, and she likes to be called Bill. The logic is simple, boys called William, get called Bill, and why can’t Wilhelmina be shortened to Bill?

The reason I find Bill, as a character so appealing is that she has a basic form of rebellion that is so effective. She doesn’t want to be a girl, so she gets called Bill and accidently ignores her teachers when they try to call her Wilhelmina. I also enjoy Bill’s solid, practical nature. There is a feel of simplicity about Bill that stems from her practicality rather than a lack of intelligence, especially in In the Fifth at Malory Towers after a particularly spiteful incident, she is the first to try and restore normality.

Another part of my reason for favouring Bill is that she was always the tomboy I was never able to be! By the time you’ve finished reading this you may be wondering why I picked Bill over Georgina ‘George’ Kirrin, and the answer is that when I was younger, I never really warmed to George with her spiky temper, but Bill with her easy going, laid back nature and humour was far more appealing than a sulky George could ever be. So when it comes to the fight of the tomboys, Bill wins hands down.

My third and final favourite character seems to take on the “You either love him, or you hate him” banner. Ladies and Gents, I give you;

Julian Kirrin

Series: The Famous Five

Reason:

Julian Kirrin is the undisputed leader of the Famous Five and divides opinion in this modern day and age with a lot of people disliking him and his attitude, but some (like myself) like him. Many people dislike Julian’s ‘pompous’ manner, so related to the attitude of men at the time.  Julian assumes natural leadership and responsibility over the five because of his age.

Julian comes in for a lot of stick, but from my point of view, I do believe he’s the perfect gentleman. He takes on a serious amount of responsibility when he leads the five; would you like to tell George what she can and can’t do? I know I wouldn’t.

Julian Kirrin has great strength of character, he has a clear line of right and wrong when it comes to adventures, and will always come down firmly on the side of right. He cares greatly for his sister Anne, even though some see this as part of his pompous attitude because he automatically assumes that Anne is happy to “play house” while they’re on their adventures. Even though these actions highlight the clear gender divide of the time, they are in a way playing towards Anne’s strengths and help greatly when she can focus on feeding her brothers and cousins if she’s getting scared about the adventure in hand.

Part of Julian’s appeal for me, is not just how the other members of the Famous Five respond to him, but the characters that the Five make friends with respond to Julian with a level of respect. Two of my favourite interactions that Julian has are with some of the younger characters, such as Aily from Five get into a Fix and Jennifer Mary Armstrong in Five Runaway Together. In these books the little girls respond to his kindness and trust him to keep them safe. Julian is certainly the kind of boy who appeals to my sense of old time charm.

Now to find the 21st Century Julian! *wink*I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my favourite Blyton characters, and that you understand my reasons for liking them so much.

Why don’t you leave us a comment on your favourite character? Of even better write us a blog to post on your favourite three!

 

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Series Synopsis: Famous Five Books 1-3

Posted on November 6, 2012 by Fiona

A short guide to the first three Famous Five adventures. There are some spoilers if you haven’t read the books yet.

Treasure Island, Adventuring Again, Run Away Together

Dustjackets from the first editions of “Five on a Treasure Island”, “Five Go Adventuring Again” and “Five Run Away Together” all illustrated by Eileen Soper.

FIVE ON A TREASURE ISLAND, 1942

The Location: Kirrin Bay. The Kirrin Bay area has belonged to Aunt Fanny’s family for hundreds of years though much has been sold off; leaving just Kirrin Cottage where Fanny, Quentin and George live, Kirrin Island and a farm a little way off. Kirrin Bay has a lovely beach and many fishermen live and work in the area. Kirrin Island features a mostly ruined castle and a sunken shipwreck that had been captained by a Kirrin ancestor.

The ‘Baddies’: An un-named man who calls himself an antiques collector who tries to trick the Kirrin family out of their island in order to discover the treasure for himself. He has at least one friend helping him out.

Significant other characters: Uncle Quentin and Aunt Fanny who are initially taken in by the antiques collector, and Alf the fisher boy who had been taking care of Timmy for George.

The Plot: This is the first time that Julian, Dick and Anne have been to Kirrin and at first George is not pleased to see them. By making friends with Timmy and showing generosity and kindness the three are able win over George. The five visit Kirrin Island, and on one visit a fierce storm throws up the old wreck. An exciting treasure map of the island’s dungeon is found, but the antiques collector manages to buy this from Uncle Quentin. It’s then a race for the five to find the treasure before the men do. It’s only thanks to George’s cleverness and Dick’s bravery that this story has a happy ending.

