Looking at The Famous Five Annual 2014, part 1

Posted on January 24, 2014 by Fiona

As I mentioned before, I got this for my birthday. I’ve only briefly skimmed it until now, so I thought it was about time I actually read it, so I will share some of my thoughts on it as I go.

I’ll start with the cover shall I? Well, it’s a Soper illustration (for me there’s no other possible choice,) so I’m happy. It’s the cover from Five go to Demon’s Rocks, which now I think about it, surprises me a little. I wonder they picked that book? Most fans will agree, the first twelve(ish) titles are the best, and then the rest of the series is generally weaker with a few highlights. I agree mostly, as for me there are a few weak books in the first half, and don’t always agree on the best book from the second half.

Anyway, I happen to love Demon’s Rocks, it’s somewhere on my (unordered) list of favourites. But as the nineteenth book in the series it’s maybe not the most iconic Five?

The annual’s cover

So, now for inside the book.

The Soper cover’s already started the book off on good footing, and there are two more of her illustrations, on the title page and the contents page. I feel like I should know which book this one comes from, but I’m not certain.

Which book?

A few things jump out at me from the contents page – Where is Kirrin Island? [p15], Fiendish Famous Five Quiz [p 22 and 62], and Around the world with the Famous Five [p61] in particular, but I’m the sort of person who has to read annuals in order so I must be patient. There certainly seems to be a lot of variety in the book, even if some of the titles keep you guessing more than others.

Contents

I’m going to try to be brief, and just make a few comments on each section of the book to avoid being boring and giving away too much of the content.

TIMMY’S TIMELINE

All the important moments from the Famous Five, from 1942 to 2012.

Nice bite-sized facts about the books, TV series, toys and games. The 90s series mention is rather brief, (a measly thirteen words!) but most of it is interesting.

I particularly like the remark about the Disney TV series – Sometimes, the original characters and stories are referenced, but they bear little resemblance to Enid Blyton’s originals. I see it as faintly scathing, but then that’s because I think they’re a lot of tosh.

MEET JULIAN

A short-but-sweet look at my favourite member of the Famous Five. It’s a fair look too, as although they mention bossy they don’t give him too hard a time over it.

GEORGE’S HAIR IS TOO LONG

This is the same story from the Red Fox collection, originally found in the second magazine annual, though it’s told in comic book style. I’m not a fan of comic books, I find them hard to follow as the images aren’t always laid out in a clear order, it’s hard to know which speech bubble comes first and I find it really hard to work out which character is which visually. But anyway, the illustrations aren’t too bad, and the illustrator seems to have been influenced by the 90s series, George especially looks like Jemima Rooper and Timmy’s a smaller version of Connal. It runs for six pages, but as a lot of it is pictures I’m fairly sure it’s been well edited down to fit.

MEET GEORGE

Another single-page bio, and it covers George neatly. It’s obviously been written by someone, or several someones, who know the books and characters well.

WHERE IS KIRRIN ISLAND?
(…AND OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE FAMOUS FIVE BOOKS)

I’m pleased to say that although the focus is on Corfe here, the book makes it clear that it’s not as straight forward as Kirrin = Corfe. Also covered are Whispering Island, Finniston Farm and Castaway (Smuggler’s Top). Mostly information I knew already, but I imagine it would be hugely interesting to those who haven’t visited the Enid Blyton Society website on a near daily basis for several years. Also, it makes me want to visit Dorset, which unfortunately is very far away!

FIVE GO OFF TO CAMP

More comic-strip style stuff here, but it’s a puzzle this time. Not very attractive illustrations in my opinion!

Not the George and Anne we know and love!

RESCUE THE FAMOUS FIVE

Another game. Only this one wants you to potentially cut out the pieces to play. Yes, cut up your new book, or, copy the pictures onto paper like we’re all brilliant artists. I always hate that bit in an annual where they want you to chop it up – heedless of whatever’s on the other side of the page! Needless to say, I never did it. And I don’t think I even wrote the answers in as I was taught to always respect books.

FIENDISH FAMOUS FIVE QUIZ PART ONE

There are answers at the back, always a plus

Ten questions, so let’s see how I do. Pleased to say ten for ten, though I didn’t get all the first/surnames given in the answers. Difficult enough questions to be interesting without being impossible.

FIVE GO TO DEMON’S ROCKS

Another comic, this one with potentially unsettling illustrations and even more hideous text. Opening scene goes like this:

Dick: “D’you think [I nearly stopped reading at this point, it was almost too much for me…] that’s the lighthouse where we’re spending our holidays?”

Julian: “Well, as it’s he only lighthouse around here, it’s a good guess!”

Anne: “I think staying in a lighthouse will be fun!”

George: “Especially with Tinker Hayling. I haven’t seen him for years.”

Awful stuff!

Scary.

I’ve read it all, and I’m… bemused? It bears no resemblance to the book apart from there being a lighthouse and the climax is them waking up Cap’n Boogle who’s napping in the ships chandlers (what ever that is!) and he tells them a watered-down tale of wreckers. And that’s it.

MORE FUN AND GAMES

A small selection of Famous Five merchandise from over the years.

FAMOUS FIVE FIND-A-WORD

AKA a wordsearch with Famous-Fivey words like farm, mystery and smugglers. Might, might use a pencil and find them at some point.

That’s me exactly halfway through the annual now, and I’m at more than a thousand words so I think I’ll leave the rest for another post.

Next post: 2014 annual part 2

The Rosewood Mystery by Cathy, chapter 2

Posted on January 22, 2014 by worldofblyton

EXCITING PLANS!

Diana had a lovely talk with her mother on the phone. Mrs Lynton thought it was a lovely idea and was a lot more relieved than she let on to Diana. She had, of course, been looking forward to having all the children at home for the holidays, but she knew full well that Mr Lynton, as much as he loved all the children, would be driven mad by both Loony and Miranda, and the continual noise and laughter and running feet of all four lively children.

“Come home for a few days to pack and spend some time with Daddy and me,” she said to Diana. “At least then we’ll see something of you all for the holidays.”

“And then by that time Daddy will be driven mad and wanting some peace,” laughed Diana, who knew her father too well. “Alright Mummy, we’ll come home tomorrow and spend a week with you. Miss Pepper isn’t going to Rosewood til next week anyway.”

“Bye dear, see you tomorrow,” said Mrs Lynton. “I’ll ask Cook to bake some lovely cakes for you all!”

“It’s alright, it’s alright!” Diana ran back out into the garden. “Mummy says we can go!”

“Hoorah!” Snubby cheered, knocking over a cup of tea. “Ooh – sorry, Miss Pepper!”

They discussed their plans a little more before it was time for Miss Pepper to catch her train home. The children would go home the next day and spend some time with Mr and Mrs Lynton, and then a week later, Miss Pepper would come and fetch the children and they would spend the holidays with her at Rosewood Cottage. Everyone was very excited. Walks, boats, an old manor, trips to the seaside, it all sounded too good to be true!

Miss Pepper kissed them all goodbye and Mr Martin drove her to the station, leaving the four children sat in the garden.

“This is going to be an absolutely wizard holiday!” said Roger excitedly.

“It’s lovely of Miss Pepper to want us,” Barney said. “Especially as every holiday we go on with her, we seem to drag her into the most amazing adventure!”

