Monday #303

Posted on January 21, 2019 by Fiona

Five Go to Smuggler’s Top part 3: A focus on Uncle Quentin

and

The Adventure Series covers through the years part 2

I tell you Red Tower isn’t a place. Red Tower is a man.

Jo sets Julian right in Five Fall Into Adventure.

The Children at Happy House is a short-but-charming book aimed at younger readers. In a similar vein to The Family at Red-Roofs for example it involves a family upping sticks from dreary urban life and starting afresh in the countryside. Due to its younger readers the biggest trials the Happy House family face are minor illnesses and a dog who likes to run away.

Posted in Blog talk | Tagged Five Fall Into Adventure, January, Monday, The Children at Happy House | Leave a comment

The Adventure Series covers through the years

Posted on January 19, 2019 by Fiona

I recently looked at the covers of the Famous Five covers through the years. There were so many incarnations of the 21 books that it took two posts. The Adventure Series hasn’t been reprinted nearly so many times, so this should be both shorter and simpler.

The inimitable Stuart Tresilian

As with so many things the original is the best. Stuart Tresilian did beautiful wrap-around dust jackets for the first editions, published by Macmillan.

Macmillan 1952 / Macmillan 1955

He also did wrap-around dust jackets for the first six books when they were published by Thames Publishing in the early sixties.

Slightly contradicting myself now, I will admit that I think that the Thames ones might actually be slightly better than the Macmillan ones. The Thames ones are more vibrant (perhaps due to being less aged, or more modern printing techniques I can’t be sure.)

It’s interesting though to compare the two versions of each. They mostly have very similar layouts, the children often wear the same clothes. They are almost like first drafts and final products of covers.

Macmillan 1944 / Thames 1958

The jackets for Island of Adventure have much the same layout. The children are further up the hill and nearer the mine shaft in the Thames one, making it look like that one was perhaps the same scene just a minute or two later. The children are wearing the same outfits – though as I said before, the Thames jacket is much more vibrant.

The change in positioning of the children seems to be related to the spine of the book. On the Macmillan cover, when closed, only Jack would be on view. The Thames cover would just show a strip of the scenery.

Macmillan 1946 / Thames 1958

Again this is much the same scene, only more vibrant. The way the castle is a bit more prominent and how Lucy-Ann is grabbing Tassie makes the Thames cover just a little more dramatic. This time Lucy-Ann and Philip have been moved, presumably to give a clear spine (at first I thought it was Philip beside Tassie!). The children are in the same clothes in both covers, and they’re the same clothes as the previous book, too.

related post⇒ The Adventure Series on TV: The Castle of Adventure

Macmillan 1947 / Thames 1960

Unusually the Macmillan jacket for Valley isn’t a complete wrap around. The front and back show two parts of a cave scene while the spine has a separate illustration of Philip. This is one of only two books to have a significantly different design between the Macmillan and Thames covers. This time the children are wearing different colours of clothes; they differ from the previous books and between the two editions of Valley. The colour palette is still the same but Philip is now in yellow instead of turquoise, Jack has changed from red to blue, Dinah is wearing red rather than yellow and initially Lucy-Ann is the one in turquoise (previously she was in blue), but she is then in red on the Thames cover. It’s not always easy to tell which child is which – I’m assuming it’s Philip on the spine due to his tufted hair, and that it’s Jack helping Lucy-Ann up the rocks.

Macmillan 1948 / Thames 1960

With The Sea of Adventure we are back to a full wrap-around jacket. Jack moves off the spine to beside Lucy-Ann for the Thames edition. The colours of their clothes have changed again (except for Dinah who’s still in red) and between these two versions Jack goes from long sleeves to short, and Philip’s shirt changes both sleeve length and colour. (Incidentally I’ve always found long sleeve tops and shorts an incongruous pairing. If I’m warm enough to wear shorts it’s likely too warm for long sleeves, and if it’s cold enough for long sleeves surely its too cold for shorts?) As with previous books the colours are much brighter on the Thames cover. The overall layout is similar, though the rear page altered more than the front, with a large rock brought into the foreground.

Macmillan 1949 / Thames 1962

This is another really similar scene. Philip(?) moves away from the tent opening and off the spine, and it’s him then pointing at the mountain instead of Jack. Clothes-wise Lucy-Ann is wearing a different outfit (short sleeve blue top instead of long sleeve yellow) but it’s the same on both covers and Dinah is in the same as the previous book.

I’m not actually sure which boy is which here. I had thought the boy in the tent was Jack, as Kiki is above him. But if you look at the Thames cover, he has a tufty lock of hair (it’s a different top, mind you though the same colour), and the other boy looks more red-headed. So then it must be Philip in the tent? Yet Jack is then wearing the exact same outfit Philip was on the cover of Sea! Perhaps Jack and Philip swap outfits between the Macmillan and Thames covers? Or maybe Stuart Tresilian didn’t care very much about clothes. That might explain why Philip’s (Jack’s?) shirt has one long sleeve and one short sleeve!

Macmillan 1950 / Thames 1960

The Ship of Adventure is the second book with a major design change between covers. The rear covers are very similar, the cliff to the left is larger and the smaller boat is more central on the Thames one. The spine and cover are entirely different, however. It is no longer a wrap-around illustration as the spine and front cover are two further separate scenes. The spine shows a vignette of the smaller boat and the front cover has Bill and the children on Thamis.

The children are wearing the same clothes in both versions, but not all are the same from the previous book.

It strikes me now that it’s odd to have Bill on the cover – all of the previous books have had only the children (plus Tassie, but she’s also a child). He doesn’t appear on the last two covers of the series, either, though Tala and Oola are on River and a host of circus-folk are on the Circus cover.

If that wasn’t enough the Macmillan editions also had a pictorial board cover.

For Island, Castle, Sea and Mountain you can find internal illustrations that are close to matching. I don’t know what came first, in fact. I assume the internal illustrations were done and then Tresilian did cover ones. There are enough differences (the backround of Island, the missing stick from Sea, the position of the dog on Mountain etc) to suggest they were all at least partly redrawn.

All Macmillan first editions

Valley’s cloth cover looks like an amalgamation of a few internal illustrations – there are ones showing the waterfall and other with a swooping aeroplane.

All Macmillan 1947

The Ship of Adventure‘s cloth cover is interesting as it has a scene shown from the other side.

All Macmillan 1950

The Circus of Adventure’s cloth cover has as scene that’s not illustrated in the book – Philip in the bear cage though there is one of him with the bears outside. I think it’s this cover (I didn’t have any dust jackets when I was younger) that always made me imagine the bear’s cage as a big round one on the ground rather than a rectangular one on wheels.

philip bears circus of adventure cropped

All Macmillan 1952

related post⇒ my childhood books part 2

The River of Adventure’s cloth cover is also an amalgamation of a couple of different illustrations. There is one of the silhouetted boat, and a few others with tall palm trees.

Facsimile covers

As with the Famous Five, the original cover artwork has been used again later. This time it has been cropped down to a square with very brightly coloured blocks above and below. It’s a pity so much of Tresillian’s art is chopped off – you can’t even see the castle on the cover of The Castle of Adventure!

All Macmillan 2008

Being the first in the series, Island has the most different editions and is the only one to have a full facsimile edition (for its 50th anniversary). I’m not sure if it has the back of the cover, too, but I doubt it.

Macmillan 1994 / Macmillan 1944

That’s the facsimile on the left and the original on the right, by the way. Funny how the facsimile is paler than the original! The signature has changed as well, it’s now the same as the ones on the other Adventure Series first editions – but it’s not the same as her famous signature as it appears on The Famous Five books (from 1951 on).

I said earlier that this post would be simpler and shorter. I was wrong. I’ve written so much about Stuart Tresilian’s work alone that I will have to look at everything from the Armada paperbacks onwards in another post.

Posted in Illustrations and artwork | Tagged Macmillan, Stuart Tresilian, Thames, The Adventure Series, The Castle of Adventure, The Circus of Adventure, The Island of Adventure, The Mountain of Adventure, The River of Adventure, The Sea of Adventure, The Ship of Adventure, The Valley of Adventure | 12 Comments

2018 birthday and Christmas present round up

Posted on January 17, 2019 by Fiona

As always I got spoiled for my birthday and Christmas. Every year my nearest and dearest manage to come up with something Blyton-y to give me, so here’s what they did this year.

1. Enid Blyton t-shirt

How often do you see an Enid Blyton t-shirt for adults? Almost never! Red Bubble also do one of young Enid. They come in ladies, mens, unisex and children’s sizes. The same print can also be put on most things from their range like notebooks, cushions, tote bags etc. This was my birthday present from Brodie, he has good taste!

related post⇒ How to get Blyton’s Style: Babies

2. Magic Faraway Tree notebook

This is also from Red Bubble, a nice quality lined notebook.

3. Noddy and the Farmyard Muddle

This was written by Sophie Smallwood – Enid Blyton’s granddaughter – in 2009. I’ve never read it before so it will be interesting to see how it compares to the originals. It’s a lot bigger than it looks actually. I thought it would have the same dimensions as the original books but it’s more like one of the Holiday Books (though not as chunky).

4. Magic Faraway Tree cushion

Another one from Red Bubble – you can never have too many cushions on the sofa. It was Brodie who got me this for my Christmas and so he clearly approves too, his favourite game is jumping around all over cushions on and off the sofa. (That’s not my sofa in the picture, by the way. Mine is a darker colour, if it was that pale it would have been utterly ruined by mucky toddler hands already!)

5. Malory Towers phone skin

Also from Red Bubble this is one of those thin stickers you put on with a clear case. I think it looks better than the real cover it’s based on!

6. By Jove! Entertainment for Kids

This is the game I had asked for, and mentioned in my Christmas gift ideas post. Apart from the box it isn’t particularly Blyton-y if I’m honest. Lots of wholesome ideas for games for kids and so far none of them feature any technology or modern things. It would have been nice if there were some Soper-based images inside or games relating to anything from the Famous Five books.

related link⇒ Five Go Parenting by Bruno Vincent

7, 8 & 9. Postcards

These are also from Red Bubble. They did well out of us this Christmas! These feature The Naughtiest Girl, Corfe Castle and an imaginative scene based on the Noddy books. They are too nice to waste sending to anyone so I will have to find somewhere to display them (along with my set of Famous Five postcards from a previous year).

Did you get any Blyton goodies last year?

Posted in Personal Experiences | Tagged Birthday, Birthday Presents, Christmas, Christmas Presents, Faraway Tree Series, Malory Towers, Noddy, Noddy and the Farmyard Muddle, Presents, Sophie Smallwood | 2 Comments

Monday #302

Posted on January 14, 2019 by Fiona

I treated myself to the Enid Blyton edition of This Is Magazine and it arrived this week. It has a lot of freebies with it and I plan to review it all soon.