 My favourite parts: Julian’s kindness in offering to share ice-cream with George if only she will share Timmy and her island with them, as well as the excitement of exploring the wreck and the dungeons.

timmy five on a treasure island

George introduces the others to Timmy

FIVE GO ADVENTURING AGAIN, 1943

The Locations: Mostly set in Kirrin Cottage, as it is winter-time and there is a lot of snow. Also important is Kirrin Farm, the farm still owned by the Kirrin family.

 The ‘Baddies’: The four children have a holiday Tutor, Mr Roland who takes an interest in Uncle Quentin’s work. George hates him from the outset – he doesn’t like her beloved Timmy for a start! Mr Roland is aided by two so-called artists, Mr Wilton and Mr Thomas.

Significant other characters: Uncle Quentin and Aunt Fanny who are again taken in by the bad guys. Mr and Mrs Sanders are an older couple who live at Kirrin Farm, and provide rooms for the two artists.

The Plot: While exploring Kirrin Farm House Dick finds an old parchment which looks like a treasure map. Julian shows Mr Roland the map, as some of it is in Latin, and infuriates George. Uncle Quentin bans Timmy from the house to punish George for her behaviour towards Mr Roland. After Christmas they plan to visit Kirrin Farm to look for the secret way but George refuses to go with Mr Roland. They don’t find anything, though the two artists help after being introduced to Mr Roland. When the group return to Kirrin cottage, George claims the tutor had lied about not knowing the artists. Timmy starts coughing at night, and as he is outside in a snow covered kennel George sneaks him into her father’s study to warm up. That same night some of Uncle Quentin’s papers are stolen, and some of his test tubes smashed. While George is being interrogated in her father’s study she realises that the entrance to the secret way begins in Kirrin Cottage. She is sent to bed for the rest of the day, but Julian follows Mr Roland and sees him handing papers to the two artists. Kirrin Cottage is snowed in, and Mr Roland is ill in bed so the five decide to explore the secret way. It takes them to Kirrin Farm where they find the papers in one of the artist’s rooms, but the artists take chase. Thank goodness for good old Timmy!

My favourite parts: George being proved right about Mr Roland, and the secret spaces and passages at Kirrin Farm.

The Five warm themselves by the fire

FIVE RUN AWAY TOGETHER, 1944

The Locations: Another Kirrin-based story taking place at Kirrin Cottage and on Kirrin Island.

The ‘Bad Guys’: The Stick Family. Mrs ‘Ma’ Clara Stick is temporarily hired as a cook at Kirrin cottage and soon the shifty Mr ‘Pa’ Stick shows up too. An unseen relative Sarah Stick is also implicated in the Stick’s bad deeds.

Significant other Characters: Aunt Fanny and Uncle Quentin – though Fanny takes ill and is taken to hospital by Uncle Quentin, so they are absent for most of the story. Edgar Stick, the annoying son of Mr and Mrs Stick. And one other who I won’t mention as it will give too much away!

The Plot: The dour Mrs Stick, slovenly Mr Stick, immature Edgar and nasty dog Tinker make the Five’s life very uncomfortable at Kirrin Cottage, even going as far as trying to poison Timmy. George tries to run away to her island, but Julian catches her, and they all decide to go. While looking for a place to stay on Kirrin Island they find a trunk full of unexpected items on the wreck. Soon they realise they are not alone on the island – the Sticks have turned up, bringing with them luxuries from Kirrin Cottage. The Five take Edgar prisoner, and when they figure out what the Sticks have been up to they need to navigate their way through the dungeons to make a daring rescue.

My Favourite parts: The highly amusing scene where the children frighten Edgar to reclaim some of the things from Kirrin Cottage, as well as when they capture him from right under his parents’ noses. Also, there are some great moments where Julian stands up to the Sticks before they ‘run away’.

five run away together

George drops into their cave

 

Part two of the Famous Five synopsis will be coming soon, and as always let us know what you think of this post!

Next post: Books 4-6

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Firework Night – A poem by Enid Blyton

Posted on November 5, 2012 by pippastef

(By your dog and mine)

BANG!
What's that?
Bang-Bang! Oh, Hark,
The guns are shooting in the dark!
Little guns and big ones too,
Bang–bang-bang!
What shall I do?
Mistress, Master, hear me yelp,
I'm out-of-doors, I want your help.
Let me in-oh, LET ME IN
Before those fireworks begin
To shoot again-I can't bear that;
My tail is down, my ears are flat,
I'm trembling here outside the door,
Oh, don't you love me anymore?
BANG!
I think I'll die with fright
Unless you let me in to-night.
 (Shall we let him in, children?)
Ah, now the door is opened wide,
I'm rushing through, I'm safe inside,
The lights are on, it's warm and grand-
Mistress, let me lick your hand
Before I slip behind the couch.
There I'll hide myself and crouch
In safety till the BANGS are done-
Then to my kennel I will run
And guard you safely all the night
Because you understood my fright.