“I doubt there’ll be any amazing adventures in Rosewood,” Diana said. “It sounds a most peaceful place.”

“You never know!” Snubby said. “We can hope, anyway!”

Continue reading →

Posted in Fan fiction | Tagged The Barney Mysteries, The Rosewood Mystery, Written by Cathy | Leave a comment

Another Monday

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Fiona

So it’s Monday again, where did the weekend go? Well, wherever it went it’s now another week, and time for me to tell you what’s coming up on the blog.

We’ll have more fanfic for you this week, Wednesday will be chapter two of Kathy’s Barney Mysteries story: The Rosewood Mystery. If you missed chapter one, here it is so you can catch up.

I’ve got a few choices this week. I’ve recently read the first Lone Pine book Mystery at Witchend, by Malcolm Saville and I plan to compare and contrast it to the first Famous Five book. Whether I get around to doing something as in depth as that this week remains to be seen, so I might end up reviewing something instead. Maybe the Famous Five Annual or a Blyton biography, who knows.

Stef is hoping to finish a post looking at the Island of Adventure, which will be an interesting viewpoint as she didn’t read the Adventure Series as a child.

As has become tradition, I will end with some photos I took recently.

Sunset behind an old farmhouse

Frost

The moon during the day

A break in the clouds

Robin

Newtyle’s original railway station (1830s)

A room inside the derelict station.

Frosty leaves

Strange monument in Newtyle (Kinpurney Hill Tower in the background)

Bullfinch

Lone tree

Icy waterfall

Sun low behind the woods

Posted in Blog talk | Tagged January, Monday | 5 Comments

The Missing Papers: A St Andrew’s Adventure, chapter 10

Posted on January 19, 2014 by pippastef

I hope you enjoy this as much as the last couple of chapters. Don’t forget if you want to catch up, click the tag “The Missing Papers: A St Andrews Adventure” at the bottom of this post for more chapters!

Chapter 10

“Well are we assuming that Julian’s made that connection?” Darrell asked in a hushed tone, causing the others to lean forward to hear what she was saying.

“I think it’s a safe assumption, don’t you?” Sally asked David.

David nodded. “Naturally. No wonder he seemed to be looking for something!” he said looking wide eyed. He sat back in his chair and ran a hand through his hair. “I just wish he’d told us what he suspected.”

“Well he doesn’t know us that well, does he?” Sally pointed out sensibly. “How was he to know if he could trust us or not? I mean for all he knew we could have laughed at him.”

Darrell was just about to say something when a noise behind the bookcase made David hold up a hand to make her stop. He pressed a finger to his lips and got up from his chair to look behind the bookcase. His heart felt as though it was somewhere in the region of his mouth as he stepped out of the little study area and turned to look down the alley of books on the other side of the book case. Thomas Ainsworth was standing there, a book in his hands, apparently reading. He looked up when he heard David’s footstep and smiled a little, snapping the book shut.

“Oh hello Morton,” Ainsworth said in a hearty tone, taking a step towards David. “I was hoping I’d bump into you today. Was wondering if Kirrin was alright after that rugger tackle yesterday. He looked fairly pale as you two went off.”

“He’s fine. Dislocated his shoulder, that’s all,” David said carefully avoiding the detail that Julian had spent the night in the san. He wasn’t sure that Ainsworth needed to hear this detail. He hadn’t been lying to Julian when he had agreed that there was something a bit odd about Thomas Ainsworth. He didn’t like him very much.

“Oh jolly good,” Ainsworth said, giving a little half grin. “Glad to hear it. Terrible business about Old Dotty’s papers isn’t it? Probably one of the foreign students, I shouldn’t wonder. Most of them seem to come from the other side of the iron curtain,” he said casually as though he was trying to start a conversation. “I can’t see an Englishman doing such a treacherous thing!”

David resisted the urge to give him a non committal grunt in reply. “Yes, very bad business,” he said politely. He looked carefully at the book Thomas had in his hand and before the other boy could notice looked away. Thomas moved his hand over the title; David wasn’t sure whether this was on purpose or not.

He smiled vaguely at Thomas who seemed to take this as an excuse to keep talking. He got the impression that the other boy was possibly trying to convince him that he was not solely to blame for Julian’s dislocated shoulder. Thomas was asking David how far they’d got into their lectures. He explained as briefly as he could. He was itching to get away from Thomas and the girls were probably seconds from coming out from behind the book shelf to see what was going on. David didn’t want to be making small talk with Thomas any longer than strictly necessary.

Thomas smiled a little feeling that the conversation would go no further. He placed the book he had been looking at back on the shelf and stepped back.

“I should get going, plenty of work to do still,” he said nodding at David. “Thanks for the chat Morton,” he added as he turned on his heel and walked away from David.

David stood where he was for a moment and considered his next move. He had watched where Thomas had put the book back and considered checking on the title for a moment. He could hear Darrell and Sally’s low conversation on the other side of the bookcase. He waited a minute until he was sure that Thomas had indeed moved off. David checked the title of the book and frowned.

“Russian history?” David muttered to himself, before putting the book back and shrugging. There was no reason why Thomas shouldn’t be reading it, but David felt a little uneasy about the choice especially when Thomas hadn’t taken it away with him and stopped him looking at the title.

David went back to Darrell and Sally with a slight frown on his face.

“Who was it? Are there actually enemies sneaking around trying to get information from us?” Darrell asked in a mocking dramatic whisper.

David gave her a sarcastic smile. “It was Ainsworth,” he said sitting down in a chair and looking disgruntled. “Looking at a book on Russian history for some odd reason,” he added shrugging. He looked at the girls faces. Both of them were amused.

“Honestly,” Darrell said after a moment, her smile still on her face. “Thomas probably thinks that we’re all peculiar now because we stopped talking and you appeared to question him.”

“Not that there was a lot of questioning going on,” Sally teased. She smiled at David’s face and shook her head.

“I think we’ve got ourselves a couple of detectives, Darrell,” she added with a giggle.

David rolled his eyes. “Laugh all you want ladies, but I’m no detective,” he said standing up and pulling a teasing face at them. “If you ladies are after a qualified detective I’ll be more than happy to point you in the direction of a certified detective genius,” David mocked in a fake posh accent. Darrell and Sally were clutching their sides in silent mirth trying not to make too much noise in the library.

David chuckled and shook his head, the encounter with Thomas slipping to the back of his mind.

Julian woke the next morning feeling groggy. The painkillers he had taken for his shoulder had sent him to sleep as soon as he’d gotten back to his room the night before. He was aware of sleeping through tea and supper and waking in the middle of the night only to take some more. He sat up gingerly, his stomach rumbling. He hoped that there would be a good breakfast that morning, he was starving.

Gingerly he tried to move his bad shoulder to see if it was any better than the day before. It protested under the treatment. Julian had to grit his teeth at the pain to stop himself yelling out. He sighed a moment later and reached for the painkillers and glass of water on his bedside table. It took him a good few tries to get the little pill out of the bottle. He needed both hands to get the lid off and with his left arm almost useless because he couldn’t move his shoulder; it was quite tricky to unscrew the lid. He persevered however and soon managed to get the bottle open without spilling the pills everywhere. He took one and left the lid balancing on top of the bottle while he went about trying to get dressed. Just as he was pulling a blazer on over his shirt there was a knock at the door.