Christmas and birthday present round up

and

The Adventure Series covers through the years part 1: Stuart Tresilian

Noddy and His Car is the third book in the Noddy series, and is the first book he works as a taxi driver. Noddy being Noddy, it does not all go smoothly of course. He hasn’t got his pricing sorted, he catapults his first passenger out of his car by mistake and then loses her tail. His second passenger loses his hat and gets stuck in Noddy’s little car. After his first day of work he owes more than he has earned.

It all works out in the end, though, which is fortunate or Noddy would have been looking for another job!

Lucian is a boy the Mannering and Trents meet on board their cruise ship in The Ship of Adventure. He is friendly and well-meaning but is also a bit foolish and awkward. He latches on to the children as there’s nobody else his age around and he is stuck with his aunt and unpleasant Uncle.

Posted in Blog talk | Tagged January, Lucian, Monday, Noddy, Noddy and His Car, The Ship of Adventure | Leave a comment

The Famous Five covers through the years, part 2: 1990s-2018

Posted on January 11, 2019 by Fiona

Last time I started at the beginning with Eileen Soper, and on to Betty Maxey and the TV tie-in covers. Now we have the 90s covers and the dreaded modern ones.

My era of Famous Fives

Technically in my era as they were published after I was born, Knight moved on from Maxey and had covers by Andrew Lloyd Jones. I didn’t have any of those but I did have the some of the next Knights with the embossed gold lettering on the front. A few are credited to Graham Reynolds but the rest are uncredited.

Knight 1987 / Knight 1987 / Knight 1991 / Knight 1991

Both series are very of their time with the jeans and baggy jumpers. No pullovers or galoshes in sight.

related post⇒ My childhood books part 1

Likewise, I didn’t have any of the very bright Award paperbacks that started with Five Go to Billycock Hill, or any of the yellow-bordered Award hardbacks but I had some of the Hodders that followed.

Award 1992 / Award 1992 / Award 1993 / Award 1993

I always think the brightly coloured ones looks very tropical, and also very 80s despite coming out in the early 90s.

The next Hodder paperbacks had The Famous Five written down the right hand side of each cover. The children are very 90s with jeans and jumpers. Up to Five on a Hike Together there were two of these for each book – one uncredited (in 1994) and one by David Barnett (in 1995). After that there was just one David Barnett cover per book.

Hodder 1994 / Hodder 1995 / Hodder 1994 / Hodder 1995

I’ve noticed a few errors and anomalies amongst these versions. There’s at least one with the entirely wrong blurb on the back. Even more strangely two consecutive books (Five Go Adventuring Again and Five on a Hike Together) repeat their illustrations in both versions.

In 1994 Five Fall Into Adventure incorrectly features the Five on a raft (artwork by the uncredited artist) and Hodder just reused the image for the correct book the next year. Then in 1995 David Barnett drew the Five boating in Five Fall Into Adventure, and for some reason Hodder then used it a second time despite it not fitting for Five on a Hike Together. It’s very strange as all the other covers from these two series fit in with the plots and locations of the books.

Hodder 1994 / Hodder 1995 / Hodder 1994 / Hodder 1995

I recognise the 90s series photo covers (as mentioned in my last post) but I must have completed my collection before these came out.

The truly modern

I’m not saying all the covers up to this point were wonderful, but they were mostly reasonably inoffensive. You could definitely tell which were 70s and which were 80s or 90s thanks to the style and fashions but the children looked like human beings at least.

In 2001 we got a series of brightly-coloured covers by Richard Jones featuring children with odd facial expressions. There weren’t any new covers then for nine years, until some more strange faces appeared in 2010, this time by Adrian Chesterman. Both of these sets seem like they were created on computers – I’ve found Adrian Chesterman’s website which indicates he is a digital artist. Looking at the full images he created they look much better than the book covers. At full-scale you can see an incredible amount of detail down to individual hairs, blades of grass and textures on clothing, while shrunk onto the books they look a bit flat and lifeless.

Hodder 2001 / Hodder 2010 / Hodder 2001 / Hodder 2010

After the 70th anniversary series featuring famous artists (more on that below) Laura Ellen Anderson did a new covers for each book in 2017. Her depiction of the Five is strange to say the least. They have skinny, angular limbs, very large eyes and wear the exact same clothes whether it’s day, night, summer or winter. What’s worse is some of the covers have nothing to do with the book’s contents. Five On a Treasure Island has them in shorts and dresses in George’s boat, fine. Five Go Adventuring Again, set during an extremely cold snowy winter has them in the same shorts and dresses in the middle of a lush woodland.

Also in 2017 the first three books got hardbacks with repeated motifs; ships for Five on a Treasure Island (makes sense), anchors for Five Go Adventuring Again (not so much sense) and aeroplanes for Five Run Away Together (would have worked better for Five Go to Billycock Hill). I suspect these are an attempt to cash in on the classics market as I’ve seen lots of books like Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Peter Pan as well as grown-up classics like The Picture of Dorian Gray and so on being published in that style.

All Hodder 2017

Famous illustrators

2012 was 70 years since the first Famous Five book was published so there were, I think, 5 new editions released with covers by famous illustrators. Those were Five on a Treasure Island by Quentin Blake (famous for working with Roald Dahl), Five Go Adventuring Again by Helen Oxenbury (We’re Going on a Bear Hunt), Five Run Away Together by Emma Chichester Clark (Blue Kangaroo), Five Go to Smuggler’s Top by Oliver Jeffers (The Day the Crayons Quit) and Five Go Off in a Caravan by Chris Riddell (Goth Girl).

All Hodder 2012

Three years later, Hodder continued with famous illustrators. There were Five on Kirrin Island Again by Shirley Hughes (Alfie and Annie Rose), Five Go Off to Camp by David Tazzyman (Circus of Thieves), Five Get Into Trouble by Polly Dunbar (Tilly and Friends), Five Fall Into Adventure by Babette Cole (Dr Dog) and Five on a Hike Together by Tony Ross (My Little Princess). All the illustrators so far have their name on the cover.

All Hodder 2015

related post⇒ Books for babies: the lead-up to Blyton

After that the illustrators names are no longer on the cover, instead they say The world’s best-loved storyteller at the bottom and the same font/title style but with a white background. I have also seen one or two of the above books repeated with this style – though only online so I don’t know if they were ever actually published or just mocked up.

Apart from Michael Foreman the rest of this bunch seem less famous. I’ve not heard of any of them, and I’ve had a hard time identifying what they would be ‘known for’. They are Five Have a Wonderful Time by Steve Antony (Mr Panda), Five Go Down to the Sea by Alex T Smith (Claude the Dog), Five Go to Mystery Moor by Peter Bailey (various works including Phillip Pullman and E Nesbit), Five Have Plenty of Fun by Sara Ogilvie (again various bits and pieces including Julia Donaldson) and Five on a Secret Trail by Michael Foreman (War Boy). The other books in the series didn’t get new covers!

All Hodder 2016

I haven’t included these in the modern category because Quentin Blake, Babette Cole and Shirley Hughes amongst others have been around forever and are familiar from my childhood.

I think some of these covers are great and other less so. Some of the show off the artists’ unique style while still being in-keeping with the tone and content of the books.

I like Quentin Blake and Babette Cole normally – I feel strange reading any Roald Dahl books with other illustrators for example – but for me they just don’t suit the Famous Five books. David Tazzyman’s works might look great on a modern, irreverent or humorous kids’ book but again I don’t find it fitting for the Famous Five.

I had a few random thoughts when I looked through these covers, like – It’s a pity Five Go Off in a Caravan doesn’t have a scenic background like the others. Also, I always wonder why Block looks so much like a head waiter. He’s holding people hostage, not serving them dinner! I can’t decide if I like the cover for Five Have a Wonderful Time. It’s very striking and quite different from any of the others, but does it work for the series?

Five on a Treasure Island Specials

Jumping away from the chronology and going back to the start Five on a Treasure Island has had way more covers than any other book. Here are the ones I didn’t include in part one, from a wide variety of publishers some with stranger designs than others!

Longmans 1977 / John Murray 1979 / Fabbri 1992 / Karo 2004 / Paperview 2005

And there you have it; examples of pretty much every style of Famous Five cover from the past 70 years.

Some of them are wonderful and others rather lacking. Don’t just a book by its cover is probably good advice here – the books inside are wonderful no matter what they stick on the cover. The other important thing is that they are still in print and selling well.

What will be next, I wonder? What would you like to see?

Posted in Illustrations and artwork | Tagged Babette Cole, David Barnett, Hodder, Knight Books, Quentin Blake, Shirley Hughes, The Famous Five, Tony Ross | 10 Comments

December 2018 round up

Posted on January 9, 2019 by Fiona

We are in 2019 if you can believe it, so this is the last 2018 round up chronicling what I got up to in December.

What I have read

My total number of books was 98 for the year, so I read 18 more than my target of 80.

In December I got through my last 10:

My Sweet Valentine (Article Row #3) – Annie Groves
Only a Mother Knows (Article Row #4) – Annie Groves
Five Go to Smuggler’s Top – reviewed in two parts here and here
B is for Burglar (Kinsey Millhone #2) – Sue Grafton
And the Rest is History (The Chronicles of St Mary’s #8) – Jodi Taylor
A Perfect Storm (The Chronicles of St Mary’s #8.5) – Jodi Taylor
Christmas Past (The Chronicles of St Mary’s #8.6) – Jodi Taylor
An Argumentation of Historians (The Chronicles of St Mary’s #9) – Jodi Taylor
The Battersea Barricades (The Chronicles of St Mary’s #9.5) – Jodi Taylor
A Christmas Promise (Article Row #5) – Annie Groves

And I’ve still to finish:

Drums of Autumn (Outlander #4) – Diana Gabaldon
The Diary of a Bookseller – Shaun Bythell
The Undomestic Goddess – Sophie Kinsella

outlander diana gabaldon drums of autumn

I finally picked up Drums of Autumn again and got really into it – but being over 1,000 pages it’s taking me a while!

I’m almost at the end of the St Mary’s series now, having finally reached the ones I’d not read before. There are only two short stories after Battersea Barricades, and then the next one’s not out until April!

What I have watched

Hollyoaks
More Cbeebies – I am now familiar with Yakka Dee, Postman Pat’s Special Delivery Service (the song to that gets stuck in my head but at least this is still stop-motion and not CGI) The Twirlywoos, Ra Ra the Noisy Lion (with another earworm song), Bing Bunny, Tee and Mo, Biggleton, Pablo, The Numberblocks and many more
Lego Masters series 2 and the celebrity Christmas special
Only Connect
I finished Outlander season 3, finally
Call the Midwife Christmas special

What I have done

Put my Christmas tree up in a mostly Brodie-proof spot
Finished all my Christmas shopping and wrapping
Had a few lunches out
Celebrated my birthday with high tea, that’s the first time we’ve been out for our tea together as a family.
Went to see The Snow Queen at my local theatre
Celebrated Christmas and even hosted my family for Christmas dinner
Started planning a new bathroom after yet another leak

Posted in Personal Experiences | Tagged Christmas, December, Doing, Monthly round up, Reading, Round Up, Watching | 5 Comments

Monday #301

Posted on January 7, 2019 by Fiona

Happy New Year, everyone! I took a longer than anticipated break over Christmas, but I am back now! I had intended to start again on the 31st but being in that strange limbo between Christmas and New Year I lost track of the days and completely forgot!