The Poem “Firework Night” by Enid Blyton, has been copied above as it is written in the book “The Enid Blyton Poetry Book” (School Edition) published in 1934.

This particular poem focuses on a dog being scared by the fireworks on Bonfire Night. Blyton was a great lover of animals so this poem is from the dog’s point of view at being left outside on bonfire night. So just a friendly reminder and warning to all you out there with pets;

Please remember to bring your pets inside tonight and make them feel safe and secure!

Happy Bonfire night all!

fireworks

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Who are the Famous Five? a short guide

Posted on November 4, 2012 by Fiona

Here’s a short guide to who makes up the Famous Five and the grown-ups who are responsible for them during the adventure-filled school holidays.

JULIAN

Older brother to Dick and Anne, cousin to George. Julian is generally in charge of the Five as he is the oldest and most responsible (some might even call him bossy!)

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DICK

Dick: Younger brother to Julian, older brother to Anne and cousin to George. Dick is always hungry and injects humour into their adventures.

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GEORGE

George: Cousin to Julian, Dick and Anne. George’s real name is Georgina but she wants so badly to be a boy that she dresses as one and won’t answer to Georgina. George can be sulky and displays a magnificent scowl on regular occasions. George dotes on her dog Timmy and dislikes anyone who doesn’t like him.

five go to smuggler's top

ANNE

Younger sister to Julian and Dick, cousin to George. Anne is the youngest of the group and usually more easily scared than the others. She is usually the one to keep house, caravan or cave for the others, and takes charge when it comes to preparing meals and the like. Has been known to turn into a tiger on the odd occasion.

anne, five go off to camp

TIMMY

George’s dog. Timmy is a large, brown cross-breed loved by the four human members of the Five. He has proved invaluable when facing off with enemies, and truly seems to understand everything that the children say.

timmyposture

UNCLE QUENTIN AND AUNT FANNY

George’s parents. Uncle Quentin and Aunt Fanny live in Kirrin Cottage on Kirrin Bay. Uncle Quentin is a world famous scientist, very short tempered and very forgetful. He is as known for his angry outbursts when anyone dares to slam a door when he is working, as he is for absent-mindedly putting mustard on his toast or custard on his fish. The children love Aunt Fanny as she is very kind to them and always provides a good spread at meal times.

quentin and fanny

JOAN/JOANNA

The Kirrins’ Cook. Always on hand to provide a sumptuous meal or fantastic picnic. Has to protect the larder with a rolling pin on occasion if Timmy or Dick feels like an impromptu snack.

joan joanna

The Five had 21 thrilling  full-length adventures:

Five on a Treasure Island • Five Go Adventuring Again • Five Run Away Together •Five Go to Smuggler’s Top • Five Go Off in a Caravan • Five on Kirrin Island Again • Five Go Off to Camp • Five get into Trouble • Five Fall into Adventure • Five on a Hike Together • Five Have a Wonderful Time • Five Go Down to the Sea • Five Go to Mystery Moor • Five Have Plenty of Fun • Five on a Secret Trail • Five Get Into a Fix • Five Go to Billycock Hill • Five on Finniston Farm • Five Go to Demon’s Rocks • Five Have a Mystery to Solve • Five Are Together Again.

And eight shorter ones:

George’s Hair is Too Long • Well Done Famous Five! • Good Old Timmy! • A Lazy Afternoon • Five Have a Puzzling Time • Five and a Half-Term Adventure • Happy Christmas, Five • When Timmy Chased the Cat.

The Five met many interesting characters on these adventures and you will be introduced to them in our upcoming summaries of all 21 books and the short stories.

Image from the cover of 'Five on Finniston Farm', taken from the Cave of Books at www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk

Image from the cover of Five on Finniston Farm

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Enid Blyton: A summary of her writing career

Posted on November 4, 2012 by worldofblyton

Enid Mary Blyton was born in 1897 and from a young age loved telling stories to her younger brothers, Hanly and Carey.

She qualified as a teacher in 1918, and in 1921 won a writing competition and after her writing was accepted in major children’s magazines. In 1922 her first book Child Whispers was published and by 1923 she was writing a regular column for the teachers’ magazine Teachers World as well as publishing her second book Responsive Singing Games.

