Monday #269

Posted on May 28, 2018 by Fiona

More Blyton Search Terms

and

A-Z of Philip Mannering’s Pets

Location of the week is the Five-Find Outers’ local macaroon shop. Not only is it part of the hub of operations in Peterswood, it also serves the nicest macaroons, lemonade and other goodies, like ices. The lady always lets Buster in, and seems to like the children and share their dislike of Mr Goon. I don’t know about you but I’d really like to visit this macaroon shop!

Five on a Treasure Island is the first Famous Five book, and it happens to be the one I am reading right now. It is the one to introduce us to the Five and the wonderful world of Kirrin. It has a private island, a ruined castle, an old shipwreck, dungeons and a treasure hunt. What more could you ask for in a book?

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Blyton’s Funniest Animals

Posted on May 27, 2018 by Fiona

Now we all know that Enid Blyton wrote about a lot of animals, in fact almost every story she wrote had an animal of some kind in it. The great thing about her books is that she made every kind of animal accessible for children. Most of the pets I’ll be talking about in this post are unusual pets. Let’s delve right in.

Kiki the Parrot – The Adventure Series

How could lovable, “God save the Queen”, “blow your feet”, train whistle Kiki the Parrot, owned by Jack Trent not be at the top of our list? Kiki is one of those animals you want to own, she says all sorts of random things, makes the children laugh, saves them from the bad guys by flying at them or saying random things to startle them. Kiki is also very funny.

She’s extremely jealous when Jack pays attention to Philip’s new pets, and she doesn’t always like or tolerate the new animals. She doesn’t take kindly to the monkey Mickey in The Ship of Adventure who is quite happy to play tricks on her, and she doesn’t like Buttons, the fox, in The Castle of Adventure and is quite happy to be horrible to him. Kiki mimics the puffins, Huffin and Puffin in The Sea of Adventure, who also think of her as a sort of strange puffin. Kiki is certainly one of Blyton’s funniest animals because I don’t think I’ve laughed quite so much at fictional animal in my life. She really is a diamond character, perfect comic and strategic timing in places, but sometimes she can be the cause of the trouble. Nevertheless she deserves a spot on Blyton’s funniest animals without a doubt.

Image result for adventure illustration picture series

Pongo the Chimpanzee – Five Go Off in a Caravan

Pongo isn’t an animal I would expect a lot of you to remember but because Five Go Off in a Caravan is one of my favourite books, Pongo has always been a funny and loved character to me. He does all sorts of funny things like shaking hands with Timmy’s tail and taking tea with the Famous Five and Nobby, as well as copying the things the Five do and following Anne around because she gives him food. He’s a very loyal animal, doing his best to stand up to Lou and Tiger Dan for Nobby and Julian, but he also has his funny moments where you can just imagine him taking tea with the Five and sipping tea out of a little cup. He doesn’t have the longest entry in the world, but I do believe he’s a really funny character.

Loony the Spaniel – The Barney Mysteries

Loony, the black spaniel, lives quite rightly up to his name – he is utterly bonkers. In the Barney Mysteries he gets himself into so much trouble and high jinx. He is what I would think of as a typical dog, fetching everything and putting it somewhere inconvenient.  He loves stealing rugs, bathmats, towels, and any sort of brush and making a huge pile on the floor somewhere for ‘his humans’ to fall over. I would say in my limited experience that is typical dog behaviour. He also tears off at top speed all over the place and tries to trip people up.  He especially gets himself into trouble when he and Miranda the Monkey get together. They encourage each other and Loony gets ridden like a horse and tears around like no ones business until the daft dog remembers he can roll over onto his back and knock Miranda off.  If this doesn’t make Loony one of Blyton’s funniest animals, I don’t know what does!

Who do you think are Enid Blyton’s funniest animals? Tell me in the comments below, or if you’re looking for more posts about Blyton’s animal characters, then try these.

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A completely un-confusing guide to names in Blyton’s books, part 2

Posted on May 23, 2018 by Fiona

Last time we clarified which Jack, or indeed Jock, was which, we covered the difference between Morgan, Dai and Llewellyn and Morgan, Dai and Llewellyn, and we made sure we knew our great-grandad from our old grandads.

Now for some Toms, Dicks and Harries, many Peter-and-Susans and lots more.

HENRYS AND HARRIES

This lot are really confusing. Harry can be ‘short’ for Henry, but also for Harriet, while Henry can be a nickname for Henrietta too.

So there’s Henrietta, also known as Henry – because she wants to be a boy – in Five Go to Mystery Moor, then there’s Henry Philpot who’s known as Harry, and his twin sister Harriet who’s also known as Harry in Five on Finniston Farm. None of those should be confused with Harry Lawdler, always known as Harry unless he’s masquerading as his twin Guy, from Five on a Secret Trail, or Harry Dunn from The Naughtiest Girl. There are even an adult pairing of Harriet and Henry (though they are not known as Harries) – the evil aunt and uncle from The Secret Island.

WHEN THE FAMOUS FIVE ARE NOT THE FAMOUS FIVE

The Famous Five have to be amongst Blyton’s most famous characters, nearly everyone knows of Julian, Dick and Anne, George and Timmy the dog. And quite a lot of people will have heard of Aunt Fanny and Uncle Quentin. All of them have counterparts in other titles.

Julian Kirrin has a counterpart in The Naughtiest Girl books, Julian Holland.

Dick Kirrin gets confused with Dirty Dick in Five On a Hike Together, but there’s also Cousin Dick in The Magic Faraway Tree (both have huge appetites too), and Dick in Three Boys and a Circus. Also in The Magic Faraway Tree, and other books in the series is Fanny, a young girl not to be confused with grown-up Aunt Fanny.

George Kirrin‘s name is short for Georgina, and there’s a Georgina Thomas at Malory Towers, though I don’t know that she ever shortens her name. Then there’s a boy George (no, not the singer) in the Secret Seven, and a George as a supporting character in The Secret of Spiggy Holes.

Anne Kirrin is the youngest of the group, and Ann is also the youngest in The Caravan Family.

Timmy, a quite unique dog you would think, also appears in The Naughtiest Girl. He only gets a brief mention but he belongs to Elizabeth Allen.

And lastly Uncle Quentin could potentially be confused with Mr Quentin from Good Work Secret Seven.

SCHOOL GIRLS

Blyton wrote about a lot of school girls, so it’s perhaps not surprising there are names that crop up at more than one school (and even more names that appear at school and also elsewhere).

Belinda crops up four times, Belinda Towers attends St Clare’s, Belinda Morris goes to Malory Towers, Belinda Green is a pupil at Whyteleaf and Belinda is also one of the Caravan Family.

Whyteleaf has a Kathleen Peters while St Clare’s has a Kathleen Gregory.