Anyway, I hope you all had a lovely time over the festive season and are not too dispirited if you are returning to work this week.

You may notice a few changes on the blog starting this week: I finally took the plunge and upgraded to a paid account with WordPress. The blog now has it’s own domain, worldofblyton.com which should be active soon, and there will be no more adverts! I now have access to more ‘themes’ to change how things look, so I will probably be fiddling around finding a new look as well.

December round up

and

The Famous Five covers through the years part 2

I’m going to include The Pole Star as a location, as it’s big enough to live in! The Pole Star is the cruise ship that the Caravan Family take on a trip to Portugal, Spain, Madeira, the Canary Islands and Morocco. Despite these all being interesting and exotic places to visit, the ship is a far more important part of the book – perhaps because it was based on the real-life ship the Stella Polaris which Enid Blyton herself travelled on in the 1930s!

In Puzzle for the Secret Seven, the Seven have to solve a strange mystery. They have already done what they can to help a gypsy woman whose caravan has burnt down, but then are faced with thefts of clothes from a scarecrow and a violin from an antiques shop.

Posted in Blog talk | Tagged January, Monday, Pole Star, Puzzle for the Secret Seven, Stella Polaris, The Pole Star Family, The Secret Seven | 2 Comments

Inscriptions in books 4: Books given with love

Posted on December 22, 2018 by Fiona

These are some of my favourite types of inscriptions – ones where a book is given as a gift. There are lots of lucky children here, given books by their aunties, uncles, parents and possibly even friends. There are books given for birthdays, Christmases, Easters and other special events.

My previous posts look at prize giving labels, this book belongs to and confused ownership.

Books given for Christmas

The Wonderful Carpet and Other Stories was given To Gill from Gran, Christmas 1945. It also reads Sally Drinkall and Sally Drinkall Donington, a contender for confused ownership.

Aptly The Christmas Book was From Marlene Xmas 1946. She doesn’t say who it was given to, however.

The Children of Willow Farm was received by what looks like Sudonil Emerson at Xmas 1948. Further down the page is from someone which I can’t make out. I actually missed it altogether the first time I looked.

The Secret Island was given to Pamela for Christmas 1949, from Uncle Wendy. That’s what it looks like anyway!

My Enid Blyton Bedside Book was also given in 1949, it reads; To Peter Xmas 1949 From Auntie Hilda & Uncle Reg.

More Adventures on Willow Farm is dated 1950 TO WENDY MERRY XMAS FROM AUNTY EVELYN + UNCLE GING. Wendy has then added her details: WENDY TURNER LITTLECOATS RD. GRIMSBY LINCS TELEPHONE. NO. 5176. Further to that there is a stamp – C.H. Turner & Co (GY.) LTD. RADIO & ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS 1&3 CORPORATION ROAD GRIMSBY LINCS PHONE NO. 23?1. I wonder why a radio and electrical engineer business would put its stamp in a book? My best guess is that Wendy’s father or other relative worked there and let her play with old stamps.

A non-Blyton now, Mystery at Witchend (The first Lone Pine book by Malcolm Saville) reads P HAMMOND 1951. It also has the inscription To PAT, Wishing you a Happy Xmas 1951 FROM DAD.

My one edition of Every Girl’s Annual (which contains one Blyton story) reads To Patricia With Love and Best Wishes From Christina + Jennifer x x x x Xmas 1951.

Enid Blyton’s Bluebell Story Book was also a gift for Christmas 1951. This time for Bridget, Happy Xmas from Hazel 1951.

A Bridget, (who knows, it could be the same one!) was given The Seventh Holiday Book the next year, it reads Bridget Xmas 1952 with lots of love.

And another one to Pat, this time The Sunny Story Book is inscribed To Pat, with best wishes for Christmas 1953. From Uncle Norman, Auntie Barbara and Alan in very neat writing.

The Ring O’ Bells Mystery was given To Bobby Happy Xmas From Peggy & Bill 1954.

The Happy Story Book has two different handwritings in it. First is Shirley J Price December 25^th 1954 and then Off Aunty Masie and Uncle Frank for Christmas

Last Term at Malory Towers reads To Carole From Mam & Dad Xmas 1962

Enid Blyton’s Lucky Story Book has obviously been passed on at some point. First it reads- To Stephen From Lynne xmas 1965 xxxx. Then it says THIS Book now belongs to : – Julie Carole Batty, Mariners Flats Keadby Scunthorpe.

The Folk of the Faraway Tree isn’t dated but reads To Jean Dorothy Lyastin With Happy Christmas Wishes, from Auntie Beaty & Uncle Tim

Likewise Mr Pink-Whistle Interferes reads To Robin, With Best wishes for a very Happy Christmas from :- Margaret.

And lastly, also with no date, The Naughtiest Girl is a Monitor was for JEAN THORNE HAPPY CHRISTMAS FROM :- JOHN LIDSTONE.

Books given for birthdays

The Happy House Children – To Gillian Happy Birthday from John. As with many inscriptions someone’s gone over this one with a pen.

More about Josie Click and Bun – To My Dear Christine. Wishing you a Very Happy Birthday With love from Auntie Dora xxx 1948 The frontispiece has been coloured in and I wonder if it was Christine who did it.

Well Done Secret Seven – With Love From Elizabeth x Happy Birthday

Enid Blyton’s Magazine Annual – Happy Birthday Katherine, Love Mother, xxx. This one has an unusual inscription on the ends of the pages reading Katherine Melling.

I’ll Tell You a Story‘s inscription is really hard to make out. To Miss Aan Keflich Wishing her many Happy returns of her Birthday. Love from Grandad is what I think it says but I’m really not sure about the name!

Books given just because?

Some of these might well be birthdays as they have dates written in them, but they could well be for other reasons too. At least one is for Easter.

From mummies and daddies:

Twenty Minute Tales – Helen Emms With Love from Mummy, Happy Easter 1955
The Children of Cherry Tree Farm – To Patricia from Mummy & Daddy
The Secret of Moon Castle – To Christine With love From Daddy
The Sixth Holiday Book – To Susan from Mummy and Daddy
The Ninth Holiday Book – To Rosemary From Mummy xx 1955
Before I Go to Sleep – To Karen with lots of love from Daddie + Mummie x x x x x x

From aunties and uncles:

The Second Holiday Book – To Jennifer Love Auntie Florrie
Enid Blyton’s Nature Lover’s Book – Pamela, with love and best wishes from your Auntie Dorothy & Uncle Leonard. June 27th, 1947.
The Buttercup Farm Family –To Janice From Uncle George & Auntie Margaret Feb 28 1959. In pencil after it says aged 6 so this might have been for a birthday.
The Yellow Story Book – To dear Pauline with love from Auntie Kathleen Jan 1951.
A Picnic Party With Enid Blyton – To Christine from Auntie Hela & Uncle Ron June 1959
Down At the Farm with Enid Blyton – To Margaret From Auntie Flo & Uncle Arthur

From children to their friends or siblings, perhaps for a birthday. I could just imagine them arriving at a party clutching their gift-wrapped present to give to the birthday child.

Five On a Hike Together – To Leslie, From Jackie & John
Five Go Adventuring Again – To Michael, From Gary & Philip 1950
Claudine at St Clare’s – To Edna With best wishes from Rosemary Mar 1950 and also Edna Barton, Moat Farm, Barking, Nr Ipswich, Suffolk
The Bad Little Monkey – To David From Michael
Jolly Little Jumbo – To Ernest from Michael 1944
The Pole Star Family – With Best Wishes To Pat. From. Michael and Susan Bainbridge
Six Cousins at Mistletoe Farm – To Pamela from Victoria and Janet July 11th 1949

Then there are a few I couldn’t quite work out:

The O’Sullivan Twins – To (what looks like) Vallong (but is probably Valery?) from Daddy, Name’s Day 1950. I had no idea what name’s day is so I looked it up.
The Mystery of the Missing Necklace – To Dear Ann With much love From Mrs ?
The Secret of Cliff Castle – To Jonnie With love from Auntie Glenys? and Uncle Astin? Xmas 1956
The Mystery of the Disappearing Cat – To Jenna(? Jeane? Jenae? Jenny?) From Aunty, Uncle and Lynette

And lastly a strange little note inside Trickey the Goblin and Other Stories reads To Teddah.

And a bonus which is not an inscription but I just had to share, there’s a very colourful picture drawn inside the front of Run About’s Holiday. It looks exactly like the sort of thing I would have drawn as a child, though I would never have done it in a book!

So what have I learned from this project?

A lot of people liked to write in books! I’m not sure it’s so prevalent today. I buy plenty of second paperbacks from the 90s onwards and I don’t recall seeing many inscriptions. Perhaps the modern paperback is such a throwaway commodity that nobody bothers claiming ownership?

Of the books that were inscribed it was usually the tattiest ones, the ones missing their dust jackets and so on that were inscribed. I think this signifies how much those books were loved and read.

I enjoyed looking at all the different handwriting though some of it was hard to work out. Handwriting style has changed quite a lot over the years. It was interesting to see so many people write Xmas for Christmas as I’ve seen many people lament it as a ‘modern’ and ‘American’ term which is clearly rubbish. Also interesting is the prevalence of capital A written like a large lowercase a.

So after doing this project would I write in books? Brodie gets so many, they are so much cheaper now than in Blyton’s time, so probably not just because it would be so time consuming and not special like it was when children got a few books a year if they were lucky. He has a few inscribed books as I was given some as gifts from friends and family before they were born – all personal favourites of theirs – so that will be nice to look back on.

Do you write in your books or ones for your loved ones?

Posted in Personal Experiences, Purchases | Tagged Birthday Presents, Birthdays, Christmas, Christmas Presents, Inscriptions | 1 Comment

What would Enid Blyton’s characters be unwrapping for their Christmas?

Posted on December 19, 2018 by Fiona

When I wrote my Enid Blyton Gift Guide I started wondering what the children in her books would be unwrapping on Christmas day. It was a very different world in the 1940s, 50s and 60s especially in the idyllic bubble Blyton’s characters inhabit. There was no care for consumerism or fashion – TV barely features so no incessant adverts for the latest toy or must-have gadget.

On the whole I think Blyton’s characters would get very wholesome gifts – and nowhere near as many as children get today. There would be home-made gifts, practical gifts, books, games, a few toys…

I won’t include ‘standard’ gifts like hankies and novels but here are some more specific presents that some of Blyton’s characters might have unwrapped once upon a Christmas.