“It’s open!” Julian called as he managed to get his injured arm into the sleeve without causing himself too much pain. He looked up as the door opened and David looked in.

“You’re up I see,” David said with a grin. “I knocked for you last night at tea and supper but you must have been sleeping like a log!” Julian grinned as he pulled his other sleeve around and managed to shake his blazer on.

Continue reading →

Posted in Fan fiction | Tagged Darrell Rivers, David Morton, Julian Kirrin, Malory Towers, Sally Hope, St Andrews, The Famous Five, The Missing Papers: A St Andrews Adventure | 9 Comments

Five on a Treasure Island – How has Blyton’s original text fared in a modern edition? part 4

Posted on January 17, 2014 by Fiona

Having read chapters seven and eight a line at a time I can now say I found thirteen changes between them (again, not including random adding and removing of hyphens or I’d be here for a week.) Apologies in advance, there’s a bit of a grammar rant in here. It was one in the morning and I was tired.

A reminder of parts one, two and three in case you missed them.

five on a treasure island 1997 paperback

The 1997 paperback, with the illustration from the first edition

CHAPTER SEVEN: BACK TO KIRRIN COTTAGE

I rather stand by my theory that the more action a chapter sees, the more changes it receives. Chapter six was pretty action packed and I noted twelve alterations, whereas chapter seven, which features much more talk and planning only has six. (Out of interest I did a page count, chapter six is only one page longer than chapter seven, as obviously a substantially longer chapter would have a lot more words that could possibly be altered. One page’s worth doesn’t seem significant to me. Not to double the alterations anyway.)

The first change I found is that whilst has become while. Whilst might be a little old-fashioned, but it’s still a perfectly good word, isn’t it?

Next, the line he [Timmy] didn’t seem to like the wreck at all, but growled deeply at it, has been changed. The but has become an and. They both mean the same thing, so why was it changed? Whether he didn’t like it, but growled instead, or didn’t like it and growled… it’s the same, and really doesn’t warrant an edit in my opinion.

Uncle Quentin’s threats are then watered down. In the original he announces he will keep [them] all in bed tomorrow. Nowadays he just threatens to keep [them] in. Likewise when the children say they’ll find themselves in bed, it instead becomes inside. Not sure about this change either. Keeping children in bed as a punishment probably seems old-fashioned, but it’s not exactly a crime of child cruelty. I imagine they would be allowed out to use the bathroom! It’s later said that they worry they might be sent to bed, so clearly not all punishments involving limiting them to bed are banned.

The last change is equally ridiculous. Dick lay back in a chair becomes on a chair. There’s only one word for that, and it’s why? There’s a difference between being in a chair and on it, even if it’s very slight. Likewise being in your bed and on it are different, but both are acceptable! In the chair implies comfort, a certain cosiness which is lacking if you’re just on a chair.

This chapter makes me feel like the editor read it, couldn’t find anything to change, or not enough anyway, and so felt he wasn’t earning his money. So he went back and made a half-dozen petty changes to justify his job.

CHAPTER EIGHT: EXPLORING THE WRECK

Slightly more action = slightly more changes.

Another whilst becomes while, and like in several other places shorts become jeans so I’ll spare you my now-usual rant about weather-appropriate clothing and just point out they left the rubber-soled shoes alone, surely trainers would go better with the jeans?

That means I can save my ranting for these sorts of changes. The original talks about the rocks on which the great wreck rested. Seems perfectly reasonable, doesn’t it? Apparently it’s not, as the later editions reads the rocks in which the great wreck rested. It’s a boat, boats get stuck on rocks, not in them. The updated version can’t seem to make up its mind, as it later has a reference to the wreck being on the rocks.

Finally, a change that might be a positive one. Isn’t it strange to see bunks the sailors have slept in – and look at that old wooden chair, is how the original text reads. The paperback reads isn’t it strange to see bunks the sailors have slept in? – and look at that old wooden chair. The first part of the sentence is rather questioning. Sentences begging isn’t it or aren’t they etc usually are, though in this case it seems almost a statement. But a question mark followed by a dash? – I’m not so sure about that. Just doesn’t look right in either the text or this blog. A full stop, whether at the bottom of a question or exclamation mark, or on its own, denotes the end of a sentence. A dash is for joining two parts together. (Let’s not get into the difference between hyphens, m-dashes and n-dashes though.) How can you join a sentence fragment onto a finished sentence? If they’d wanted to put a question mark in, to me they should then have altered the start of the next sentence to “Oh, and look,” or something to that effect, assuming they care about the ‘don’t start a sentence with a conjunction’ rule.

The rest of the alterations are to do with the editor’s least favourite word: queer. A queer smell becomes a funny one, a queer sight becomes strange, instead of feeling queer the children feel uneasy (which to me isn’t the same thing at all!) and, slightly incongruously a queer trip becomes a weird one. I can’t remember weird appearing in any original famous five texts, though I could be wrong. It’s certainly in The Valley of Adventure, when the girls go into the cave of echoes, but it’s not a word used very often by Blyton I don’t think.

And that’s it for these chapters. Please do comment if a) you can point out multiple uses of weird in Blyton’s works, or b) think question marks and dashes of any kind go well together. Or if you have anything to say about any of these changes!

Posted in Updating Blyton's Books | Tagged Five on a Treasure Island, The Famous Five, The Valley of Adventure, Updates | 17 Comments

The Marsh of Adventure by Poppy, chapter 11

Posted on January 15, 2014 by worldofblyton

Chapter eleven:

Noises in the night

Four subdued children sat in the boys’ tent as thunder rolled, lightning flashed and rain lashed down. By now they were rather damp, and had given up their game of cards. They were rather hungry, for they had not yet had their tea.

“Did we leave any sandwiches over at lunch?” Lucy-Ann half shouted, battling to be heard in the noisy storm.

“Not a scrap…” Philip replied dolefully, but equally loudly.

“I’m starving!” Dinah moaned, huddling up into a ball under a few rugs. “Won’t somebody rush over to the hidey hole and bring something?”

Philip and Jack looked at each other. “I’ll go,” Jack said reluctantly. “Anything specific?”

“Just food!” Dinah said impatiently. “I don’t care what it is, I could eat anything! Do hurry, Jack.” Jack lifted the flap of the tent and looked out doubtfully. After a roll of thunder, he dashed out hurriedly. Kiki, not at all wanting to return to the storm, did not follow her master for once and sat firmly on Lucy-Ann’s shoulder as Philip buttoned the tent up again.

Jack raced through the storm to the hidey hole, where they stored all the food they had. The sky was very dark and grey by now. The lightning lighted things up for a moment when it flashed, but that was all the light there was. Jack could hardly see where he was going through the rain and thunder, and fought his way along. And then he realised he was going down the hill! “I must be going the wrong way,” he hissed to himself.

Continue reading →

Posted in Fan fiction | Tagged The Adventure Series, The Marsh of Adventure, Written by Poppy | 5 Comments

Monday Monday Monday!

Posted on January 13, 2014 by Fiona

Another week into the New Year, where is it going?! It seems to be heading by so fast already!