1925 brought with it a wealth of material from Blyton including Silver and Gold, and The Tales of Brer Rabbit (retold).

Enid had been writing for the magazine Sunny Stories for Little Folks since 1927, and in 1937 it was renamed Enid Blyton’s Sunny Stories Magazine with a change of format, where full length stories could be serialised over many weeks. The first was Adventures of the Wishing Chair which was  then published as a proper novel at the end of the year. Mr Galliano’s Circus and The Secret Island were serialised and then published in 1938 and still remain popular today.

Blyton continued to write popular books in 1939 like The Enchanted Wood and Naughty Amelia Jane, followed by several in 1940 such as Mister Meddle’s Mischief, The Secret of Spiggy Holes, The Treasure Hunters, The Naughtiest Girl in the School and The Children of Cherry Tree Farm.

In 1941 Blyton started her second school series with The Twins at St Clare’s, as well as continuing the Secret Series with The Secret Mountain and writing The Adventurous Four.

1942 was to be an important year for Blyton as she launched the series that almost everybody would remember her for years to come. That series is of course The Famous Five with their first adventure Five on a Treasure Island. The Famous Five went on to have a grand total of 21 full-length adventures as well as several short story exploits. A Famous Five book was published every year from 1942 until 1963, with the exception of 1959.

Blyton also wrote new instalments for Mr Galliano’s Circus, Naughtiest Girl, St Clare’s and the next book in the Farm Series, The Children of Willow Farm in 1942.

Another major series of Blyton’s arrived in 1943. The Five Find-Outers burst on to the scene in their first adventure The Mystery of the Burnt Cottage and had solved fourteen more mysteries by 1961. Frederick Algernon Trotteville aka Fatty, a larger than life personality who leads the Find-Outers in a majority of their adventures is arguably one of Blyton’s most unique characters. Sequels to the St Clare’s and Secret Series were also published in 1943.

The Adventure Series was the next of Blyton’s series to be launched with The Island of Adventure in 1944. Seven more adventures featuring Jack, Philip, Dinah, Lucy-Ann and Kiki the Parrot were written between 1946 and 1955.

Two St Clare’s books were released in 1944, The Second Form at St Clare’s and Claudine at St Clare’s. The final St Clare’s book was then published in 1945. The next year Blyton’s most famous school series, Malory Towers was published.

1945 saw Blyton’s library extend even more, with several popular stand-alone books published. Hollow Tree House was one of the more popular stand-alone titles. The Caravan Family was also published this year as the first of six books of family stories for younger readers.

Skipping forward through Blyton’s wealth of books to 1949 where another of her popular stand-alones comes to light in the form of Those Dreadful Children alongside two new series appearing in 1949; The Secret Seven and The Barney Mystery Series.

The Secret Seven series ran for 15 adventures from 1949 until 1963 and was aimed at younger children. Today a lot of people see the Secret Seven as a starter for children before they read the Famous Five. The Secret Seven solve mysteries in their local community, and meet in the shed at the bottom of Peter and Janet’s garden. The Seven children have their own S.S. badges and a password to get into the shed.

 

The Barney Mystery Series which also appeared in 1949, introduced Barney, Snubby and Roger and Diana Lynton as well as their pets Looney the dog and Barney’s monkey, Miranda. Barney is a circus boy who has been trying to find his father since the death of his mother. Like many other of Blyton’s books, mysteries are the main focus of the stories. There were six Barney Mysteries written, starting in 1949 with The Rockingdown Mystery and ending in 1959. Interestingly the Barney’s Mysteries are sometimes referred to by a different name; The “R” Series, because each of the six book titles begin with that letter.

One other series that has not been mentioned so far, is that chap with the bell on his hat from Toy Town, Noddy. He is the character that is most associated with Enid Blyton since his creation 60 years ago.  Noddy is extremely popular and has a great wealth of merchandise attached to his name. Blyton originally wrote only 24 Noddy books, but he had the greatest timespan of all of her series. The first Noddy book was written in 1942 and the series continued until 1963.

This is an only an overview of Enid Blyton’s best known books and series. Blyton is known to have written over seven hundred books in her time, including six under the name Mary Pollock, though no one is quite sure what her overall total was.

 

For more information on these books as well as everything else Enid was known to have written, you can delve into the wonderful Cave of Books at http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/cave-of-books.php.

Now only one question remains: What is your favourite book or series from Enid Blyton?

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