The Presents of Adventure

My first thought is that Kiki would have to get something to eat. Probably a big bag of her favourite sunflower seeds. She does love raspberries but in the 40s they would have been seasonal and not flown into the supermarket from around the world! If she’s lucky Jack might let her peck one out of a jar of jam, though.

Jack himself would get film for his camera as he goes through that at a rate of knots, taking photos of birds. I could also see him getting at least one more bird book, and perhaps a new pair of field glasses.

With Philip’s passion for wildlife he might also get some field glasses, and a book about whatever animal he is currently mad about.

The girls were harder to come up with ideas for as they don’t have a hobby like the boys do. One year (and only once as she would go wild and punch him!) Philip might buy Dinah a book about insects – complete with lots of pictures. On the plus side she would never keep it and Philip would then get to enjoy it.

I rather thought Lucy-Ann might get a ship in a bottle once after the events of The Ship of Adventure, she did love the one Philip had. Or Jack might give her a framed photo of the family, as she’s very appreciative at having one.

related post⇒ The Ship of Adventure

Bill would get a steady stream of hats to keep his bald head warm (perhaps wonky knitted ones from Lucy-Ann) and Mrs Mannering/Cunningham would get treated to what every mother would get – bottles of scent and other toiletries.

I like to think that Gus would send a gift to the family after the events of The Circus of Adventure. Being a prince it would probably be a very extravagant gift like a huge hamper of Tauri-Hessia’s finest delicacies.

Five Go Shopping for Christmas Presents

Timmy’s was the most obvious – a great big smelly bone!

Uncle Quentin would get a new diary and calendar that he would a) forget to write in and b) forget to check.

Aunt Fanny would get token gifts from the children and probably nothing from Quentin as he would forget!

Anne would always be excited by a new doll, and later on she collected horse-brasses so those would make a good gift.

George would only want boyish things. To her mother’s dismay Julian, Dick and Anne might club together and buy her some hair clippers – or a gift voucher for a haircut.

related post⇒ The Famous Five short stories, part 1

Julian and Dick were actually harder to think of ideas for than the girls. Julian has expressed an interest in drawing and painting a few times so he could get some good pencils or paints. Other than that they would both get typical boys’ things like pen-knives and batteries for their torches.

“Oh a railway station! Just what I wanted! Who gave me this marvellous station?”

“A new doll – with eyes that shut! I shall call her Betsy-May. She looks just like a Betsy-May!”

“I say – what a whopping great book – all about aeroplanes. From Aunt Fanny! How decent of her.”

“Timothy! Look that Julian has given you – a collar with big brass studs all round.”

“Who’s this from? Oh – from Mr Roland. Look, Julian, a pocket-knife with three blades!”

“Who gave you that book about dogs, George?”

– Some of the Five’s presents in Five Go Adventuring Again.

The Secret of the Christmas Presents

Prince Paul would be an extravagant gift-giver, like Gus. He would no doubt give everyone lots of wonderful Baronian chocolate, but he would also give the children anything they had expressed an interest in no matter the expense.

None of the children are materialistic but I can imagine Peggy or Nora admiring a fine coat in a shop window and Prince Paul buying it. The boys might lust after a Mecanno set or a model air plane and he would instantly snap that up too.

The children might have a harder time shopping for Prince Paul, I mean what do you buy for a Prince that has everything he could ever want?

The Land of Christmas Presents

Jo, Bessie and Fanny live in a very poor house so Christmas would probably be quite an understated affair. Moon-Face and Silky would certainly send some treats like google buns, toffee shocks and pop cakes their way, though. The Saucepan Man would likely mishear and send pheasants instead of presents.

In return the children would send some hand-made gifts. Jo might carve them something out of wood while the girls did some sewing – some pot protectors would make a good gift for the Saucepan Man!

The Mystery of the Christmas Presents

Fatty would be certain to get plenty of disguises – even if he had to buy them for himself.

related post⇒ Putting the Five Find-Outers in order

Buster would be spoiled with dog biscuits, a bone and perhaps one of those little tartan coats for dogs.

Fatty would get the other FFOs gifts to aid in their detecting. Sherlock Holmes stories for them to study, notebooks to write their clues and suspects in. He would buy Bets the nicest notebook and a pen to go with it, as she’s his favourite.

What else might our favourite characters get? Let me know in the comments!

Posted in Characters | Tagged Christmas, Christmas Presents, Gifts, The Adventure Series, The Enchanted Wood, The Famous Five, The Secret Series | 2 Comments

Monday #298

Posted on December 17, 2018 by Fiona

Just one more week until Christmas!

What would Blyton’s characters get for Christmas?

and

Inscriptions in books: books given with love

It is no good going down a factory chimney, because there are never any children below with stockings to be filled.

Wise words from One Christmas Eve – a short story where Father Christmas makes exactly that mistake thanks to some new reindeer and gets himself in rather a lot of bother.

Christmas Treats is another of those nice Hodder collections to have come out recently. This one has 29 Christmassy stories collected from various books.

Posted in Blog talk | Tagged Christmas, Christmas Treats, December, Monday, One Christmas Eve | Leave a comment

Five Go to Smuggler’s Top, part 2

Posted on December 15, 2018 by Fiona

In part one we saw Kirrin Cottage crushed by an ash tree and the children packed off to the mysterious Smuggler’s Top where they meet the Lenoirs and Block.

The problem of Timmy

Up until now Timmy has been hidden away at Smuggler’s Top, and aptly, being smuggled from the secret passage to George’s room at night and back again in the morning. Block, having seen them together in the town, however, is on to them.

When Timmy barks during lunch Julian swears Block reacts. Mr Lenoir, however, definitely does hear and quizzes the children. He isn’t impressed by the children’s silly suggestions as to what he might have heard instead of a dog. Of course none of them lie, not outright. They all with complete honestly say at that very moment they cannot hear a dog.

It’s Block that takes things further and hides himself behind some curtains in the hope of catching the children with Timmy. Sooty sees him first, though, and they pile on in the pretence they have caught a burglar. The best part is that Timmy gets excited and nips Block’s leg and Sooty is left pretending he did the biting!

related post⇒ Top 11 Famous Five moments

If that’s not bad enough, Timmy ends up trapped in his secret passage because Uncle Quentin is to stay in Sooty’s room, and the study is now being used by Mr Lenoir. On the up-side it really kick-starts the mystery.

First George gets herself locked up for sneaking into the study to try to rescue her beloved Timmy. George being George escapes via a rope ladder, and sees Block doing something strange (more on that later). That night, Sooty tries to rescue Timmy by sneaking into his room where Uncle Quentin is asleep – and both he and Uncle Quentin disappear!

The Mystery

So let’s backtrack a little – the mystery really began when Sooty tells them about lights that flash in the night from the tower and takes the boys to see them one night. It’s not the children’s favourite suspect, Mr Lenoir, as he’s snoring away in bed.

Then of course Sooty and Uncle Quentin disappear in the middle of the night.

Mr Lenoir threatens to – and does – call the police, which makes him look altogether more innocent than before.

Julian and Dick pull the we are boys card and go off to poke around Mr Barling’s house only to discover he’s gone off on holiday. George, left behind as she’s a girl (Julian tried to placate her by saying she is as good as a boy and therefore needs to look after Anne and Marybelle), gets one up on them when she searches Sooty’s room and finds another secret passage under the window-seat.

All about Block

There is something mysterious about Block from early on. After Mr Lenoir, he is the children’s top suspect though they think he’s just following orders.

After the boys see the flashing lights they check and Block is asleep in bed – but the man who was in the tower then walks into Block’s room and vanishes.

Then, on her escape from her room George passes Mr Barling’s house and sees Block there talking to Mr Barling. Firstly Block seems to be listening to Mr Barling and secondly he is also asleep in bed at the same time.

Does Block have an (even more) evil twin?

It seems likely when they see Block and Mr Barling in the catacombs later, while Block is in bed with a headache. For a servant Block spends a lot of time in bed during the day! His ruse is only rumbled when Mr Lenoir has Julian go to wake Block and Julian discovers what’s really under the bedclothes.

The return of Timmy

Timmy has been missing for quite a lot of the book and now it is time for him to make a triumphant return.

Firstly Uncle Quentin and Sooty are being held hostage in the catacombs by Mr Barling (there’s a few pages of mostly just conversation and expose) until Timmy shows up. Timmy does what Timmy does best when faced with enemies – he attacks and chases Mr Barling and his henchman off. So Sooty and Uncle Quentin are safe but still very lost. Timmy can’t seem to lead them back to Smuggler’s Top but instead takes them to the marshes edge and abandons them.

Why would he do that? Well, he just has a feeling that George is in trouble.

Timmy didn’t hear. He was too far away. But the dog suddenly felt uneasy. He stopped and listened. He could hear nothing of course. But Timmy knew that George was in danger. He knew that his beloved little mistress needed him.

His ears did not tell him, nor did his nose. But his heart told him. George was in danger!

He comes to her (and the others’) rescue, just like the did Sooty and Uncle Quentin. This time he fends off three men who are tying up George, Julian, Dick and Anne in the same cave Sooty and Uncle Quentin were in earlier.

In a twist of fate Timmy himself needs rescued not long after that – as he falls into the marsh. Usually once the children are rescued it’s all jolly times again, so it’s a change to have another heart-in-the-mouth few pages before the book ends. Uncle Quentin is, perhaps surprisingly, compassionate and risks his life in saving Timmy.

The book still isn’t over, though. There is still the Five’s triumphant reveal to the police that they’ve solved the mystery and Timmy escorts the police to find Mr Barling etc in the tunnels – he scared them off so thoroughly the second time they got entirely lost.

My usual nitpicks, questions and observations

The Timmy’s name saga continues. His first mention is as Timothy, in Blyton’s narrative, the remainder of the chapter she calls him Timmy. Uncle Quentin is the only other one to call him Timothy. In the first chapter Julian calls him Tim, Fanny calls him Timmy, George calls him Tim, then Timmy twice and then Tim and Timmy both in the same speech. Not that it’s hugely important, they are all forms of the same name but it is interesting to see the gradual change from Timothy to Timmy. Past the first chapter or so he’s always Timmy.

Continue reading →

Posted in Book reviews | Tagged Block, Five Go to Smuggler's Top, Mr Barling, The Famous Five, Timmy, Uncle Quentin | 1 Comment

Enid Blyton Christmas gift guide 2018

Posted on December 12, 2018 by Fiona

The Enid Blyton brand has really been growing lately, with ‘new’ books coming out and there have been some tie-in products over the last few years as well. Here’s a guide of what to get for your Blyton-loving friends and family, or indeed, what to suggest they could get for you!

Books, books and more books

Books are always a good gift.

Why not go for one of the new Hodder short story collections which bring together seasonal tales into a single volume.

How about Christmas Treats or Winter Stories if you want to give something apt for the current season, or Springtime Stories or Summer Holiday Stories to give them something to read next year?

Christmas Treats £6.99, Winter Stories £4.99, Springtime Stories £6.99, Summer Holiday Stories £6.99 All from Waterstones.