Anyway, this last week, we reached a tremendous new score for our most viewed day. We went up from 298 to 319 with our wonderful interview with Jemima Rooper. We are so glad that you all liked it!

So this week, well we have Chapter Eleven of Poppy’s Marsh of Adventure, and Fiona will be doing her next instalment of textual changes for Five on a Treasure Island.

And I have no idea I’m afraid. Mostly likely it’ll be a double Fan fiction week and I’ll post the next chapter of my The Missing Papers, however if I think of anything else, I shall let you know!

I shall leave you with a set of pictures I took on an early morning walk yesterday while the frost was still thick on the ground. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did taking them!

Posted in Blog talk | Tagged Frost, January, Jemima Rooper, Nature | 4 Comments

Making Blyton’s Food: Jam tarts

Posted on January 12, 2014 by pippastef

The name says it all, doesn’t it? Jam tarts. Probably the most iconic food of children’s literature, immortalised in Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and they were a staple favourite of Blyton, appearing in two books that spring to mind at the moment, Five Run Away Together, and The Treasure Hunters.

The dustjacket of Jane Brocket’s Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer cook book. Taken from Amazon.

Once again I take my recipe from Jane Brocket, who if you recall was the inspiration for the Ginger biscuits I made last year. Her book, Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer was inspired by the food in Blyton’s books, but also include delicious treats from other series. Her jam tarts are easy to make and instructions easy to follow, so this is the perfect recipe for children!

If you want to bake some Blyton delights, I cannot recommend this book strongly enough, and gosh it’s a little hard to get hold of, but worth it! My copy is a second hand job from Amazon and I suggest you look under the ‘used’ section as ‘new’ means shelling out forty pounds, even though it would be a welcome addition to any Blyton bookshelf.

The Recipe

You will need:

180 grams plain flour
60 grams icing sugar (however I used golden caster sugar which works just as well!)
120 grams butter
2 egg yolks or 1 egg yolk plus two tablespoons of water
1 jar (at LEAST 340 grams worth) of a jam of your choosing. I chose strawberry jam.

You will also need: 2 bun trays.

Sift flour and (icing) sugar into a bowl. Quickly rub butter in and then add enough liquid [the eggs or the egg and water] to make the pastry come together. Then set aside to chill in fridge for at least half an hour.
Pre heat oven to gas mark 6/200 degrees celsius.
Roll out pastry on floured surface.
Make [as many as] 16 to 18 rounds with a pastry cutter.
Chill again in the fridge for thirty minutes
When ready to bake, remove the trays from fridge and spoon a good teaspoon full of your chosen jam onto the centre of each pastry circle. Don’t be stingy but don’t over fill, either, otherwise the jam will bubble over.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. [I left for more like twenty minutes however as Brocket advises you to wait until the cases are golden brown before removing from oven]
Allow tarts to cool in bun trays on wire racks before turning out of the tray.

Then your tarts should be ready to eat! Enjoy!

: The ingredients I used

: The pastry

: Pastry cases

: The jam! As you can see, I favoured strawberry!

: Jam tarts before baking

: Jam tarts after baking

Posted in Food and recipes | Tagged Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer, Jam Tarts, Jane Brocket, Making Blyton's Food | 6 Comments

How to make canvas wall art

Posted on January 10, 2014 by Fiona

I got crafty again last year and made Stef another Christmas present, another Famous Five themed one. It wasn’t actually what I had originally intended to do, but I hadn’t been able to find an important component of my original plan so this was a decent alternative I thought. I won’t say what my first idea was, as I may do it in the future should I ever be able to find what I need!

Completed canvases

YOU WILL NEED

Canvas(es). I went to Dunelm Mill and got three of these, the seven-by-five-inch ones I think, but there’s plenty of choice if you want to do one large canvas or two medium etc.

A book. Now, I know I’m mostly against tearing up books but this was a modern paperback and… yeah, that’s my only defence. I specifically used the full colour edition (Hodder, printed in the 2000s. They’re identifiable by the label on the front mentioning they’re in colour, though the other Hodders published about that time with the same Eileen Soper covers do have labels in the same place mentioning either the centenary or that they’re simple illustrated editions.)

Glue, tub, paintbrush. As usual I used cheap for-school PVA glue. So many of the crafting guides I’ve read advocate things like mod podge, which I’ve never used, but I know it’s much dearer. I’ve always had perfectly good results with cheap glue, so unless you’re making something that’s going to be handed daily (notebook covers, jewellery etc) it’s probably not necessary to splash out. Any old tub will do but I used a plastic (I-can’t-believe it’s-not) butter (lighter) tub. The paintbrush was the first chunky-ish one I found lying about in the house.

Marker pen(s). Coincidentally, and conveniently, I had just treated myself to a twelve-pack of Sharpies (reduced to £10) so I made use of those, though I bought a black ultra-fine-line one too.

And that’s about it, simple!

TO MAKE

Select your pictures and text. I played about for a while, ripping illustrated pages out and laying them on the canvases, and I even cut out a few sheets of paper the right size to do some text/picture layouts.

Five on a Hike Together has such an iconic phrase in it that I just HAD to use it, though you could write a longer passage across a whole canvas or only use pictures.

That iconic phrase that every Blyton fan should know.

I decided if I had one with text, I would have one that was a full-page picture, and of course as it was for Stef it would have to feature Julian. The third one was therefore to be a small picture and a little text relating to it underneath.

The middle canvas was the first one I did, and I used one of my cut-to-size bits of paper to map out the text. I used that guide to draw faint pencil lines on the canvas, and then pencilled on the letter outlines. Once I was happy with them I did my (thicker) black Sharpie outline and coloured in the letters in Stef’s favourite colour with another Sharpie. I left it a few minutes to dry just to be safe and then used a rubber to remove any traces of pencil marks.

Next I did the illustration-only canvas, carefully tearing the picture from the surrounding page so the edge was nicely rough and ragged. I covered the front of the canvas with glue, stuck the image down, smoothing it out as I went, and then did a layer of glue over the top to seal it and make it smooth and shiny.

Julian being brave

And finally, the third canvas. I mapped out my text again and pencilled it on before using the ultra-fine Sharpie to go over it. I rubbed out my pencil lines (though bizzarely I found the Sharpie went a bit paler as I did that, I thought it was ‘fine’ not ‘semi-permanent’! It wasn’t a big deal though, as I just went over it again) and then I repeated the same process for pasting the illustration and covered the whole lot with glue.

A very important scene in the book!

I left it all to dry overnight, and that was it, done. All in all it took less than two hours, and most of that was me faffing with the layouts. I thought they looked good in the end, quite simple but effective!

Some credit has to go to Poppy one of our contributors, as a while back she used the colour editions to do a decoupaged canvas which somewhat inspired me, and it was the first time I became aware of the colour editions too.

Posted in Crafts | Tagged Five on a Hike Together, Gifts, How To, Make Your Own Presents, Presents, Reusing Books, The Famous Five | 3 Comments

World of Blyton Exclusive Interview with JEMIMA ROOPER

Posted on January 8, 2014 by worldofblyton

We’ve had this lurking in our drafts for a little while, and we’ve been so excited it was hard to keep it a secret. But finally, to make that first week back at work more bearable, here is our exclusive interview with Jemima Rooper, who are we’re sure you all will know, starred as George in the 1990s Famous Five TV series.