There are even two Joans mentioned at Whyteleaf, Joan Lesley and Joan Townsend, but neither should be confused with Joan (also known as Joanna), the cook at Kirrin Cottage.

AND (SOME OF) THE REST

As mentioned above, George of the Secret Seven shares his name. Two other members do too. Peter is the leader, and there’s a Peter in The Adventures of the Wishing Chair, Peter Longfield The Six Cousins, Peter Jackson in The Family at Red-Roofs, Peter Frost in Hollow Tree House, and another Peter in The Very Big Secret. Peter-of-the-Secret-Seven‘s sister is called Janet, and there’s also a Janet at Malory Towers and a Janet Robins at St Clare’s.

There’s also a Peter who’s almost never referred to as Peter – Snubby from the Barney Mysteries. At least as Snubby you’re not likely to mix him up with anyone else.

Just as common as Peter is Susan. Peter in Hollow Tree House has a sister called Susan. Felicity’s best friend at Malory Towers is a Susan (possibly Susan Blake, but that comes from the continuation books as far as I know and isn’t canon in my opinion!), there’s Susan Longfield from The Six Cousins, a Susan in The Treasure Hunters, a Susan in The Four Cousins and of course the infuriating Susie from The Secret Seven books.

Also going along with Peter is Mollie from The Adventures of the Wishing Chair, and there’s another Molly (and Peter) in The Family at Red-Roofs.

There are some Whyteleafe pupils named above too, but others have their names elsewhere. Elizabeth Allen is the titular character of The Naughtiest Girl books, and Elizabeth, also known as Lizzie, Farrell is a main character of House-at-the-Corner. Nora O’Sullivan is Elizabeth Allen’s monitor, and there is a Nora Arnold in the Secret Series. There’s also Martin Follett, the kind but deceptive boy, and Martin possibly Curton from Five On Kirrin Island Again. 

There are two Sids in the Famous Five, one a paper-boy who is partial to chocolate mould and appears in Five Fall Into Adventure, while the other Sid is part of a double act who perform as Clopper the horse in Five Go Down to the Sea.

Spelt differently, but arguably the same name, are Louis and Lewis. Lou, short for Lewis, Ahlberg is a sullen cat burglar/jewel thief who specialises in tight-rope walking in Five Go Off in a Caravan, while Louis-no-last-name is a sullen stilt-walker who specialises in the theft of jewellery in Secret Seven Adventure.

And lastly there is Philip Hilton, better known as Pip, from The Five Find-Outers, and Philip Mannering of the Adventure Series.

That is, though, not to mention various minor characters such as the Jeffs, Jims, Toms, Pauls, Larrys, Wills, Pamelas, Ritas, and Eileens of Blyton’s books. It also doesn’t touch on the fact there are probably lots more Jacks, Peter and Susans etc in the hundreds of short stories!

Can you think of any more shared names?

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Monday #268

Posted on May 21, 2018 by Fiona

 

A completely un-confusing guide to names in Blyton’s books

And

Blyton’s funniest animals

“I do love the beginning of the summer hols,’ said Julian. They always seem to stretch out ahead for ages and ages.’
‘They go so nice and slowly at first,’ said Anne, his little sister. ‘Then they start to gallop.”
― Five Go Off in a Caravan

I very strongly identify with this sentiment, even now as an adult the holidays I do have go far too quickly.

My character of the week is Bill aka Wilhelmina Robinson from Malory Towers I really admire her for not completely conforming with the ‘girlie’ ideaology that the other girls in her form have – all the needle work, dainty things she really destests. She even decides to carry on with woodwork instead of sewing or crafts when she gets to decide what she wants to do with her schooling. Shes a wonderful horsewoman and really feels like a very solid character to me.

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April 2018 round up

Posted on May 20, 2018 by Fiona

WHAT FIONA HAS READ

I had a good month, reading wise. I managed to read 6, I am on 21 in total and that’s 4 ahead.

    • The Something Girl (Frogmorton Farm #2) – Jodi Taylor
    • Piano Lessons Can Be Murder (Goosebumps # 13) – R.L. Stine
    • Ripping Things to Do – Jane Brocket (reviewed here)
    • Surprise Me – Sophie Kinsella
    • Mr Lemoncello’s Library Olympics (Mr Lemoncello’s Library #2) Chris Grabenstein
    • The Secret of Cliff Castle (reviewed here)

I’m still reading:

  • Dubious Definitions: A Dictionary of Misinterpretation – Brian Allen
  • Dead to the World (Sookie Stackhouse #4) – audiobook by Charlaine Harris
  • The Magic Faraway Tree (reviewed here)

WHAT FIONA HAS WATCHED

  • A new (to me) show, Outlander. I now want to read the books as well.
  • My usuals like One Born Every Minute and Hollyoaks.
  • Saw Avengers: Infinity War at the cinema

WHAT FIONA HAS DONE

  • Took Brodie on his first holiday, up to Inverness. We rolled our easter eggs and gave him a taste, went to The Highland Folk Museum, The Highland Wildlife Park to see the new polar bear cub, Landmark and Brodie Castle. I also managed to browse Leakey’s book shop, but didn’t buy anything sadly.
  • Went geocaching and had a decent success rate.
  • Took Brodie on his first picnic and let him taste an ice lolly and an ice cream.

WHAT STEF HAS READ

I am currently reading Katie Fforde’s new book “A Country Escape”.

WHAT STEF HAS WATCHED

Watched a fair bit recently:

  • The New Taskmaster series
  • Young Sheldon
  • The Big Bang Theory
  • Marvel’s Black Panther

WHAT STEF HAS DONE

I feel like I have done a lot, when in reality I probably haven’t. Mostly I have been trying to work on my fitness, doing some running, as well as sorting out my library for when it closes at the end of June.

My other half and I have been on a few days out, we have been to Blenhiem Palace, where Winston Churchill was born which was really interesting, Marlow – near where the Five Find Outers were based (unfortunately not for Macaroons) and some lovely walks. May seems to have been a bit busier so far, but I’ll tell you about that next month!

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A completely un-confusing guide to names in Blyton’s books

Posted on May 16, 2018 by Fiona

Enid Blyton must have come up with thousands of characters in her years of writing. Some of them are instantly memorable from their name alone.

Zerelda? That can only be Zerelda Brass, the American girl from Third Year at Malory Towers. 

Melisande? Clearly that’s Melisande Longfield from the Six Cousins books.

Anne? Well, I’m probably talking about Anne Kirrin, though there might well be some minor characters also with the common name of Anne.

But what if I said Sally?