Or, for those that find them funny there are even more Famous Five for Grown-Up books by Bruno Vincent. For those who enjoyed Five on Brexit Island there’s now Five Escape Brexit Island, and for those who liked Five Go on a Strategy Away Day they might also like Five at the Office Christmas Party.

Five Escape Brexit Island £5.99, Five at the Office Christmas Party £5.99, both Waterstones.

Related post⇒ Five Go on a Strategy Away Day

For fans of The Secret Seven there’s a new continuation book by Pamela Butchart Mystery of the Skull.

Mystery of the Skull £6.99 at Waterstones.

Also new is a Treasury of Bedtime Stories which is a chunky hardback book of over 300 pages. It is fully illustrated as well, and the illustrations look quite nice from what I’ve seen. Modern, but not as ‘whacky’ as some other recent ones. There’s also a Wishing Chair Collection containing

Treasure of Bedtime Stories £17.94 on Amazon

Of course you could always go with an old classic (or two). If you’ve got cash to splash a first edition of their favourite title would make a great gift.

Gifts for grown-ups

Here’s one I’ve asked for myself – a light in the shape of a book. And not just any book – a book with Five on a Treasure Island as the cover. It’s a pity it’s not the original edition cover but I was just happy to find a Blyton one at all.

Classic Enid Blyton book light £44.95 at Klevercase. (They do lots of classic books as lamps, Kindle covers and file storage boxes. I want it all!)

Something else I’ve asked for is a card game:

By Jove! Entertainment For Kids – Five Go Parenting. It has 100 activities and games for children. I have no idea what to except if I get it, I mean it’s a game based on a book based on the Famous Five series.

There are two more games by the same company too. What Ho! After Dinner Games Five Give Up the Booze has 50 after dinner games and Dash It All! Trivia Quiz Five on Brexit Island has 400 British Questions.

five on brexit island dash it all trivia quiz

By Jove! Entertainment For Kids £10, What Ho! After Dinner Games £10, Dash It All! Trivia Quiz Five on Brexit Island £10, all Amazon.

These are hard to find online anywhere if you’ve forgotten the names of the company or individual games. They don’t have Famous Five or Bruno Kay on them, and Enid Blyton card game doesn’t seem to bring them up either. Still, they are low in stock so someone must be finding them!

There are also some 250 piece jigsaws based on the Bruno Vincent books. Blyton jigsaws for Grown-Ups should surely be more challenging than 250 pieces? I’ve not asked for any of these mostly because it would only take me fifteen minutes to complete one!

Five Go Parenting Jigsaw £5.99, Five Lose Dad in the Garden Centre Jigsaw £5.99, Five on Brexit Island Jigsaw £5.99 all on Amazon.

There is the jigsaw I got last year, though, and that’s 1,000 pieces.Famous Five 1,000 piece puzzle £16.95 on Amazon

Gifts for children*

Beyond the obvious of any book Blyton ever wrote, there are some toys and games as well. They are pretty much all based on Noddy: Toyland Detective, though. You can get items from other series but they are harder to find, more expensive and liable to be more fragile as they are much older. I’ve found Noddy Fuzzy Felts from the 50s and 90s but I wouldn’t necessarily set a child loose with them.

related post⇒ Modern Noddy in Fuzzy Felt Toyland

There are some sticker/ activity books like Let’s Investigate and Fun With Friends.

Let’s Investigate £4.99, Fun With Friends £4.99, both on Amazon

Plus this year there’s a one-off edition of This Is Magazine, all about Enid Blyton. It comes with a few freebies including pencils and stickers, as well as having 200 pages of stories, puzzles and quizzes.

This Is Enid Blyton £4.99, DC Thompsons (also in WH Smiths etc)

Or there’s a Noddy floor puzzle and a set of four Noddy jigsaws.

24 piece floor puzzle £8.79, Noddy 4 in 1 puzzle £10.63, both on Amazon.

And as for toys there are various figurines and playsets like plush toys, friction cars, craft supplies etc.

Who What Where Tablet £19.99, Set of four 8 inch plush toys £14.95, Noddy Rev N Go Car £13.29 Jumbo chubby colouring crayons £3.25. All on Amazon – though I’ve found the car for £5 in-store at B&M Bargains, branded as Oiu-Oui (the French version).

Related post⇒How to get Blyton’s style: Baby edition

P.S. I am not affiliated with Amazon in any way, and I get nothing for posting links to their items. It’s just that a lot of this stuff is only available on Amazon (I did check Argos, Smyths etc for the toys).

*Or people of any age!

Posted in Purchases, Toys and Games | Tagged Christmas, Famous Five for Grown Ups, Gifts, Noddy Toyland Detective, Presents | 4 Comments

Monday #297

Posted on December 10, 2018 by Fiona

Just two weeks till Christmas now!

Enid Blyton gift guide

and

Five Go to Smuggler’s Top part 2

[The tree] stood in the hall, with coloured candles in holders clipped to the branches, and gay, shining ornaments hanging from top to bottom. Silver strands of frosted string hung down from the branches like icicles, and Anne had put bits of white cotton-wool here and there to look like snow. It really was a lovely sight to see.

George’s first Christmas tree, though for her it’s spoiled as it’s provided by her nemesis Mr Roland in Five Go Adventuring Again.

Five Go Adventuring Again

Noddy Meets Father Christmas is one of those rare(ish) books that could be called Christmassy without being set at Christmas. Father Christmas, of course, exists all year around, and in this book he is visiting Toyland to start ordering toys for the next Christmas. Noddy takes Father Christmas to lots of villages and towns where he can discuss his needs for toys and even gives feedback on last years toys. It all becomes a bit meta when he reveals he has been asked for lots of N&B dolls which turn out to be Noddy and Big Ears dolls!

noddy meets father christmas

Posted in Blog talk | Tagged December, Five Go Adventuring Again, Monday, Noddy Meets Father Christmas | Leave a comment

The Famous Five covers through the years, part 1: 1940s-1990s

Posted on December 8, 2018 by Fiona

The Famous Five books have been in print for nearly 80 years now, and along the way they have appeared with a lot of different looks from the original Eileen Soper covers to TV tie-ins and famous illustrators.

We will all have our favourites – often based on whichever copies we happened to have as children – but let’s take a look at the various different designs.

The inimitable Eileen Soper

All 21 books we first published by Hodder and Stoughton (later called just Hodder) and had their original dust jackets (and internal illustrations) done by the wonderful Eileen Soper. I just love her work. Her depictions of the Five are just how I imagine them, and of course they are perfectly in-keeping with the era in which the books were written.

The first 10 books actually had two Eileen Soper covers – a first edition and then another from 1951. Five on Kirrin Island Again has three – an extra one to correct the direction of the telescope (George looks through it from the wrong end on the first edition cover). Five Fall Into Adventure is the only one where there aren’t two different scenes on the cover, it has the exact same illustration.

Cover from “Five Go Adventuring Again” illustrated by Eileen Soper

Hodder & Stoughton 1942 / Hodder & Stoughton 1951 / Hodder & Stoughton 1943 / Hodder & Stoughton 1951.

Hodder & Stoughton 1945 / Hodder & Stoughton 1951 / Hodder & Stoughton 1950 / Hodder & Stoughton 1951.

As you can see the title font and Enid Blyton’s name changes between the two versions (again except Five Fall Into Adventure which uses the same title font), from Five on a Hike Together they all use the second versions’ style. All the new versions of these covers were published in 1951, so I assume when Five on a Hike Together was to be published there was no point in doing two versions and they just stuck with the newer style.

Then, after various forays into other (and in my humble opinion inferior) artists, there are many later covers using the original Soper artwork.

Five on a Treasure Island uses the first edition illustration eight more times and the second impression another once. Only one is a facsimile with the full cover – the other add various borders and new text. As the series goes on there are less reprints (39 for Five on a Treasure Island, 23 for Five Go Adventuring Again and down to and 17 from Five on a Secret Trail onwards) but there are still at least three later Soper impressions for each book in the series.

Hodder 1997 / Hodder 1997 (hardback) / Hodder 2000 (colour edition) / BCA 2006 .

Birch Tree Publishing 2013 / Birch Tree Publishing 2015 / Hodder 2017 (hardback) / Hodder 2017.

With the first Birch Tree one I wonder why they bothered using the original artwork seeing as they cropped it so small!

Hodder & Stoughton 1954 / Hodder 1997 / Hodder 2000 / Hodder 2017.

Hodder & Stoughton 1955 / Hodder 1997 / Hodder 2000 / Hodder 2017.

I prefer the 2017 editions as they show more or less the whole cover illustration and I even quite like the subtle changes to the colours. It’s nice, though, to firstly see the books being republished so many times and that (for the moment) the series is bookended by Eileen Soper’s instantly recognisable work.

Betty Maxey

From Five on a Hike Together and onwards the second editions are Knight paperbacks with Betty Maxey covers (some have Betty Maxey internally, other retained the Eileen Sopers). Betty Maxey, in my opinion, is far better at covers than she is at internal illustrations.

Up to Five Have Plenty of Fun each book had three or four Betty Maxey Knight paperbacks, and then a Brockhampton edition with the same artwork. The Knights were sometimes the same design with different borders or text and sometimes there were two different designs. Five Go Down to the Sea and the following two books had two Betty Maxey Knights, and the rest had only one.

five-on-a-treasure-island-5.jpg knight 4

Knight 1967 / Knight 1969 / Knight 1970 / Brockhampton 1974.

Knight 1967 / Knight 1969 / Knight 1970 / Brockhampton 1974.

As you can see Betty Maxey’s style for covers is very different to that of her internal illustrations. They are much more timeless for a start, and they don’t feature people with missing body parts either! I would even go as far as saying they are quite skilled.

A few impressions later Betty Maxey was back with some new covers, these ones with The Famous 5 on them, and the children looking quite like the cast of the 70s TV series. Strangely she is only credited as having done five covers, from Five Go to Smuggler’s Top through to Five Get Into Trouble. The rest of the series was done in the same style, in the same year, but by an uncredited artist or artists.

All Knight 1983.

From what I can tell these cover illustrations were used twice, next by Hodder and Stoughton in 1986, but with a blue border. Very few of these seem to exist as very few have been recorded on the Enid Blyton Society website. Five Go Off to Camp is the only Maxey example there.

These Betty Maxey covers are definitely more 70s than the previous ones. As you can see, Anne looks a lot like Jennifer Thanisch, and even the boys’ stylish jackets from the TV show feature. They are different in style to her other covers, with sharper detail rather than being gently blurred.

related post⇒The Famous Five TV Series: Even more funny captions

TV Tie Ins

Both the 70s series and the 90s series have featured on book covers. Up to Five on Kirrin Island Again there were two 70s photo covers, one with a border (not all of them were red) and one which is styled like some of the 70s series annuals.

Knight 1978 / Hodder & Stoughton 1979 / Knight, 1978 / Hodder & Stoughton 1979.