In the Famous Five Annual, it says that it took you a long time to have your hair curled, did it help you get into character?

Jemima as George, with her curly hair. Doesn’t she look grand?

Yes and no! The first year the perm dropped really quickly so it took ages to tong and looked terrible so wasn’t that useful character wise. The second year was much better and was great for filming… not so good for my teenage social life. The boys would always steal my hats.

Had you read the books before you got the part of George? (If you did, can you remember which was your favourite and why?)

I grew up reading The Famous Five and as a younger kid had tried to be like George (without cutting my hair, though it was in the typical child bowl cut so many parents favour!) Reading Blyton was a massive part of my childhood reading so when the audition came up I was obsessed with succeeding. In fact my mum used to take me to a second hand bookshop on Charing Cross Road and hunt for the old hardback books with Eileen Soper’s illustrations and I have rather a lot still in a cupboard. I think my favourite will always be the first, Five on a Treasure Island. It was when George was her sulkiest which I loved.

What was your favourite episode to film?

There were so many great ones. I think I loved the circus ones the most as we got to meet chimpanzees and elephants. Much more fun than going to school.

The cast washing an elephant in Five Go Off to Camp.

There were lots of guest stars who appeared alongside you in the series, out of them all who was your favourite?

Jesse Birdsall who played an evil gypsy in one as a few years later he played my dad in As If. He’s a brilliant actor and was really fun and interested in all of us. Not dismissive just because we were kids. But we were very lucky and pretty much everyone was lovely. I recently worked on a film and bumped into Sion Tudor Owen who had played a baddie in series one and he was exactly the same nearly twenty years on and we had a very good giggle together remembering stuff.

Do you still get recognised by fans of the series?

Said fan (PippaStef) with Jemima.

Weirdly, yes. I never expect to but I guess there’s a small number of people who watched it as kids and have kind of grown up with me. I’m always half embarrassed and half proud!

And what would be your favourite ever spotted moment?

Probably covered in mud at a festival, slightly worse for wear with someone pointing and yelling “George!”

Do you have any funny stories from filming? Any pranks that you used to play on each other?

We were very naughty is all I can really remember. We used to sneak out of our rooms and run around the hotel all night and our chaperone had no idea. We used to put things in our tutor Steve’s mouth when he fell asleep during our on set lessons.

Jemima with Connal

What is your a favourite memory from your time as George?

It was literally my dream. It was my dream role in the job I wanted to do. It felt so exciting and I learned more about my job and myself than at any other time I think. But probably Connal was the best thing. What a dog he was.

How closely could you relate to George then? And do you relate to her now in anyway?

Back then, the lines were slightly blurred between me and George. Though the life of the Famous Five was a little more privileged and a little more innocent than our lives are – but I’m a tomboy through and through and that will always remain.

Had you seen the 1970s Famous Five TV series before or after you got the role of George? If so, did you base any of your characterisation on what you had already seen?

I had seen it as it satisfied a small need to have FF on screen when I was little but I was so happy ours was set in the period the books were written in. I actually adored the Comic Strip Presents series more (it is brilliantly rude) but didn’t channel Dawn French (sadly) when I was thirteen!

You had a lot of roles after the Famous Five, which has been your favourite?

Lost in Austen was the best part I’ve ever had and I was also obsessed with the BBC Pride and Prejudice as a young teen so I got to scratch that itch. I’m often told I look too modern for period things so it was literally like it had been written for me when I read it. I howled with laughter when I read it and sadly, that doesn’t happen very often.

Jemima Rooper in Lost in Austen. In modern clothes on the right, and in period dress on the left. We think she rocks the period look, don’t you?

Many of your characters on TV seem to be strong independent women, did playing George influence your decision to take on these roles at all?

I think it’s just that sometimes there are girls like Anne, and there are girls like George. The Annes are often the romantic leads, the more vulnerable, traditional ones. And the Georges are the ones that don’t quite fit the mould.

George Kirrin is possibly one of the most famous tomboys of all time, what did it feel like to be able to play her on television?

Bloody marvellous!

Jemima at the 2014 BAFTAS in a Stella MaCartney dress. Via the Daily Mail

Jemima at the 2014 BAFTAS in a Stella McCartney dress. Via the Daily Mail

We get a lot of people searching for you on the blog, how do you feel to know that people still remember you as George?

I’m mortified in a sense. It’s like loads of people digging up those embarrassing family photos. But I’m also so pleased that the character still means so much to people and I was a part of that. It took a lot of getting over when we had finished filming all the books and I will always remember it.

The majority of the EBS (Enid Blyton Society) members think that you were the perfect George, how does that make you feel?

Incredibly happy. Before I became an actress and way before I played the part I really did pretend to be her (I’m an only child like George and had a lot of time on my own!) so I had actually done unconscious Daniel Day Lewis method acting in preparation! I will probably never research a role so well again.

Jemima can be seen most recently on the BBC One show Atlantis as Medusa, and will be appearing with Angela Lansbury in Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit at the Gieguld Theatre from 18th March 2014 for 15 weeks. She can be followed on Twitter Here.

Posted in Blyton on Screen | Tagged 90s Famous Five TV Series, As If, BAFTA 2014, Connal, Dawn French, Eileen Soper, Five on a Treasure Island, Interview, Jemima Rooper, Jesse Birdsall, Lost in Austen, Sion Tudor Owen, Stella McCartney, The Famous Five | 18 Comments

First Monday of the year

Posted on January 6, 2014 by Fiona

It’s the first Monday of 2014, and with a lot of grumbling most of us are back at work (I’m definitely grumbling.)

It’s not all bad, though, as we have something very special and exclusive lined up for Wednesday, so hopefully it will provide us all with a little bit of mid-week cheer.

Stef’s not sure what she’ll do, maybe some more of her fan fic, or maybe a surprise.

I’m hoping to do another crafty-how to, as I made Stef something for her Christmas with a Famous Five theme.

That’s about all there is in blog news this week, except for the fact we have reached 41,000 views! I’ve finally made it out on a walk (my first in a month!) so I’ll put on a few of the photos I took, and hopefully there will be more walks (and more photos) in the coming weeks as I attempt to walk off some of the food I ate over Christmas!

Ivy-covered post

The Tay at sunset

Crackers

Stream flowing into the river

Merry Christmas

Another small fall

The Tay

Christmas decor

Big waterfall

Birthday cake

The Tay after sunset

Little waterfall

Posted in Blog talk | Tagged 2014, January, Monday | 4 Comments

Bill (Wilhelmina) Robinson of Malory Towers

Posted on January 5, 2014 by pippastef

We all must be aware of Blyton’s most famous tomboy, the one and only Georgina Kirrin. In this series I hope to take you through six of Blyton’s best tomboys (i.e. the ones Fiona and I can think of right now). That is, near enough tomboys, including Jane Longfield and Dinah Mannering. Of course, if you think we’ve forgotten any, just comment below!

I’m going to start off with my favourite Blyton tomboy, Wilhelmina Robinson a.k.a Bill from Malory Towers (you can find out why she’s my favourite here). Now I love Bill, she’s a fabulous character who doesn’t get used a lot in Malory Towers, and she has so much potential. She is practical and steady, unlike George who is prone to bursts of temper. Bill has seven brothers and has never really seen herself as a girl, nor has she been treated like one, except for being made to go to Malory Towers.