You might think  that’s obvious, Sally Hope from Malory Towers. But equally I might be talking about Sally Wilson, leader of the Put-Em-Rights. Or I may even have meant Sally the Poodle, who belongs to Berta Wright from Five Have Plenty of Fun.

So to curtail any confusion, here is a list of anyone you might get muddled over.

JACKS, JOS, JAKES AND MORE

Jack has to the the most common name in Enid Blyton’s books – for major characters anyway.

Jack is a main character in three major series no less.

There is red-haired and freckled Jack Trent in the Adventure Series, Jack-no-surname who is a member of the Secret Seven, who is not to be confused with Jack-previously-no-surname but now Jack Arnold from the Secret Series. Jack Longfield is also a main character in the Six Cousins books, and there’s a Jack in the Happy House Children series. And while we are being catagorically un-confused, we’ve also got a Scottish Jack, Jock Robbins who appears in Five Go Off to Camp.

After the Jacks, we have the Jakes. Jakes are not main characters, but they are all villains. There is Jake-with-the-eyepatch from The Island of Adventure who is entirely different from Jake-the-Gypsy from Five Fall Into Adventure, and neither have anything to do with another Jake from the Famous Five, Jake-the-main-villain from Five on Treasure Island.

Also appearing with the Jake-the-gypsy is one of our Jos. This one is Ragamuffin Jo, presumably short for Josephine but also known as Jo the Gypsy girl. We also have Josephine ‘Jo’ Jones, a first-former from Malory Towers, not to be confused with a boy called Jo who is in the Faraway Tree Series. Neither should you confuse any of those Jos with Jo-Jo, the servant and criminal from The Island of Adventure.

THE WELSH

Blyton wrote quite a few Welsh characters into her books, but she used the same names quite a few times for them!

There’s another ragamuffin in the aptly named Ragmuffin Mystery, the last book of the Barney Mysteries. This time the ragamuffin’s name is Dai, which also happens to be the name of a dog in Five Get into a Fix.

Two other names are also repeated between those two titles, Morgan, Jones and Llewellyn. Five Get Into a Fix features Morgan Jones, the owner of Dai (the dog), and there’s Morgan the Cripple, uncle of Dai (the boy) in The Ragamuffin Mystery. Then there’s Llewellyn Jones also from The Ragamuffin Mystery and Llewellyn Thomas in Five Get Into a Fix.

Just in case that wasn’t clear, there’s a chart below.

And of course we’ve already had Jo Jones (not Welsh) above, and there’s also another Thomas family in Five Go to Billycock Hill.

GRANDADS

All purveyors of historical stories there are three grandads you might muddle up. Yan’s Old Grandad is a shepherd in Five Go Down to the Sea, and shouldn’t be confused with Hugh Dourley, also known as Old Grandad, from The Ring O Bell’s Mystery. Also old but called Great-Grandad, the eldest member of the Philpot family appears in Five on Finniston Farm.

Next time: I clear up confusion around Harrys, Henrys, people who sound like they are in the Famous Five but are not and more.

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Monday #267

Posted on May 14, 2018 by Fiona

 

Favourite Blyton pets

and

Names in Blyton’s books

and

April round up

The baby slept soundly. “Will it want a bottle at ten o’clock?” whispered Peter. “And one early in the morning? Most babies do.”

They fell asleep. The baby slept all through the night until nearly six o’clock.

That’s not from some wild fantasy book, rather it’s from The Very Big Secret. The children find a real baby – one young enough to fit into a doll’s pram, bed and clothes, and it behaves impeccably for them. As a new parent I find it all hilarious.

The illustration does sum up the early weeks for me, though! Sleeping on the sofa in the night was a bit of a routine.

The Circus of Adventure  is my favourite Adventure Series book. The children minus Jack are kidnapped and taken to the wonderfully made-up Tauri Hessia, along with Gus, the extravagant and unintentionally amusing prince of the country. Jack (and Kiki) manage to follow them and must infiltrate themselves into a local circus in order to get close to where the others are being held.

The best bit has to be Philip dealing with the escaped bears!

Philip and the bears

 

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My Blyton best short stories

Posted on May 13, 2018 by pippastef

If you go onto the Enid Blyton Society’s Cave of Books, you’ll be able to find out about all of Enid Blyton’s books, her series, short stories and novels and novelettes: they have worked tirelessly to gather all the information they possibly could for the website for the world to find out about Enid Blyton’s work. There are possibly 1001 short stories according to their extensive research. Out of the ones I’ve read, I’m going to share with you the two which ones I really liked the most.

The Caravan Family Series

I fell in love with this little series. They were short enough little stories with sweet kids who were learning about their world and different situations. I found that I could actually enjoy these which I wasn’t expecting as I am well above the age range for the target audience, but they were engaging stories and the children learnt some good solid lessons. I can’t wait to be able to read these to Fiona’s little boy Brodie, when he’s a bit older. I thoroughly recommend reading these books, though maybe you should read them in order instead of how I did, all over the place.

thecaravanfamily

Enid Blyton’s Christmas Stories

This is a collection of short Christmas stories bound together in a slightly longer short story about Susan, Benny, Anne and Peter who are asking their parents about Christmas traditions and there are lots of little stories interspersed so that the lessons and stories for Christmas can be told. Although they are simple stories, Blyton covers Norse myths as well as Christian traditions which is nice, a good change because of the monopoly of Christian stories at Christmas. I think apart from the stories being quite simple, they are very good and clear for the age range.

Blyton's Christmas Stories CD

So there we are, two of my favourite sets of short stories that Enid Blyton wrote. Do you have any favourites you think I would like to read? Let me know in the comments!

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The Magic Faraway Tree, part 4

Posted on May 9, 2018 by Fiona

Last time we ended on a minor cliff-hanger. The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe had stopped living in her shoe and had taken up residence in Moon-Face’s home instead. Obviously that just wouldn’t do so we can now find out how they get rid of her.

THE LAND OF THE OLD WOMAN

The Old Woman’s land is a strange one. It’s always quite hard to imagine ‘lands’ atop the tree. They are floating places, perhaps akin to the visions of the Flat Earth Society. This one is only as big as a garden and has a wall so the children don’t fall off.

With the Old Woman gone her children are running amok, deliberately doing as many bad things as they can. They seem rather awful but as the are regularly whipped and sent to bed without any bread (as the nursery rhyme goes) they probably don’t have a happy home life! It’s hardly surprising they are acting out when their mother-figure just abandons them because she’s fed up.

Dick tricks her into going back up by telling her the children are going to ruin her good clothes, and she is in such a rage she chases everyone, including our regular characters into the shoe. While Dick is being whipped (which much surely be scolded in new editions) the others escape, and Dick manages to follow just in time.