As you might notice the same photo has been used for Five Run Away Together’s second cover and Five on Kirrin Island’s first one. They’ve just flipped it! I’m not sure which episode the photo is from as both feature George’s boat.

As I said above, there are a further sixteen covers with drawn children that look like the 70s cast, but not credited to Betty Maxey. As you can see they are very similar in style to Maxey’s. Again they all seem to have the blue border version, but few examples are available to prove it.

Knight 1983, Knight 1983, Hodder & Stoughton 1986, Hodder & Stoughton 1986

The 90s series also had a photo cover for each book.

All Hodder 1996.

related post⇒The Famous Five 90s Series: Some more (funny) captions

Five on a Treasure Island also had two very similar covers from the 1950s Children’s Film Foundation series.

Klett 1986 / Lektorklett 2009

With there being 21 books and between 17 and 39 different covers for each I’m going to split this into two posts. Next time; my era of Famous Five covers, truly modern covers and the famous illustrators series.

Posted in Illustrations and artwork | Tagged 70s Famous Five TV Series, 90s Famous Five TV Series, Betty Maxey, Children's Film Foundation, Dust Jackets, Eileen Soper, Hodder, Hodder and Stoughton, Illustrators, Knight Books, The Famous Five | 4 Comments

Monday #296

Posted on December 3, 2018 by Fiona

It’s December now, and you know what that means. It’s time to get festive!

A guide to all our Christmas posts

and

The Famous Five covers through the years, 1940s-1990s

“Now let me see,” said Father Christmas, taking out a fat notebook. “I want to go to Bouncing Ball Village. I hear that some of the balls I gave to children last year hadn’t got much bounce in them. I must inquire into that.”

Father Christmas is ferried around by Noddy, in Noddy Meets Father Christmas, to start putting in orders and requests for the coming Christmas.

Winter Stories is the latest Hodder story collection to come out. It has thirty stories about snowmen, sleigh rides, Santa’s elves and all sorts of wintry delights.

Posted in Blog talk | Tagged December, Monday, Noddy Meets Father Christmas, Winter Stories | 2 Comments

November 2018 round up

Posted on December 1, 2018 by Fiona

What I have read

I have achieved my Goodreads target (again!) I’m on 84 books, so now I will see how many I can get. I’m not going to up the goal this time though, as I know I’ll be busy with Christmas soon.

A is for Alibi (Kinsey Millhone #1) – Sue Grafton
No Time Like the Past (Chronicles of St Mary’s #5) – Jodi Taylor
London Belles (Article Row #1) – Annie Groves
What Could Possibly Go Wrong? (Chronicles of St Mary’s #6) – Jodi Taylor
Ships, Stings and Wedding Rings (Chronicles of St Mary’s #6.5) – Jodi Taylor
Lies, Damned Lies and History (Chronicles of St Mary’s #7) – Jodi Taylor
The Great St Mary’s Day Out (Chronicles of St Mary’s #7.5) – Jodi Taylor
My Name is Markham (Chronicles of St Mary’s #7.6)
Home for Christmas (Article Row #2) – Annie Groves
Why Mummy Swears – Gill Sims

And I’ve still to finish:

Drums of Autumn (Outlander #4) – Diana Gabaldon
The Diary of a Bookseller – Shaun Bythell
Five Go to Smuggler’s Top – part one of my review can be found here
My Sweet Valentine (Article Row #3) – Annie Groves

I actually don’t think I’ve picked up Drums of Autumn since last month and I really need to get on with it! I’ve been too busy re-reading the St Mary’s Series. There are a few new ones I’ve not read and I felt the need to remind myself of what has happened.

What I have watched

Hollyoaks
Quite a lot of Cbeebies, Brodie now particularly likes In the Night Garden
More of Taskmaster
Lego Masters series 2
Only Connect

What I have done

Seen Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindlewald at the cinema
Started my Christmas shopping, but not done nearly enough of it!
Did an Armistice Day display at work
Uncovered some very interesting books at work and moved around a lot of very old books behind the scenes to try and get them organised
Took Brodie to feed the ducks in the rain
Trips to the park when the weather allowed
Been very pleased when Brodie slept through the night for the very first time, just a shame he’s only done it twice more since then.

Posted in Personal Experiences | Tagged Doing, Monthly round up, November, Reading, Round Up, Watching | 2 Comments

Inscriptions in books 3: It’s not her book, it’s mine!

Posted on November 29, 2018 by Fiona

My previous posts looked at books with one clear owner, be that evidenced by a nice prize giving label or hand-written names and addresses. I have, however, lots of books whose ownership isn’t quite so clear. Sibling arguments or second-hand ownership has been scrawled all over them and it’s difficult to even see who had it first!

My family are not innocent in all this

Many Enid Blyton books I’ve owned over the years have been handed down to me. First they were my owned by one of my mum’s older sisters, then they were my mum’s and her younger brother’s. Some of them then went to my cousins, then to me and the odd one to my sister. There has therefore been various pen and pencil disputes over who currently owned each book…

related post⇒ My childhood books, part 7

The Mystery of the Hidden House presumably first belonged to my aunt Elizabeth as her name is in green felt tip, sideways on the endpaper. My mum has then added her name to the title page in regular pen. That’s nice and neat, at least, some later entries will include a lot of scribbling and scoring out.

Bimbo and Topsy was first my cousin Shona’s, she’s put her name in red pen twice. Then it was my sister’s, possibly the only Blyton she owned and she’s put one of her little name stickers inside too.

Tales of Toyland is a bit more of a mess (it has no spine!) and that has Elizabeth’s name, then my mum’s name and address, her name in ‘bubble’ letters her name at least twice more, once scored out, and 25 1/2p.

I bet there’s more but I replaced the tattiest hardbacks and all the paperbacks in my late teens and early twenties. They now live in my parents’ loft, and as dedicated as I am, I’m not going up there and raking around for even more scribbles.

The least said about the mess inside Cliff Castle and Smuggler Ben, the better!

There’s no excuse for this – all my Mum’s favourite bands in crayon on the back endpapers. (She blames her brother, though!)

Some of those nice ‘this book belongs to’ labels have been spoiled by new owners, and so have one or two lovely prize giving stickers

Noddy Meets Father Christmas has belonged to Kenny and Brian, who I imagine were probably brothers. It’s impossible to work out who staked their claim first as names have been written and scribbled over a few times. Brian looks like he had the last word, though.

Secret Seven on the Trail was ‘shared’ three brothers. Philip Mutton pencilled his name in rather big writing on the endpapers. The ‘This book belongs to’ space has both Colin Terence Mutton and Cristopher Gordon Mutton, it looks like Colin’s name was the later addition. There’s also a drawing of a ‘Cowboys and Indians’ scene on the endpapers, I wonder which Mutton boy was the artist.

Puzzle for the Secret Seven was first owned by Margaret and Maysia Sciepanow, 7b New Romny (I wonder if that’s meant to be Romney?). Perhaps Margaret and Maysia are twins, or just friends in the same class at school. Their names have been written in pencil and gone over in pen. Then the book was owned by Richard Timothy Smith, Leybury Way, Scraptoft Leicester. Age 10, 1974. He has scored out 1957 and added 1974. Just to make it completely clear the name label has Now Richard Smith above it.

Shock for the Secret Seven was originally in the possession of Andrew M Jobling Frendsham Vale, Gaywood, Surrey. He added ANDY Jobling above that, too. Jane Brighton has pencilled her name over Andrew’s at some point, but before or after ANDY was written?

The Queen Elizabeth Family was Awarded to Linda Williams in 1966 but this has been scored out and then in green pen Sarah Trewick has written her name and 1993.

Tales After Tea has another spoiled prize giving label. – I can’t tell who this was presented to for regular attendance at Sunday school, 1959. Loretta Joughin has written her name over it, and gone over the thin blue ballpoint writing below with the same thicker pen.

She has also written LORETTA M. M. E. JOUGHIN THIS BOOK BELONGS TO ME IF ITS LOST BOX ITS EARS SEND IT TOO ME. And, bizarrely, nylon Deborah allan, whatever that means!

What’s wrong with just neatly putting a line through a past owner’s name and then adding your own?

Not even personal messages to the original receiver are safe sometimes

Enid Blyton’s Circus Book has an inscription that can barely be read now, thanks to it being viciously scored out. I can make out To Michael but the surname is obscured, and with love from a name which might be Dorothy (thanks to Ellie for working that out) Baum. There’s no new name written in this book, so I wonder if this was a new owner or just that Michael no longer liked Dorothy.

And the rest, in various levels of book desecration

The Astonishing Ladder and Other Stories has a stamp on the endpapers reading B.M. Dodds, Edward Street, Jarrow. This has been neatly scored through with a single line and the name Joyce written above. I cannot make out Joyce’s surname, the closest I can get is Yiceymoug and I’m not sure that’s even a name!

Saucers Over the Moor by Malcolm Saville was once part of West Sussex County Libraries Junior Library and is stamped 8 Jul 883. Perhaps that was meant to be 1983? It then belonged to J Barron and S Barron who added that it was the 8th in the set. I hope they did own it later, and didn’t just write in a library book (pretty silly to use your own name in that case).

related post⇒ If you like Blyton: The Lone Pine series by Malcolm Saville

In the Fifth at a Malory Towers has Cynthia Lorrymann and H Reid written on the front endpapers, neither being scored out. Then This book belongs to Nicola Wood and is signed N. Wood. Both pages of rear endpapers also have the name Nicola Wood on them.

Don’t Be Silly Mr Twiddle has quite a lot of writing in it. The first front endpaper reads Carolyn Baldwin roman road. southwick. sussex. The second page reads Margaret Jackla in blue and Carol in red. Below these are some coin rubbings it looks like. The title page has ~~Margaret Jackla 69 Eaton Place London S.W.1. 1953-59 1959 1969~~. ~~School adress Our Lady’s Convent Oxford Rd Abingdon Berks~~. Carolyn Baldwin, Roman Road, Southwick is below all that scored out writing. The next page has This book belongs to Margaret Jackla. On top of all that there’s a drawing beside Mrs Twiddle’s face on the title page, I DON’T written at the top of another page and what looks like Lesley Rosebun at the top of another.

The Three Golliwogs is even worse. ELLEN FISHER. Tammys book. Miss Ellen Fisher, Westthorpe Road, Killamarsh, WB Sheffield S31 8ET. Telephone Sheff 482876. By Jane Fisher is all on the first endpaper. Jane Louise Fisher, Simcrest Avenue, Killamarsh, Sheffield s31 8fd is on the second. Perhaps these girls were cousins and one inherited the book from the other? Or perhaps aunt and niece. The post codes don’t match the addresses, though. If you swap the 8s for 1s they do – I wonder if there was a big post code shakeup in Sheffield!

I have to add that despite my family’s bad book owning habits I have never scribbled over a book in my life!

Next time: Books given with love.