In my opinion, and it will probably be an unpopular one, Bill is a better, more well balanced tomboy than George. She turns her hand to woodwork, and is the only girl in the fourth form and above to take it, where as we’re never told that George does such things. Malory Towers seems to actively encourage Bill in her pursuits, where as, I always thought that George at Gaylands school, would be made more to toe the line and do what the other girls did.

Bill is the kind of tomboy I always wanted to be, because she was good at all these practical things, was warm hearted, good natured and everyone liked her. She makes a good impression on the Malory Towers girls from pretty much the first moment they meet her they instantly like her and agree to call her Bill instead of Wilhelmina.

Darrell wrote to Sally that night and told her about Bill…

“You’ll like Bill (short for Wilhelmina). All grins and freckles and very short hair, mad on horses, has seven brothers, says just exactly what she thinks, and yet we don’t mind a bit.”

– Third Year at Malory Towers

The only thing that annoys the girls about Bill is that she won’t pull her weight in the classroom jobs, because she has to spend all her time with Thunder, her horse. To Bill, no one is more important than her horse, and her first few weeks at Malory Towers are fraught with complications as she tries to keep Thunder as the centre of her world like he was when she was home schooled.

After Third Year at Malory Towers, Bill doesn’t appear much more, which is a real shame. She does make good friends with Clarissa Carter in the Upper Fourth, after Gwendoline monopolises the new girl’s time. Bill bonds with Clarissa over horses and a fast friendship blooms almost instantly.

I think this is a good place to point out that this particular friendship, is one of the more popular ones to write fan fiction about, as it appeals greatly to the LGBT community, given that Bill acts like a boy and Clarissa is more openly feminine (it fits a stereotype of lesbian couples.) Blyton of course never meant for there to be any sexual elements to the friendship, as in most of her novels (The Adventure Series romance between Bill Smugs and Aunt Allie of course, is the obvious exception) the characters were simply supposed to be best friends. (Though I just want to say that it is marvellous that Blyton can reach so many people on so many levels!)

In the Fifth Form, Bill’s place as the form’s most masculine member is revisited as she takes on the role of the baron in the form’s pantomime. She wears her jodhpurs to the stage, and takes her whip to make her feel more the part, and her short hair and freckles help her act the part.

The sixth form is a quiet year for Bill as she’s not seen much apart from the odd remark, trip out on the horses with Clarissa, and mentioning what the two of them will be doing after they finish. There is no surprise when they announce that they are going to run a stables near Malory Towers. Its a nice way to see Bill, doing what she loves best, near the school she loves.

Even though Bill is a very quiet tomboy, she has (in my humble opinion) got so much personality and great things going for her, that she has to be one of Blyton’s best tomboys! She never claims to be better than the girls, but just prefers to do more masculine things with her time. I believe Bill Robinson to be one of Blyton’s most successful and well rounded tomboys and I only wish, there were more books about her, because she is smashing!

Bill and her horse Thunder. Illustrated by Stanley Lloyd

Posted in Characters | Tagged Bill Robinson, Malory Towers, Tomboys, Wilhelmina Robinson | 9 Comments

Five on a Treasure Island – How has Blyton’s original text fared in a modern edition? part 3

Posted on January 3, 2014 by Fiona

Continuing with Five on a Treasure Island, I’ve looked at chapters five and six. It appears that as the excitement and action starts in the story, the editor’s pen has started to fall more heavily. In chapters five and six, which deal with the children’s first visit to Kirrin Island, I found twenty seven alterations, which is three more than in the first four chapters put together! And that’s not including the majority of the hyphens that were removed in words like to-morrow as I’ve already covered that in my first and second posts.

The 1997 paperback, with the illustration from the first edition

The dustjacket of the 1965 edition (which differs from the first edition)

CHAPTER FIVE: A VISIT TO THE ISLAND

The first change I truly approve of is where Mother and father becomes Mother and Father, which is grammatically correct, and we all know how much I approve of good grammar.

There were, once upon a time, six instances of queer in this chapter. There are now three uses of strange, one odd, one funny and one peculiar instead. I suppose six queers in a chapter is a little much, but then are we counting how many times strange is used now?

There are a few real head-scratching changes made, such as when the little girl hadn’t got quite the right stroke becomes simply, the right stroke. That changes the meaning, rather pointlessly I think. Anne doesn’t have the wrong stroke, just one that isn’t quite right, but is close.

Also, hie Tim! becomes hey Tim! What’s wrong with hie, I ask? Then, George’s I wonder why! is changed to I wonder why? It’s a statement, not a question, to me at least. I’m open to debate though, if anyone can give me an explanation as to why a question mark is more grammatically correct in this instance.

I commend their consistency at least as lighted becomes lit again, fire-place becomes fireplace and worth while becomes worthwhile, but bizarrely at one point good morning suddenly becomes good-morning!

And finally, a change I anticipated as soon as I saw the word spank. If you go after the rabbits I’ll spank you is now I’ll be furious. That’s George to Timmy by the way! Obviously the editors disapprove of corporal punishment used on pets as well as on children.

Interestingly, Master George has been left alone in this chapter, as Alf calls her that when she goes to collect Timmy, and it’s even said that the children find it queer/funny to hear her called that. I complained when it was removed from a previous chapter, so the fact it’s left in here makes the earlier removal all the more odd.

So, fifteen changes in all, making it the most-changed chapter so far.

CHAPTER SIX: WHAT THE STORM DID

Consistency fails a little in this chapter, as lighted becomes lit twice, and then a third time is left alone, the sun shone on [the wreck] and lighted it up. I don’t really see the need for it to be changed in the first place, as I said in my second post, they’re both correct, but if they were going to change it they should change every instance!

I know I said I wouldn’t include all the times they changed a hyphen or two words into one, but in this chapter near by becomes nearby, which to me sounds like near-bay or near-bee. But then I’m strange sometimes.

The rest of the changes are all queer. By that I meant the removal of the word queer. It was used nine times in the chapter (which I admit is rather a lot). The first time it becomes amazing, then we get five stranges in a row, and then almost as if the editor realised there were other alternatives, we get two odds and finally a peculiar.

The whole issue rather reminds me of an old childhood favourite (ok, I’m still rather fond of it now) book by Lois Lowry. Anastasia Krupnik, the eponymous character is constantly saying things are weird, and her poet father takes offence.

“Anastasia. This is a household of verbal, articulate, intelligent people. We have an entire room filled with bookcases. In those bookcases are dictionaries. Encyclopaedias. Roget’s Thesaurus. Anthologies of obscure Elizabethan poetry. There are a hundred words – at least a hundred words you could substitute for weird. ”

“Name some.”

He got a beer from the refrigerator. “Strange,” he said. “Dreadful. Formidable. Ghastly. Unearthly. Demoniacal…”

Anastasia could tell, when he got to demoniacal, that he was going to go on for a while….

“PHANTASMAGORICAL,” said her father.

I suppose my point here, is, people complain queer is over-used in addition to being an inappropriate word nowadays. If the editors felt the need to add more variety to her language, why are they limiting us to strange, odd and peculiar? They could at least be inventive and throw in a few phantasmagoricals or demoniacals. (I’m being tongue-in-cheek here, before you get worried!)