THE LAND OF MAGIC MEDICINES

The children’s mother is ill now, the doctor is stumped, and the children are worried. Dame Washalot takes in the washing Mother is paid to do for others. At first this seems like a true kindness, but it turns out that Dame Washalot loves doing washing so much that she will wash clean things, or even the Faraway Tree’s leaves if she runs out of dirty washing. I bet most women at the time the book was written would have loved for Dame Washalot to take their washing in!

Anyway, with amazing timing, the Land of Magic Medicines comes to the tree. Fanny stays home to look after their mother but the others go to seek a cure.

Unusually the hole in the clouds leads straight into a factory which is staffed by goblins and pixies and gnomes. The medicines they are making don’t just cure common ailments but also shortness and sadness in the eyes.

There are pills from the shadow of a mountain, the height of a tree and the crash of a thunderstorm amongst other things, used to make short people tall. Dick stupidly takes three of them and shoots up as tall as the roof. Trying to fix this, a pixie gives him go-away pills, but it’s far too many and he shrinks so small he can’t be seen.

Meanwhile the silly old Saucepan Man turns into Pinocchio by drinking a nose growing potion, thinking it is a rose growing potion. He is fixed with a disappearing medicine while Dick is restored by a growing bath but ends up with pink clothes (which are never mentioned when he gets home).

Before any more disasters occur they collect a general, all-purpose get-well medicine which leads to a miraculous recovery for their mother.

MR WHATZISNAME, MISSING FOLK AND BAD TEMPERS

Mr whatzisname turns up at the children’s house to say that Moon-Face, Silky and the Saucepan Man have disappeared. The Land of Tempers (sometimes referred to as the Land of Bad Tempers) is at the top of the tree but surely they wouldn’t have visited that?

In a repeat of previous tales Silky and Moon-Face’s houses have been stolen, this time by bad-tempered people.

Dame Washalot and Lady Yell-Around have a set to like Julian and Mr Stick, after Lady Yell-Around is drenched in Dame Washalot’s water once too often.

Lady Yell-Around and Mr Stamp-A-Lot both claim that Silky and Moon-Face willingly gave up their homes as they wanted to live in the Land of Tempers but that doesn’t ring true at all. Blyton comes up with a devious set of rules for this land, and a puzzle. If you visit the Land of Tempers and lose your temper there (which is very likely due to all the bad-tempered people there) then you have to stay. This makes it a) very dangerous for the children to go hunting for their friends and b) creates a mystery of how Lady Y.A. and Mr S.A.L  escaped.

They take the risk of going up and spend a while forcing smiles on their faces (you can just imagine the awful grimace-smiles they must have) as they are snapped at, pushed and raged at by the folk of the land. The only person who isn’t awful to them is the grand head-man of the land. Fanny is smart enough to ask where Mr S.A.L and Lady Y.A. are instead of Moon-Face and Silky. This reveals that they have snuck off, and should not have. Then they are told that Moon-Face and Silky cannot be in the land as they have not lost their tempers and asked to take a house (slightly contradicting the earlier notion that you’re stuck there as soon as you lose your temper).

Back in the tree the Angry Pixie is pondering over a load of banging coming from inside the tree. It’s Silky and Moon-Face and they’re trapped in the blocked-up Slippery-Slip. The stuff is magically stuck there so a group of woodpeckers has to be inveigled to bore a hole for them to escape. With that achieved they are all able to gloat (nicely of course) as Mr S.A.L. and Lady Y.A. are dragged back into their own land by the head-man.

THE LAST LAND

Of course we have to end on a happier note, and so the final land of the book is the Land of Presents.

Dick soon finds out that it isn’t a land of presents for yourself. You can only take presents for others. This leads to the usual fun as the Saucepan Man mishears what people would like and fetches a clock and a lion instead of a frock and an iron. Everyone gets some lovely things in the end, though, and the story is over for the moment.

The best, most imaginative parts are the medicines and their ingredients in the Land of Magic Medicines and the trip to the Land of Tempers.

While those are inventive there are some ideas we have seen before such as houses being stolen and the Slippery-Slip being used as a trap.

Dick being greedy and/or foolish and the Saucepan Man’s mishearings are also repeated but these are more like on-going jokes or plot points and therefore more acceptable (though irritating if you found them tiresome the first time!).

I think the first book was stronger as more of the ideas were new and original, though this one had some strong elements. Of course children love to read more books about their favourite characters and with a whole host of different lands to potentially arrive at the top of the tree it would have made sense to carry on writing books.

We also have a review of this book by Laura.

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Monday #266

Posted on May 7, 2018 by Fiona

 

The Magic Faraway Tree

and

Blyton’s Top short stories

DAI! BOB! TANG! DOON! JOLL! RAFE! HAL!

Morgan shouting for his seven dogs at the end of Five Get Into a Fix is one of my favourite moments. The baddies sneer, as the dogs are a long way away and they refuse to believe that Morgan can call them from underground, but they underestimate the power of his enormous voice.

The Land of Take What You Want which appears at the top of the Faraway Tree would be a marvellous place to visit. In need of a new dining table? No problem. Run out of flour? Just wish for it. Fancy keeping a goat? Just lead it home. Whatever you want or need, all you have to do is think of it and poof, it’s yours.

 

 

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Reading Blyton for comfort

Posted on May 6, 2018 by pippastef

Now if you’re anything like me, you like having the option to read an Enid Blyton book occasionally (or all the time) for nostalgia or because it was the first book of hers you read. I reckon we all have a book or two that we reach to for comfort, like that big hug of a warm blanket and a cup of hot cocoa; its that book we enjoy when we’re feeling down and can make us feel a little better when we’re ill and I wanted to share my comfort reads with you!

1. Five Run Away Together

I love the imagery in this book, the description of the cave and all its amenities is very atmospheric. Also getting to stay on the island is also a lovely idea. I love the waking up at the seaside, and that would be ideal for me!

The idea of the adventure on the island is such an exciting thing, and when I was younger it was a such a thrilling idea. The descriptions of the food as well was quite appealing.

Image result for five run away together

2. In the Fifth at Malory Towers

I used to listen to this on tape when I went to sleep at night and more specifically when I was ill. The use of the pantomime story line used to really fire my young imagination and I think that helped fire my belief that I could do anything I set my mind to. I loved that the audio adaption actually acted out some of the pantomime which just added to the magic of the book as a whole. I really really connected with that book, and even now, when I’ve tired, upset and down, it is one of the books I reach for because it just feels like a big hug. It’s like a welcome home.

Image result for in the fifth at malory towers

3. Five Get Into a Fix

Again, a Blyton I had on a cassette as a young girl, and the story of the strange mountain that shimmered and made noises was an interesting concept to a girl with no knowledge of chemistry and things, so it was a proper thrilling adventure. I loved the idea of camping in a little hut in the winter, where everything was done by the light of a lovely warm fire. The kitchen at the farm always seemed attractive to me, big, full of food and warm. It’s literally an adventure to sit down and curl up with, a proper real read.