Posted in Personal Experiences, Purchases | Tagged Inscriptions, Prize Giving, Sunsay School | 6 Comments

Monday #295

Posted on November 26, 2018 by Fiona

This Wednesday marks the fiftieth anniversary of Enid Blyton’s death. She died on November 28th, 1968 at the age of 71.

As a child I just assumed she was still around, still writing, as I received new books for birthdays and Christmases. Being young and not yet having a great concept of how old my mum was or indeed how old the books she passed to me were (I didn’t read any boring parts like the publisher or published date!) it didn’t strike me as unlikely that an author would have written a Famous Five book in 1942 and more in the mid 1990s. Although some of the language was old fashioned the stories themselves were pretty timeless and to me, felt like they could have been freshly penned.

When I found out the truth I felt equal parts silly and upset. My favourite author was gone, she had died long before I was even born. That expanse of time between us was the worst bit – we had felt so close before. I got over it, though, mostly by throwing myself into reading all the books of hers that I possessed. She wrote so many that there are still a huge number I don’t have, more than I could hope for from any living author today.

So here’s to Enid Blyton, gone but never forgotten.

Inscriptions in books: It’s not hers, it’s mine!

and

November round up

The Family at Red Roofs is a heart-warming tale of a family rallying together during hard times. The Jackson family have two disasters in a short space of time – Mother is taken very ill and Father is lost when his ship sinks in the Atlantic. Mollie, Peter, Michael and Shirley, along with their housekeeper Jenny Wren somehow keep everything ticking over and paid for while Mrs Jackson recuperates and Mr Jackson is searched for.

Pat – and Isabel as you can’t have one without the other – O’Sullivan are the twins from which The Twins at St Clare’s gets its name. They are, to start with, snobbish and full of the idea that they are important somebodies. Attending St Clare’s rather quickly teaches them that they are actually rather nobodies. They don’t reach the rebellious heights of the bold, bad girl Elizabeth Allen but they don’t ingratiate themselves at first with the other St Clare’s girls. Pat in particular refuses to cow to the orders of the older girl.

Like Elizabeth they do both come around in the end and settle into life at St Clare’s, making lots of friends along the way.

Posted in Blog talk | Tagged Monday, November, Pat and Isabel, St Clare's, The Family at Red-Roofs, The O'Sullivan Twins | 2 Comments

Five Go to Smuggler’s Top

Posted on November 23, 2018 by Fiona

Here we are at book #4 in the series and, as I’ve probably said a hundred times or more, this is my absolute favourite Famous Five book.

It won first place in my list of favourite Blyton books, and unsurprisingly was also top of my favourite Famous Five books.
It features twice on my list of top Famous Five moments.
One of its quotes appears in my list of favourite Blyton quotes.
I’ve also written about it in 10 Facts About the Famous Five and Me, and about my Smuggler’s Top birthday cake here.

And yet I’ve never reviewed it (my review of the dramatised audio doesn’t count!) so I’m ready to change that today.

I haven’t actually read this in over six years (!) so it’s definitely time to put that right as well.

Five Go to Smuggler’s Top

Now, as much as I love the Kirrin-based adventures it’s exciting that the fourth book takes us somewhere new, after summer, winter and summer at Kirrin. They haven’t been at Kirrin since the summer of Five Run Away Together, and we are now at Easter the next year.

related post⇒Five Run Away Together

Smuggler’s Top is the perfect change of scenery for the Five and for us readers. Although it is also coastal it is as different from Kirrin as you can imagine. Instead of blue seas and clear skies there are miles of dangerous, misty marshes. Rather than a country cottage surrounded by moors and beaches Smuggler’s Top is a house perched on top of Castaway Hill and surrounded by a walled town.

The only way to get to Smuggler’s Top is via a narrow causeway road – step or drive off that and you will sink into the marshes unless you have memorised one of the narrow twisting paths that reportedly go from the mainland to Castaway Hill. Then, through the old archway and through the steep, narrow cobbled streets to the door of the large, brooding house which boasts at least one tower. I will leave the mysteries of what lies inside Smuggler’s Top for later.

It’s very old, built on the top of a queer hill surrounded by marshes over which the sea once flowed. The hill was once an island but now it’s just a tall hill rising up from the marsh. Smuggling went on there in the old days. It’s a very peculiar place, so I’ve heard.
– Uncle Quentin.

Out of the slowly moving mists rose a tall, steep hill, whose rocky sides were as steep as cliffs. The hill seemed to swim in the mists, and to have no roots in the earth. It was covered with buildings which even at that distance looked old and quaint. Some of them even had towers.

The Five were supposed to be having Easter in Kirrin so why are they going to Smuggler’s Top? Because of what happens in my favourite Famous Five chapter. A huge ash tree falls on Kirrin cottage and nearly kills the girls – they are only saved by Julian waking up the household with moments to spare.

This scene is in my favourite moments and favourite quotes posts so I won’t go on about it for a third time. It’s another case of be careful what you wish for as Uncle Quentin had initially thought of having a scientist colleague and his son to stay, but changes his mind after hearing how mad-cap the boy is. And then a very large (though Eileen Soper perhaps overdoes the size in her illustration!) tree falls on the house and prevents any guests staying.

The only problem is that Timmy isn’t allowed at Smuggler’s Top. George initially rages and insists she will go back to school with him, but curiously changes her mind not long after. Rather like in Five Run Away Together she hatches a secret plan and won’t say anything to her cousins. They don’t suspect much, but are puzzled that she didn’t make a fuss of saying goodbye to Timmy and doesn’t look very sad. In true George fashion she has arranged for Timmy to meet them (presumably aided by Alf) a short way along the coast and so he goes along with them anyway.

Smuggler’s Top, the Lenoirs, Block and Mr Barling

Smuggler’s Top and Castaway Hill are inhabited by some strange people.

Mr Lenoir is a tall, thin, fair-haired man whose nose-tip goes white when he’s angry. He is a scientist colleague of Uncle Quentin, and that’s how they ended up invited to stay there. He seems affable, and laughs a lot but he smiles with his mouth and not his eyes, which remain cold.

Mrs Lenoir is a tiny ‘frightened mouse’ of a woman, and very quiet. Pierre ‘Sooty’ Lenoir is a friend of Julian and Dick from school, a class joker and nothing like Mr Lenoir who is actually his real father’s cousin. Sooty and most of the Lenoirs are dark-haired and dark-eyed but his step-father is fair. Fair Lenoirs are no good is apparently a known saying.

And lastly of the Lenoir family, there’s pale, blonde, timid Marybelle, who is ages with Anne.

Being a big house there are, of course, servants. Most of them are unimportant to the story as they stay in the kitchen and don’t have any part in the plot. Sarah (fat, round and jolly) appears to clean rooms and serve meals but most important is Block, Mr Lenoir’s man which I interpret as a valet/butler type role.

He had a queer face. “It’s a shut face. You can’t tell a bit what he’s like inside, because his face is all shut and secret.”
– Anne

“He’s deaf, so you can say what you like, but it’s better not to, because though he doesn’t hear he seems to sense what we say.” – Sooty

Sooty tells the Five about his step-father just after they arrive – saying that he’s a queer sort of man, who seems full of secrets. Strange people visit Smuggler’s Top in great secrecy, and lights shine in the tower some nights. He doesn’t think his father is a smuggler, however. That role if fulfilled by Mr Barling. Everyone knows him, apparently, even the police but they can’t do anything to stop him because he is so powerful. When the Five meet him Anne things that he’s long everywhere his hair, legs and feet, his eyes nose and chin. The Five dislike him, and notice that he seems to dislike Mr Lenoir as much as they do too.

So we have three interesting people there, any or all of them could be a baddie. Are they in on some smuggling ring together? Is one of them a red-herring who is secretly a police detective in disguise? We will have to read on to find out.

An exciting arrival and many secret passages

Luckily for George it is Sooty and Marybelle that answer the door when they arrive. Otherwise, had Mr Lenoir set eyes on Timmy, things would have not gone nearly so well. As is is she, Timmy and the others are swept up to Sooty’s room via the first of our secret passages at Smuggler’s Top. This passage starts in an oak panelled study, and is entered through a sliding panel much like the one at Kirrin Farmhouse. The passage is so narrow it must be traversed in single file up to the inside of Sooty’s bedroom wardrobe (another similarity to Kirrin Farmhouse!).

related post⇒ Five Go Adventuring Again

The next one they explore is the one that leads out onto the hill, and that is found in Marybelle’s room. They have to move the furniture back against the walls and lift the carpet (thankfully it’s not a modern wall-to-wall one!) to reveal a trap-door in the floor. I have to say I wouldn’t have liked a secret passage in my own bedroom as a child. Far too many scary thoughts there, of baddies and ghosts and monsters creeping down it in the dark of night! Anyway, the trap-door is basically a giant pit where they used to chuck people to get rid of them (according to Sooty, anyway). Not wanting to break any bones the children use a rope-ladder to get down, and Timmy is lowered in a big laundry basket.

They are in the catacombs at this point, with passages leading off every which way. There are other pits – including one that leads to Mr Barling’s house – and you wonder how Sooty manages to ever find his way into the town and back especially the first time. After climbing back up the hill and over the wall they wander the town and have a run-in with Block and meet Mr Barling.

Next time: The boys investigate a flashing light in the tower, Timmy bites Block and they are launched into a great big mystery. Also, I will look in detail at Uncle Quentin’s role in this book and have my usual nitpicks and observations for you.

Next post: Five Go to Smuggler’s Top part 2

Posted in Book reviews | Tagged Eileen Soper, Five Go to Smuggler's Top, Sooty Lenoir, The Famous Five | 5 Comments

Inscriptions in books 2: this book belongs to

Posted on November 21, 2018 by Fiona

I’m not one for writing my name inside books. I’ve done it on a few over the years, or for a while I had little stickers, but I rarely felt the need to declare ownership. Perhaps I would have if my sister had been a threat to my collection but she had her own interests and only read a few of my books. We managed to share other books (like the Babysitters’ Club series) without serious arguments.

What’s in a name?

Some children simply wrote their name inside their books, perhaps at their parents’ request, to make sure they found their way back if lent to friends or left at school.

James Bramble wrote his name in Plays for Older Children and Mary Ann Binny wrote hers in The Secret of Killimooin.

Kay Reed used a stamp to put her name in The Book of Fairies.

Sheila Gambles wrote her name on a scrap of blue paper and stuck that into Come to the Circus.

The Mystery of the Burnt Cottage belonged to Lynne Groves, Six Cousins Again to Kerry Shackleton and Five Have Plenty of Fun to Moira Jackson though her name was so faint it was hard to make out.

Martin, Susan and Lesley equally shared Well, Really, Mr Twiddle! and the name Sandra Foley Suzanna Steven (which I assume is actually two names) is in The Mystery of Tally-Ho Cottage.

Five Go to Smuggler’s Top, Five Have a Wonderful Time and Five Fall Into Adventure all have my mum’s name in them, and the last one also has a pretend library lending pocket stuck in the front.