Anastasia Krupnik by Lois Lowry. I recommend it, and the rest of the series!

So there you go, twelve more ~~queer~~ ghastly changes in this chapter, bringing us up to fifty one so far (in six chapters or sixty odd pages.)

Posted in Updating Blyton's Books | Tagged Anastasia Krupnik, Five on a Treasure Island, Lois Lowry, The Famous Five, Updates | 13 Comments

Happy New Year 2014

Posted on January 1, 2014 by pippastef

We welcomed in the New year last night and I hope you’ll forgive this post for being a little late today! Hope you all had a lovely and safe new years eve!

Now as Fiona wrote out Blyton’s New Year Poem, Little New Year, last year, I’ve gone for another poem in the poetry book called January Days:

The trees are bare, the fields are cold,
The birds roost close together.
Jack Frost at night is fierce and bold,
‘Tis January weather!
The hedges shiver all around,
The skies are cold and grey,
The squirrel’s sleeping safe and sound.
the bees are hid away.

But in a sheltered spot I know,
A primrose is awake,
And the snowdrops pale and slender grow,
And the hazel catkins shake.
Who cares for January cold,
We’ll let him have his fling!
The winter’s getting worn and old,
We’re marching into spring!

So just a little, looking to the future!

Hazel Catkins

And one last thing for New Year’s Day, for all those who are interested in our annual stats (I do believe we published our special WordPress log of them last year), I supply you with the link to them now!

All that remains is for us to wish you a Happy New Year and a quick chorus of Auld Lang Syne!

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?

CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We’ll tak a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

And surely ye’ll be your pint-stowp,
And surely I’ll be mine,
And we’ll tak a cup o kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pou’d the gowans fine,
But we’ve wander’d monie a weary fit,
Sin auld lang syne.

We twa hae paidl’d in the burn
Frae morning sun till dine,
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
Sin auld lang syne.

And there’s a hand my trusty fiere,
And gie’s a hand o thine,
And we’ll tak a right guid-willie waught,
For auld lang syne

Meanings
Auld lang syne – times gone by
be pay for
braes – hills
braid – broad
burn – stream
dine – dinnertime

fiere – friend
fit – foot
gowans – daisies
guid-willie waught – goodwill drink
monie – many
morning sun – noon
paidl’t – paddled
pint-stowp – pint tankard
pou’d – pulled
twa – two

Posted in Blog talk, Poetry | Tagged Auld Lang Syne, January, New Year's Day, The Enid Blyton Poetry Book | 1 Comment

New Year Week

Posted on December 30, 2013 by Fiona

So we’re almost into the New Year and we’re having another quietish week here on World of Blyton, however Fiona’s blog for this week is another interesting one about the textual changes in Five on Treasure Island.

Again we shall have no contributor post this week, because Wednesday is New Year’s Day, we’re guessing you’ll be up to other things!

I don’t know what I will be doing, possibly another chapter of The Missing Papers, or my thoughts on The Island of Adventure.

Anyway, hope you’ll enjoy our posts this week and we’ll see you in the New Year!

I hope you like my pictures from around Christmas time.

Posted in Blog talk | Tagged December, Monday, New Year | 4 Comments

2013 birthday and Christmas present round up

Posted on December 29, 2013 by Fiona

I was lucky enough to receive quite a few Blyton-y presents between my birthday and Christmas this year, so I thought I’d do a wee blog to show off what I got!

My shiny new presents

For my birthday I got the Famous Five Annual from my cousin, something I’ve been aware of and wanting for a long time (we were discussing it on the Enid Blyton Society Forums long before it came out,) but I wasn’t really desperate enough to pay the cover price for it when I knew it would go down later. I’ve not really had a chance to read it yet, but I love the Eileen Soper cover and I’ve flicked through the contents already and they look really interesting.

The Famous Five Annual, 2014

The other thing I got for my birthday was this Blyton print, as a little surprise from my parents. I just need to find a bit of space on my poster-covered walls to put it up now!

Enid Blyton print

Then for my Christmas, I got even more!

My boyfriend (after some careful instructions and a little pleading) bought me the Famous Five Card Game from 1951, and Father Christmas and Belinda.

The card game isn’t in the best condition, the box is scuffed, the instructions are missing as are two of the six “all safe” cards, but I’m happy with it as they’re quite hard to find unless you’re willing to pay the best part of £50 for them. All the cards are based on Eileen Soper’s illustrations and I can read the instructions in the Cave of Books (gosh they look complicated though!)

Pepys card game

Father Christmas and Belinda will complete the series for me, as I already have the other book – Humpty Dumpty and Belinda which I reviewed earlier in the year.

Father Christmas and Belinda

As a little surprise, I also got this bookmark in my stocking (I was really confused as I tried to work out what it was while it was still wrapped.) I’m awful for not using bookmarks actually, so I waste a lot of time trying to figure out where I’m at when I reopen a book (that or I use receipts and scraps of paper to keep my place.)

Blyton bookmark

And finally, I got all four of the Enid Blyton Illustrated Bibliographies by Tony Summerfield. Two were from my parents and two were from my boyfriend (they obviously worked that out between them somehow after I put them on my list!)

Illustrated Bibliographies

I’ve been drooling over these for years but couldn’t quite justify the best part of £80 for them. I actually (and possibly foolishly) expected them to be journal-sized, but in reality they’re much bulkier (between 200 and 230 pages each), and I look forward to dipping into them when I’m looking for information about editions of the books.

So, not including the fourteen other books I got for Christmas, and the eight others for my birthday, (and let’s not mention the DVD, jewellery and miscellaneous other gifts) I was well and truly spoiled this year. I’m looking forward to sitting down with all these things to examine them more closely, and I think I’ve got enough reading material to last me a good few months now, which is always good. I’ll most likely review a lot of these gifts at some point, so stay tuned!

Did anyone else get any great Blyton presents this Christmas?

Posted in Personal Experiences | Tagged Christmas, Collin's Colour Camera Books, Enid Blyton Illustrated Bibliography, Father Christmas and Belinda, Gifts, Presents, The Belinda Books, The Famous Five Annual 2014, The Famous Five Pepys Card Game | 3 Comments

The Missing Papers: A St Andrews Adventure, chapter 9

Posted on December 27, 2013 by pippastef

You can catch up with each chapter below, before hurrying on to chapter nine. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight

So if you’re all up to date: welcome to chapter nine and some exciting developments!

Chapter 9

“You only want to go to the cathedral because of the so-called haunted tower,” Darrell told Julian with a laugh as they drew closer to the ruins.

“Haunted tower? I’ve not heard that the cathedral has a haunted tower,” Julian said with a wink at Sally who tried to stifle a giggle.

Darrell raised an eyebrow at Julian and poked his arm as she walked past him.

“You are terrible Julian. The worst liar I’ve ever come across, not that I’ve come across many,” she said with a cheeky smile. She grinned at Julian as David wandered along behind them.

Sally disentangled her arm from Julian’s as they reached the ruins and headed under the small archway into the walls of the cathedral. They took in the site of the ruined walls and the gravestones peeking out from the well-trimmed grass.