Image result for five get into a fix

So tell me, what are your comforting reads of Blyton? I’m sure you’ve all got different ones, and I’d like to hear what they are!

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If you like Blyton: The Secret of Cliff Castle by Mary Pollock

Posted on May 2, 2018 by Fiona

I think it is safe to say that if you like Blyton, then you will also like Mary Pollock.

WHEN IS ENID BLYTON NOT ENID BLYTON?

When she’s writing under the pseudonym Mary Pollock. But then you already knew that, didn’t you?

 

I’m not certain that a true consensus has been reached as to why Enid Blyton chose to publish six books* under that name, but there are a few good hypothesis out there.

One is that it was to get around war-time paper rations, which was obviously a problem at the time. However she was using many different publishers at the time and churning out books as it was.

Another is that she was trying out some different genres and story types – the fact that three were published in 1940 and three more in 1943 suggests they were perhaps written in 1940 or before then published later – also she wasn’t Mrs Pollock by 1943.

The one I like, which perhaps works along with the one above, is that she was trying to establish how well her stories would sell if they didn’t have the famous Blyton name on them.

AN ADVENTURE IN UNDER 100 PAGES

Obviously different editions will vary but the one I have – reissued with the Blyton name on it – the story is only 92 pages (It is stretched to 128 in some newer paperbacks I believe). All the Mary Pollock books are short, probably aimed at the younger readers, and this perhaps backs up the ‘testing the waters’ theories above.

Being so short, the book has an extremely fast pace with no time (or pages) ‘wasted’ on chatter or inconsequential events. Travel between places and things done that don’t relate to the castle are briefly mentioned and not described so that we can focus on the castle and its secret.

Nothing is truly omitted though, despite the shortness of the book. There is a charming but brief train journey to start, with the children (Peter and Pam) arriving in Rockhurst by page 11, where we also meet their cousin Brock.

Cliff Castle has already been spotted from the window on page 13, and we get the usual backstory of the ‘queer old man’ building it, too. By page 19 they are having their first visit to the castle, having already explored Brock’s house and garden and had the obligatory warnings about avoiding the castle from the locals.

Pages 20-21 have them walking around the outside of the castle, getting stung by nettles and using ‘queer’ at least twice per page, and on page 22 they’re already trying to get into the castle via a tree and a crumbling window. They’re inside on page 25, and have to find an alternative exit on page 30 as they’ve managed to ‘lose’ the window they came in by.

A ‘day or two’ pass in one paragraph while they go off to the seaside and forget about the castle, but their attention is drawn back to it when Pam sees lights in the castle at night.

So the true mystery/adventure starts on page 37 when they discover two men have been inside the castle since their last visit – and have taken a heavy box up to the tower room.

For comparison the Mannering/Trent children haven’t even been up to the castle in The Castle of Adventure by page 37 and the true adventure (discovering someone else in the castle) doesn’t start until page 129, long after The Secret of Cliff Castle is over.

Page 54 – more than half-way through already – and the children have made their third trip to the castle and discovered a secret passage leading down to the bottom of the cliff.

And on page 58 things have really hotted up! Brock has snuck back to close the secret passage only to find the men are on their way up it.

It’s non-stop excitement for the next thirty or so pages, with Brock being captured, rescued, Pam coming to the rescue of both boys, then fetching the police and the boys locking the baddies up for good measure.

The final pages are then concerned with the arrival of the police so everything can be resolved neatly.

Phew!

IT’S A BLYTON, ALL RIGHT

I don’t think many people would be fooled by the pseudonym on this book, it’s got all the hallmarks of a Blyton adventure. An abandoned castle, a secret passage, swarthy foreign-sounding men in the night, mysterious lights, rusty-bolted doors and hefty policemen.

Some elements are familiar from earlier books, and others get reused later in famous series.

For example, The Secret of Spiggy Holes was published in 1940, and features a very similar secret passage starting in a chimney, and another that runs down a cliff to a cave. Also the name Galli (the head baddie) could be a shortened form of Galliano, of Mr Galliano’s circus (1938).

Then the climbing through a narrow window into a castle, and discovering someone else has been inside is re-used in The Castle of Adventure (1946). The children in that book can’t escape because the plank has been removed – a better excuse than not being able to find the right room, but not all that dissimilar.

Five on a Treasure Island (1942) has Dick shutting the baddies in the room containing the ingots, and struggling with the rusty bolts, just like Brock and Peter with the tower room.

The little door they use to enter the castle is like the one down the well in Five Have a Mystery to Solve (1962), and probably others, too.

IT’S BLYTON, BUT IT’S NOT PERFECT

While this is a satisfying and fast-paced read there are some drawbacks to its length.

The characters aren’t particularly fleshed out – Brock is the tougher country boy, Peter is a decent older brother who takes care of his sister and Pam is gentle and kind but also plucky enough to tag along despite being ‘just a girl’. And actually that is said at least three times by Brock and Peter, making them sound rather awful. They don’t get enough page-time to really redeem themselves unlike Julian Kirrin or any other boy-character who tries to leave out the girls. Luckily Pam is pretty brave and smart throughout – though she needs help to climb the tree and complains of being scared the first time they’re in the castle.

Blyton’s bad habit of over-using ‘queer’ is particularly prevalent in the book (I don’t have a problem with the word itself but four times in two pages is a lot, especially on top of it being used a few dozen other times).

There are also a few minor issues, like it being too dark to see into the castle but Brock remembering a torch once he is inside. Then there’s the boys making it back up the extremely steep cliff quicker than the men going via the secret passage (no mention of how the boys did it, they simply appear back up by the castle!). And lastly Brock and Peter take their boots off (at different points/places), to avoid making too much noise and yet later (with no mention of them being put back on) a point is made of the hard ground hurting Brock’s feet but not Peter’s.

Saying all that, this is a simple adventure aimed at younger readers and it ticks all the boxes for that. It’s fast, exciting, and just long enough to build up a decent story.

So if you like Blyton, you’ll like this.

*The Children of Kidillin 1940, Three Boys and a Circus 1940, The Secret of Cliff Castle 1943, The Adventures of Scamp 1943, Smuggler Ben 1943 and Mischief at St Rollo’s 1943.

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Monday #265

Posted on April 30, 2018 by Fiona

The Secret of Cliff Castle

and

Blyton’s most comforting reads

Go away, sea! Go away, I tell you! Do you hear me?

Big Ears, who has never heard of high tide, or tides at all, tries to keep the sea back from his and Noddy’s tent by shouting at it in Noddy at the Seaside.