Bright Story Book had just Leeds UTD written in it, but I suspect that meant the owner was a fan not that Leeds United owned the book!

The Secret Seven – David Norman
First Term at Malory Towers – Elizabeth Moulton
House-at-the-Corner – R Grinwade (very faintly)
Snowball the Pony – Kathleen Erherington (twice, once in nice alternating coloured writing)

A few non-Blytons just for fun:

Peggy wrote her name on the board cover(!) of The Gay Dolphin Adventure by Malcolm Saville, while another Saville, Wings Over Witchend belonged to M. Broom.

Sometimes children like to write the date or their address and/or phone number and other important details:

(Where house numbers were given I have omitted them just in case the people happen to still live there! Otherwise they are more or less as written but with capitals and commas to make them easier to read.)

V.E. Wallis wrote his or her name in Treasure Trove Readers Happy Stories in 1946 and Sylvia King added September 1949 to her name in Enid Blyton’s Treasury.

A piece of white paper has been stuck over the inscription in The Blue Story Book but I worked out that it said M Redding of Worple Road, Wimbledon, London SW19, 1945. I wonder who covered it up? A new owner? Someone trying to make it look tidier for selling? Someone who just hated inscriptions in books?

Some strange numbers are in The Jolly Story Book which belonged to Monica Woodcolt. She wrote 21600 1305 07980030105 Dorchester. Is this a secret code?

Both The Mystery of the Spiteful Messages and The Mystery of the Strange Bundle belonged to Deborah Gardner, Corner Cottage, Oving Lane, Whitechurch, Bucks. I couldn’t find Oving Lane on Google maps but I wonder if it’s one of the unnamed roads off Oving Road.

Andrew Worth of Ashley Rd, St Albans, Herts once owned The Fourth Holiday Book and he (or perhaps a later owner) added what might be a phone number – 415 840 – and the note Horses show on T.V.. Lee Barratt of Albert St, Windsor, Berks, England also included a note – KARATE is the Best to A Second Book of Naughty Children.

Below are the more straight-forward names and addresses I found:

The Adventurous Four – Stephen James Lloyd of Bath Road, Cheltenham.
The Green Story Book – John Porter of The Greenway, Enfield
A Story Party at Green Hedges – Sarah Harkess of Elliot Road
Merry Story Book – Mary Lovatt of Centurion, The Avenue, Bognor Regis, Sussex
My Enid Blyton Book – Joy Kirkton of Pembroke Rd, Bulwark, Chepstow
The Rilloby Fair Mystery – Helen Daw of Ashton Close, Oadby Le2 5wh
The Rubadub Mystery – David Lake of Rosebery Ave, Poringland, Norwich.
Summer Term at St Clare’s – Sheila Gambles, Bundle Road, Nether Edge, Sheffield .7.
Four in a Family – This Book Belongs to Miss Susan Joy Bateman, Chester Rd Hudley Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs
The Naughtiest Girl Again – J.M. Camoll? Jersey Road Wolverton.
The Neglected Mountain (Malcolm Saville) – MARION WEATHERHEAD 079477 (is that the start of a mobile number?)

J. M. Camoll?

I’ve learned a lot of new place names doing this, and Poringland was one of many I had to double-check I had gotten right! I also had to very carefully check the spelling of Carol Riggs’ address which was Lon-y-mynydd, Rhiwbina, Cardiff and appeared in Five Run Away Together.

Most disappointingly nobody went past their county, except Lee Barratt who included England. I love it when children add Scotland, Great Britain or The United Kingdom, the World, the Universe… and so on.

But Children of Kidillin belonged to Ann Call who added that she was in Form 2c. I wonder if that was because she was at boarding school and wanted her book back should another girl borrow it. Miss Barbara Lane went one further and put her full address, phone number and the name and address of her school! This book belongs to :- Miss Barbara Lane. St Annes Rd East “Cottesloe” St Annes-on-Sea, Lancs. Telephone St Annes 24432. School. Elmslie Girls’Senior School, Whitegate Drive, Blackpool, Lancs.

I even found one with the shop selling it stamped inside: Hollow Tree House had BOOKS & BYGONES, RIVERSIDE, COURT WEST LOOE, 1/2 PRICE EXCHANGE inside. I had to double check that it did read Looe, which turns out to be a real place. That shop no longer seems to be there, though. I suppose they hoped readers would be reminded of their business and return to them.

Others liked to make it very clear that ‘This book belongs to:’

In The Mystery of the Missing Man is written (caps and all): THIS Book Belongs to Stephen HARMAN, HoldenHurst RD, Bournemouth, Hants. I like the emphatic capitals but I’m not sure what Hants means – Bournemouth is in Dorset. I did not know that until I looked it up, and it turns out that it’s not that far from Poole Harbour and Brownsea Island.

related post: Blyton’s Britain part 2

Five Have a Mystery to Solve and Five on a Treasure Island both read This book belongs to: Alison Smith. I think I bought these together in a charity shop in St Andrews.

The Friendly Story Book features a bit of a puzzle as part of the page has been torn away:

This book bel (ongs to)
Alan Ship-
~~43 Holly~~
Tofts Grove Fold
Rastrick
Brighou (se)
Yorks (hire)
22.1.5-

The missing parts of a few lines weren’t hard to work out but I won’t ever know the rest of his name for sure. I suspect it may be Shipman. The year could be any of the ten years of the 1950s. Perhaps, also, Alan used to live at 43 Holly something and forgot he had moved?

The same Deborah Gardner from above owned The Second Form at St Clare’s. In that she put her name and address as before, but with Aylesbury before Bucks. She also added My name is: Deborah Gardner and I live at: Corner Cottage [etc]. This book belongs to me. I find it really interesting that I’ve ended up with three of Deborah’s books and I would love to know more about her!

Inside The Eleventh Holiday Book is This book belongs to Wendy Bridgewood.

Many children took advantage of the books that have ‘This book belongs to’ already printed, with a space for their name

The Secret Seven books and the main Noddy series both had one in almost every book. Most of them were filled in in my collection.

Secret Seven Mystery – Lesley Adams, Garfield Rd, Newtown, Gr Yarmouth
Secret Seven Fireworks – Susan Woodford, 1C GREENHILL SCHOOL, TENBY
Good Old Secret Seven – Martyn Gull, Norton Grange, Brynhaford Drive OWESTRY
Fun For the Secret Seven – Paul
Noddy Goes to Toyland – Kim Ackfod
Hurrah For Little Noddy and Noddy Gets Into Trouble – Ancellon Hughes, Byrnedon Road, Taylorstown
Here Comes Noddy Again – Nigel & Russell Owens
Noddy and the Magic Rubber – Carol Wakks
Noddy and Tessie Bear – Alice Steek
Be Brave Little Noddy, Noddy Has an Adventure and Noddy and the Aeroplane – Hannah Parish. I think I got these in a second hand bookshop in Alton.
You’re a Good Friend Noddy – Donna and Joanna
Noddy and the Bunkey – Donna House write in pen
Noddy Goes to the Fair – Graham
Mr Plod and Little Noddy (actually on the on endpaper and not in the space provided!) – Mark Bonnington

I said above that most had them filled in and that’s true – the rest I will be using in a later post about disagreements over book ownership.

Also with ‘this book belongs to’ spaces filled in were

Enid Blyton’s Story Book – Charles Andrews 14 I am 710
The Big Noddy Book – David Snow
The Troublesome Three – Malcolm Parkin

Some books belonged to schools or libraries and had their name written or stamped inside:

Plays for Younger Children – St Vincents Open Air School St Leonards on Sea (there were no dates stamped on the library sheet stuck inside, though!) I looked this one up and it looks like it had an interesting history.
Trouble for the Twins – Class 1A Juniors
The Enchanted Wood – Duncan House School
Treasure Trove Readers In Storyland – PROPERTY OF ANTRIM COUNTY EDUCATION COMMITTEE (this one was stamped).
Treasure at Amory’s (Malcolm Saville) – Manchester Public Libraries ’64 674 DI
Rye Royal (Malcolm Saville) – Derbyshire County Library 25FEB1970 N.W. Withdrawn 1/07 School Library Service

related post⇒Birthday Presents and Boots’ Libraries

What have I learned so far from this exercise?

Mostly that I’m awful at reading cursive writing!

Despite many of of my books having been bought in Scottish charity or second hand shops all the addresses are for England and Wales, and mostly England at that.

Children love declaring ownership of their books and feel that their address is also important presumably in case they lose their treasured book.

I have surprisingly few ex-library books, given my low budget for books. I thought I’d have had more.

Posted in Personal Experiences, Purchases | Tagged Inscriptions | 4 Comments

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Five Go to Smuggler’s Top part 3: A focus on Uncle Quentin

The Adventure Series covers through the years part 2

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The inimitable Stuart Tresilian

Macmillan 1952 / Macmillan 1955

Macmillan 1944 / Thames 1958

Macmillan 1946 / Thames 1958

Macmillan 1947 / Thames 1960

Macmillan 1948 / Thames 1960

Macmillan 1949 / Thames 1962

Macmillan 1950 / Thames 1960

All Macmillan first editions

All Macmillan 1947

All Macmillan 1950

All Macmillan 1952

Facsimile covers

All Macmillan 2008

Macmillan 1994 / Macmillan 1944

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1. Enid Blyton t-shirt

2. Magic Faraway Tree notebook

3. Noddy and the Farmyard Muddle

4. Magic Faraway Tree cushion

5. Malory Towers phone skin

6. By Jove! Entertainment for Kids

7, 8 & 9. Postcards

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Christmas and birthday present round up

The Adventure Series covers through the years part 1: Stuart Tresilian

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My era of Famous Fives

Knight 1987 / Knight 1987 / Knight 1991 / Knight 1991

Award 1992 / Award 1992 / Award 1993 / Award 1993

Hodder 1994 / Hodder 1995 / Hodder 1994 / Hodder 1995

Hodder 1994 / Hodder 1995 / Hodder 1994 / Hodder 1995

The truly modern

Hodder 2001 / Hodder 2010 / Hodder 2001 / Hodder 2010

All Hodder 2017

Famous illustrators

All Hodder 2012

All Hodder 2015

All Hodder 2016

Five on a Treasure Island Specials

Longmans 1977 / John Murray 1979 / Fabbri 1992 / Karo 2004 / Paperview 2005

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What I have read

What I have watched

What I have done

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December round up

The Famous Five covers through the years part 2

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Books given for Christmas

Books given for birthdays

Books given just because?

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The Presents of Adventure

Five Go Shopping for Christmas Presents

The Secret of the Christmas Presents

The Land of Christmas Presents

The Mystery of the Christmas Presents

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What would Blyton’s characters get for Christmas?

Inscriptions in books: books given with love

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The problem of Timmy

The Mystery

All about Block

The return of Timmy

My usual nitpicks, questions and observations