Mr Potts – aka Mr Potts of Money – is the bad guy you love to hate from The Treasure Hunters. He is the smarmy, well-to-do type who charms the adults, but is identified as no-good by the children (and the readers). He is after the Graylings’ treasure and will go to any underhand lengths to get it – unfortunately for him he underestimates the children and ends up empty-handed.

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The Magic Faraway Tree, part 3

Posted on April 26, 2018 by Fiona

The last chapter I read ended after they returned from the weirdly wonderful Land of Dreams. I wonder where they will be off to next!

THE LAND OF TOYS

In another random moment of the tree having a schedule the Land of Goodies is due to arrive and the Saucepan Man is to go there and collect food and for a party. Dick is particularly excited as, like his Famous Five counterpart, he loved eating good things.

Except the schedule is wrong and it’s the Land of Toys not of Goodies. Not a complete disaster, you think, as it just means there’s no treats to be found.

However, Saucepan Man isn’t the brightest and he doesn’t notice it’s the wrong land. He just waltzes into the sweet shop and tries to help himself to its wares, getting himself arrested by the toy soldiers. Jo and Dick buy costumes and dress as soldiers to rescue the Saucepan Man from the fort – but of course girls must watch from afar. That’s not quite the end of the problem though as the soldiers and other toys follow them down the tree and end up getting pushed down the convenient slippery-slip.

The final problem is that Jo and Dick are still in their costumes and have left their ordinary clothes up in the Land of Toys. Luckily two soaking soldiers come back up the tree having fallen foul of Dame Washalot and offer to retrieve the clothing in return for the soldier costumes. It’s another overly-convenient solution, and seems like an afterthought.

THE REAL LAND OF GOODIES

Despite the troubles in the Land of Toys, they still go to the Land of Goodies when it arrives. They nearly don’t make it in time, as their mother isn’t happy with them for suddenly turning into naughty, careless children when previously they have been very responsible and reliable.

The Land of Goodies has houses made of sweet treats like the witch’s house in Hansel and Gretel. There are trees growing currant buns, and ones growing biscuits. They all eat like crazy but greedy Dick carries on and on – eating window ledges and a door knocker after Jo tells him he can’t take anything else from the shops. The door knocker gets him into trouble from its owner, and he as to sit in the man’s house while the others eat strawberries that have grown with cream and sugar on them and gather goodies for the other folk of the tree. Dick’s clumsiness then causes those treats to fall on the folk and makes them angry.

The angry folk start threatening spankings, and we get one of those genuinley funny, knowing jokes:

Golly!’ said Jo, in alarm. “It looks as if the Land of Spankings is about to arrive up here.”

In a rare un-Blytonish momeny they all decide to hide and pretend it wasn’t them, instead of owing up and apologising. Moon-face’s stickiness unfortunately gives him away, so he and Saucepan Man end up back at the children’s house for the night.

UNUSUAL HOUSE GUESTS

Mother takes Moon-Face and the Saucepan Man’s stay well, barely raising an eyebrow. Getting a free kettle and saucepan probably helps, but even a toffee-shock doesn’t provoke too much of a reaction from her. She’s a strange one!

Moon-Face is a very helpful guest in the garden it has to be said, but Saucepan Man spends his time mishearing instructions and trying to round up sparrows and sheep.

They only return to the tree when they hear that Moon-Face’s house has been stolen from him – by the Old Woman who lives in a shoe. Her land has arrived at the top of the tree and she’s tired of her naughty children so has decided that Moon-Face’s house will do her just fine.

Dame Washalot then mistakes the children for the Old Woman’s children and chucks them as well as Moon-Face, Silky and the Saucepan Man up into the Land of the Old Woman.

There are some familiar settings here – the Land of Toys is really just Toyland from the Noddy books, while the Land of Goodies is full of things that wouldn’t be out of place in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.

This book precedes Noddy by six years and Roald Dahl’s book by over twenty years though, so we can’t accuse it of copying ideas. The contents of the chocolate factory are quite famous, perhaps because of the two films about it, so it’s interesting to see such similar ideas in a Blyton book as well.

Next time we will find out how they deal with the Old Woman, and if they can return her to her shoe to reclaim Moon-Face’s house and the slippery-slip.

Next post: The Magic Faraway Tree part 4

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Monday #264

Posted on April 23, 2018 by Fiona

 

The Magic Faraway Tree part 3

The Secret Island is only a secret to most of those who live near the lake it is on – the rest of us have read the book and know all about it. The island is perfect for the four runaways – Jack, Mike, Nora and Peggy – to live on to escape their terrible homes. It has a sandy cove, caves to hide in, rabbits, fish and willow trees which are perfect for making a house out of.

The little island seemed to float on the dark lake-waters. Trees grew on it and a little hill rose in the middle of it. It was a mysterious island, lonely and beautiful. All the children stood and gazed at it, loving it and longing to go to it. It looked so secret — almost magic.

 

Elizabeth Allen is a very naughty girl. In fact, she is the Naughtiest Girl in the School. The school is Whyteleaf School, and when she learns she is to be sent there she breaks out her worst tricks to try to be kept home. When that fails she goes out of her way to break every school rule going, to be sent home. Later, when she decides she wants to stay after all, she tries to be good but her temper means she is accidentally very naughty still…

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Ripping Things to Do by Jane Brocket

Posted on April 21, 2018 by Fiona

You may recognise the name Jane Brocket, she wrote the recipe book Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer as featured quite a few times when Stef has tested out the Blytonian recipes.

I’ve been reading Ripping Things to Do with interest now that I am a parent. Brodie is far too young to do any of the things I have read so far but I am storing up some of the ideas in my head for later, and I can’t wait!

Blyton’s works feature regularly as fodder for ripping things, but so do any other fabulous children’s authors like Arthur Ransome, A.A. Milne and E. Nesbit.

ABOUT THE BOOK

“We must do something,” said Alice…
“Yes, but what shall we do” said Dicky…
Let’s read all the books again. We shall get lots of ideas out of them.”

The above quote is from The Story of the Treasure Seekers by E. Nesbit, and it appears on the back of Ripping Things. It’s a quote that pretty much sums up the idea of the book as it is a compendium of things to do, taken from children’s literature. As the subtitle on the front says – The best games and ideas from children’s books.

There is a sensible caveat in the introduction, though. Brocket tells us there are two types of ripping things in children’s books, ones they can do and ones that they can’t. For example they can’t just get rid of their parents for weeks at a time, or go off on a sailing holiday alone and it’s recommended for obvious reasons that they don’t get  involved with police investigations or local criminals. It’s a shame for those who really want to imitate the Famous Five or Secret Seven, but as it’s rare to stumble upon smugglers operating outside your modest suburban home these days it’s not the end of the world.

So what’s left? There are sections called secrets and spies, making stuff, ripping games, red letter days and summer days along with many more.

BLYTONIAN RIPPING THINGS TO DO

This wouldn’t be an Enid Blyton blog if I didn’t focus on that element of things so first I will look at the Blytonian things have made it in.

Most of the ideas come from the Famous Five (FF) and the Five Find-Outers (FFO), but there’s a few from the Secret Seven (SS) and the Barney Mysteries (BM). There are also some generic ideas that could have come from any number of Blyton’s books.

  • Carry a matchbox  to collect clues in or write messages with invisible ink. Full instructions are given here, along with a nice long bit about the use of invisible ink (FFO)
  • Send secret messages with torches or mirrors (FF)
  • Have a damson-stone spitting competition (FF)
  • Climb a tree like Bessie, Jo and Fanny in The Enchanted Wood and build a tree-house (SS)
  • Play cards or snap-grab (BM). Interestingly woo-hoo-colly-wobbles from the Find-Outer books isn’t mentioned, though!
  • Frolic carefree, and go for a picnic on bikes (FF & FFO)
  • Form a club which has meetings (FFO) with passwords and badges (SS)
  • Explore a castle especially if it is ruined
  • Visit literary places like Corfe Castle for the Famous Five connection, or Burnham Beeches like the Find-Outers did
  • Visit the sea-side
  • Search for treasure
  • Have an adventure with tents, a campfire, maps and plenty of food
  • Pack an adventure kit (map, compass, food etc) or a mystery solving kit (oranges for invisible ink, magnifying glass, matchbox for clues etc)
  • Swim outdoors
  • Camp out
  • Row a boat (real or imaginary)
  • Write a letter to practise different styles of handwriting or to summon help with your invisible ink (FFO)

There are also a few Blyton books recommended in the seasonal reads lists.

My favourite Famous Five moment got included as an illustration.

Aside from boo-hoo-colly-wobbles (which would be hard as there are no rules or descriptions given apart from it being very noisy), I don’t think much has been missed out. Perhaps making hot drinks by pouring boiling water into jam jars (SS). A few more nature things might have been nice – it’s mentioned that Blyton was knowledgeable about orithology, botany and horticulture – so one or two of her tips on bird watching or feeding garden birds etc could have featured.

Saying that there isn’t a lack of Blyton ideas there already!

One thing I thought curious was that Fatty was described as a nerd! I’ve never thought of him as particularly geeky or nerdy, but it would be interesting to see if others think that term fits.

OTHER RIPPING IDEAS

There are masses of other ideas to be inspired by. Some are favourites of mine like playing Pooh sticks (Winnie the Pooh – A.A. Milne), picking your own fruit (Milly-Molly-Mandy – Joyce Lankester Brisley), jumping in puddles (Alfie’s Feet – Shirley Hughes), mazes (The Enchanted Castle – E. Nesbit), making dens (The Box of Delights – John Masefield), beach combing (Up the Steps – Nora Acheson), making paper fortune-tellers (The Fete and Fortune – Richmal Compton), playing with chalk (Mary Poppins – P.L. Travers) playing at post-offices (Little Women – Lousia May Alcott) and making your own Borrowers’ house* (The Borrowers – Mary Norton).

Then there are others that I’m intrigued by like making butter by shaking milk in a jar, making a time-capsule (The Midnight Fox – Betsy Byars), making a get-better box and growing a tree in the neck of a bottle (both My Naughty Little Sister – Dorothy Edwards).

MY THOUGHTS

I really liked this book. It’s peppered with references to books I’ve read (and some books I’d now like to read!)

It’s full of refreshingly old-fashioned fun. I like how it states a few times that you don’t need to buy special equipment to do most things. You can juggle with any old thing, you don’t need juggling balls. Children are better off dressing up in old clothing (theirs or grown-ups’) rather than costumes bought in a shop. Tents are just as good made of a sheet over a washing line or tree branch. Essentially imagination is key.

Also refreshing are the mildly-dangerous-by-today’s-standards ideas like tree-climbing, and – as Brocket puts it – uncouth things like damson-stone spitting.

The book is an excellent antithesis to buy a toy/game/tablet/smartphone to amuse children, and to the idea that children should be heavily supervised, micro-managed and wrapped in cotton wool. As Brocket says in the book, boredom can actually be a good thing.

In short I think it’s a brilliant book and I will have to return to it later when Brodie’s older and he can join me in doing some of the things.

*When we were young my sister and I made miniature houses in shoe-boxes and boxes that had contained photo albums (for a nice two-level effect) but we called them pony houses because the first one had been a house for a My Little Pony toy. The fact that a Jam Pop doll, Cupcake doll or Aladdin and Jasmine figures were then the occupants of these houses made no difference to their name.

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Funniest Scenes from the 90s Famous Five

Posted on April 19, 2018 by pippastef

Especially in the second series of the 90s Famous Five, we had some cracking funny and cringe worthy moments.  I thought we would have a look three of the best ones.

3. Uncle Quentin’s sandwiches in Five Run Away Together

One of the absolute best, funny moments ever. Uncle Quentin making sandwiches because Aunt Fanny is away and Mrs Stick doesn’t want to make sandwiches for the children’s picnic. He bravely volunteers to do them himself, with disastrous consequences. He manages to cut his hand, the ‘slices’ of bread are more like hunks, and uneven ones at that, which look like half a loaf.

The other hilarious thing is the use of the fillings. As Anne and George remark on opening the packet of sandwiches:

“Tomatoes, he’s mixed tomatoes with marmalade.”

“And that’s lemon curd in with cheese.”

The look on the faces of the Five is quite hilarious, and even more so, when Dick, who is known to eat anything, is sat on the beach demolishing the sandwiches. Check out the episode here on YouTube for the hilarious scene.

 2. Anne turns tiger – Five Have a Mystery to Solve

Across the series, Anne turning into a tiger has to be one of the best scenes Enid Blyton wrote and it really does translate nicely across to the screen. I am glad that they didn’t edit it out or change the scene in anyway, because it really is a girl power moment for sure.  For those who don’t know, Anne throws a bucket of cold water over the boy Wilfrid who is staying with them, because he’s being mean to her and trying to scare her with mice, rats and snakes. Its a real power moment for Anne as she drenches the boy and when Julian, Dick and George turn up accuses them of thinking of her as a mouse. They assure her that now, they think of her as a tiger.

You can catch this lovely scene here, or on Youtube.

 

1. Star jumps -Five Go to Billycock Hill

I literally cannot watched this scene for the fact it is so cringy and out of character for Julian. It’s their first morning at the camp on Billycock Hill and he’s trying to get the others energised and motivated for the day, but he decides that the way to do this was to do some exercises (clearly a part of his school life, and probably training for his National Service, because even Dick looks perplexed.) Anyway, its one of  most hilarious scenes that was made in this series, and Fiona and I just can’t hide our disbelief when we watch it. I hope it makes you just as disbelieving as us!

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Monday #263

Posted on April 16, 2018 by Fiona

 

Ripping Things to Do by Jane Brockett

and

Funniest TV moments from the Famous Five

Fatty shuffled his way to the bus-stop bench near Goon’s house. He let himself down slowly as if he indeed had a bad back. He let out a grunt. An old lady on the bench looked at him sympathetically. Poor old man! She leaned across and pressed a sixpence into his hand.

Fatty was so taken-aback that he almost forgot he was a tramp. He remembered imediately though, and put his finger to his forehead in exactly the same way that his father’s old coachman did when he came to see him.

“Thank you kindly,” he wheezed.

Another of Fatty’s disguise performances, this one is from The Mystery of the Invisible Thief.

Amelia Jane is a home-made doll, rather than a shop-bought one, and that is why she is so extremely naughty. She is also a very large doll which means she can easily push aside the other toys to get her own way. Unfortunately for Amelia Jane, getting her own way doesn’t always turn out well and she briefly learns lessons before her mischievous nature rears its head again.

Amelia Jane being naughty

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The Magic Faraway Tree, part 2

Posted on April 11, 2018 by Fiona

We left Jo, Silky and the others in The Land of Spells last time – he had just been turned the right way up.

MOON-FACE (AND OTHERS) IN WONDERLAND

The next disaster, which perhaps borrows a little from Alice in Wonderland, occurs before they’ve even got back to the Faraway Tree. The silly Saucepan Man buys a growth spell and spills it, causing Moon-Face, Jo, Silky and himself to grow too big to get through the hole back to the tree. He spills so much there is none left to use on the hole to make it larger.

It takes a while for them to work it out but they do then get a shrinking spell which returns them to their normal size (except for Moon-Face who likes himself just a tad taller) but then the land starts to move away, it grows dark and they end up down the wrong hole.

This hole leads to the home of Mr Change-About. He starts off fat and jolly, but as his name suggests he soon changes-about to thin and angry, and then from huge to so small he gets trapped in one of Saucepan Man’s kettle.

CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER ESCAPES

They go up the chimney to escape, but instead of ending up on the roof they climb into the a cellar which belongs to an enchanter, and so have not escaped at all. Frying pan and fire comes to mind!

Thanks to another purchase from the Land of Spells they escape on an upside down flying table and a flying bench, and the children land in their own garden. Their surely too dim to be real mother is only mildly surprised by this!

GOOGLE BUNS

That wasn’t an order for you to search for buns online. Google buns are another delicious treat served in the Faraway Tree. Moon-Face etc wonder if the children got home safe on the table as they don’t see them for a while (they are having a brief ‘let’s never go up the tree again, it’s not safe’ period), and invite them for tea.

The buns were most peculiar. They each had a very large currant in the middle, and this was filled with sherbet. So when you got to the currant and bit it the sherbet frothed out and tasted delicious.

I’d definitely eat one of these!

DREAMS IS FULL OF MYSTERY AND MAGIC, DO NOT TRY TO UNDERSTAND THEM – THE BFG

Dick can’t help himself and goes up into the next land which turns out to be The Land of Dreams. Pretty quickly the Sandman comes and puts them to sleep.

They then share the strangest collective dream which exactly sums up the way dreams go. There’s ice cream you pay for with marbles, but it turns out to be whistles and not ice cream at all. The whistles summon policemen who get pushed into a swimming pool of their own tears, where they turn into fish. The children get into an aeroplane to escape the land of dreams – but the plane turns into a bus and then a boat because they are still dreaming (this resonates a LOT with me as I’m always having those awful dreams where I think I’ve woken up but haven’t, over and over!).

Anyway, plenty more weird stuff happens to them, until finally they start feeling very sleepy and doze off on a giant walking bed. Luckily the bed takes them back to the hole leading to the Faraway Tree where Silky has returned with Dame Washalot, Mister Watzisname and the Angry Pixie.

They neutralise the Sandman with water, and the bed is made to fly them home with the last of the ointment from the Land of Spells.

THE LAND OF DO-WHAT-YOU-PLEASE

Having learned nothing from their previous escapades (but then there would be no book if they learned!) the children are soon tempted back by the Land of Do-What-You-Please which is even better than the Land of Take-What-You-Want according to Silky and Moon-Face.

Each child has something they really want to do, Dick would like to ride a roundabout six times without stopping, Bessie would like to eat six ice-creams in one go, Fanny would like to ride an elephant and Jo would like to drive a motor-car or a railway train.

Dick and Bessie get their wishes right away, and without incident – apart from being very dizzy after the roundabout. It’s just as well they rode that before the ice-creams or that could have been messy!

The train journey isn’t quite so smooth, the train misbehaves a lot and goes too fast but nobody gets hurt. Nothing truly bad happens with the elephant rides either – Moon-Face is briefly stuck when his rope-ladder breaks off but the elephant lifts him down with his trunk instead.

So far, so good. But surely it will go wrong somehow? I mean it always does!

Well for once, it doesn’t. They finish their day with a paddle in the sea and then go home. Weirdly Aunt Polly asks Dick how he got so wet and calls him a naughty little story-teller when he tells her. So she doesn’t believe that but she’s completely OK with flying tables?

There’s some great imaginative things in these chapters. The land of dreams is particularly good, as is Mr Change-About. I would like to see him crop up again in fact.

Next post: The Magic Faraway Tree part 3

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Monday #262

Posted on April 9, 2018 by Fiona

The Magic Faraway Tree

and

 Funniest Moments from the TV series

Gloomy Water, of Two Trees. Gloomy Water. Saucy Jane. And Maggie knows as well, fame.

Gloomy Water is a, well, gloomy-looking lake in front of the burnt-out shell of what was a house called Two Trees. It sounds and looks a bit dull, the Five visit having followed the message above, delivered in the night by an escaped convict. The only thing more exciting than that is perhaps aligning their raft in the middle of the lake between Tock Hill, Steeple, Standing Stone and Tall Chimney so that the boys can dive into the murky water in search of the Saucy Jane.

Those Dreadful Children is one of those Blyton books that makes you think. Who are the dreadful children? Are they loud, mucky and sometimes rude Taggertys, or the prim, proper and judgemental Carletons? Both do some quite dreadful things as the story unfolds, but then both families learn a lot too. It’s an interesting quandary with lots of fun along the way.

Armada paperback of “Those Dreadful Children”, cover uncredited

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