“So where’s this haunted tower then?” Julian asked with a chuckle as they wondered under and old archway on the left and looked up at the remains of the spire. The grey stone that the cathedral had been made out of was weathered but what remained of it seemed structurally sound. There were two big towers, one that looked almost ruined and one that was almost complete.

“I bet there’s no way up that tower,” Julian said in an almost sorrowful voice. “I bet the view from up there would be amazing.”

“It would certainly be something that is for sure.” David agreed. “I bet you could see most of the surrounding countryside and far out to sea. They could have used it to flash signals out to sea on stormy nights. I bet ships would have been thankful for any sort of light.”

Julian smiled a little; this was the kind of talk he was used to. David caught the grin on his face and good-naturedly rolled his eyes. The girls had wandered off to the end of the cathedral ruins just having a look at the old gravestones.

“I would have thought they would have a lighthouse for warning ships however,” Julian said with a small grin. “Not that I’ve seen any sign of a lighthouse around here.”

“Maybe we should take a stroll down to the harbour and see if there was ever a lighthouse,” David said, chuckling. Julian smiled at him and laughed as they started to stroll down the path towards where the girls had paused by the back wall of the cathedral.

“You’re beginning to know me too well,” Julian said with a grin as they met up with the girls.

“Found the haunted tower?” Darrell asked Julian with a cheeky grin.

“No, we were looking at the two tall towers,” Julian said with a chuckle looking down at Darrell as she stood next to him.

“Are you going to point me in the direction of the haunted tower then?” he asked with a grin at Darrell.

Darrell chuckled and turned around to face the wall on the side of the cathedral they had entered the ruin through. She pointed to the first tower next to the little archway.

“That one is the haunted tower. There’s not a lot of information about who exactly haunts it, but there is supposed to be a little tunnel that goes underground, into the foundations.” she said with a smile.

“You’ve been reading my local history text-book, haven’t you?” Sally asked her best friend astonished.

Darrell smiled at her. “I’m afraid I have. You did leave it lying around the room and I didn’t have anything to read at the time,” Darrell explained as David and Julian laughed at the two girls’ antics.

“You have so much English reading to do and you choose to read my history text-book?” Sally asked laughing. “You really are a donkey Darrell.”

Darrell laughed at her friend and took her arm encouragingly. They looked up at the small tower set into the wall and saw what could only be described as doorways into the tower. They went forward to examine them a little but saw that they were gated off.

“No exploring down there for you then Ju,” David teased his friend looking relieved that they couldn’t get down the dark holes. Julian flashed David a smile.

“There is always a way down,” he said simply. Julian laughed at the others and the apprehensive looks on their faces as they considered that he might ask them to accompany him down the dark tunnels of the haunted tower.

“You don’t think the tower really is haunted do you?” There was a smattering of nervous laughter from the others. Julian smiled at them and turned on his heel leading the way out of the cathedral.

“Let’s walk along the cliff road until we get to the edge of the golf course,” David suggested as they left the way they came and found themselves looking out over the grey sea.

“We should go and have a look at the ‘witches pool’ down that way as well,” Sally suggested as they turned left up the road and walked slowly along, enjoying the freedom for one day. Tomorrow they would be back to the work for their courses.

They ambled slowly along the road looking over the sea and peering at the castle ruins from the road. They passed by the back of the boys’ halls and down towards the golf course. There were light jokes and laughter as they walked, putting the stolen papers out of their minds for now. It was just fun to be together, not worrying about work or about getting to lectures.

They were in sight of the golf course when they came into view of the witches pool down in the rocks. It was a pool similar to the one they had seen by the castle, big thick walls of concrete set in the rocks which at full tide would be filled with cool sea water, perfect for bathing. Unlike the other pool by the cathedral, which appeared to always be filled with water, this pool looked like it would only be full with the tide.

“That must be why they built the other pool,” Julian said considering the large pool over the railings. “This one is bigger by far and has a platform there for sunbathing, but the other pool must always be full.”

“Shall we head down and have a look?” Darrell asked excitedly. “It’s not too dangerous a walk if we go down that little path there, and we’d be on sand. It’s not like Julian would be able to fall over and hurt himself again from that way.” Darrell shot Julian a teasing smirk as she spoke. Julian returned the smile with an air of good grace.

“I would like to know where you and Sally have got this idea that I’m likely to fall over on these rocks. I’m not a walking disaster,” he said with good humour.

“Well you managed to get yourself injured in a rugby game!” Sally pointed out with a laugh as David tried to stifle his own laughter at Darrell and Sally ganging up on Julian.

“People do get injured in rugby on the whole. It is a contact sport you know,” Julian said raising an eyebrow at Sally. Sally settled for a gently mocking smile at Julian’s comment. They tried to stare each other down and managed for all of five seconds before they both started to laugh. David and Darrell looked on at the two of them pityingly.

“Come on,” Darrell said nodding in the direction of the path down to the witches pool. “Let’s go and have a look if you’re so set on it.”

“Don’t go tripping over or slipping on seaweed Ju,” David said with a mocking edge to his voice. “We wouldn’t want to send you back up to the san now would we?” He chuckled as they walked down the sloping path to the bit of sand next to the pool. They reached the beach by the pool a few moments later and climbed on the thick wall the surrounded the pool.

“Careful,” David said as he helped Sally up. “It’s slippery in places,” he added as Sally almost slipped up and David had to catch her.

“It’s a big pool isn’t it?” Darrell called from the other end of the pool where she had walked to when she had got up on the wall. “Looks like it could hold the whole of the university.”

They all walked carefully around the pool on the big walls, looking out to sea and amongst the rocks. Darrell turned from her place on the corner of the pool and was just about to say something when something in the cliff face caught her attention.

“Look!” She pointed where she was looking to a jut in the cliff face in which there was the mouth of a cave.

“You wouldn’t be able to see that from anywhere but here and if you were standing somewhere directly in front of it,” Julian said curiously. They all looked at the cave for a moment.

“You could hide things in there and no one would ever know,” David remarked mildly after a minute.

“You mean like smugglers’ goods?” Darrell asked with a chuckle. She considered this idea carefully however. “I don’t think I would have been surprised if it was used for storing smuggled goods at one point,” she added mildly.

“I bet at high tide you could get a small boat almost all the way up to the cave without being seen,” said Julian with a small smile. “Maybe we should go and have a look?”

“No!” the other three said together, though they were laughing.

“At least not until you can look after yourself without doing more damage!” Sally said poking Julian’s arm to make him turn around and go back the way they had come. Julian turned grudgingly and headed slowly back towards the pathway off the beach.

“Spoil sport,” he muttered to Sally as he gave her a hand to get down off the wall of the pool when he had got down himself. Sally took his hand and jumped onto the sand. She smiled winningly at Julian.

“You know I’m right,” she said brightly, clearly teasing him. Julian managed a small smile at her.

“I may concede that occasionally you might be right,” he said with a chuckle as he held out his hand to help Darrell down on to the sand as well. Sally had to laugh.

“You two will be the death of each other, I’m almost certain of it,” Darrell said as she walked up the sand to the path as David jumped down on to the sand.

“Well at least Sally’s not allowed in the laboratory when we’re doing experiments. She’d be a liability!” David teased.

“How would I be a liability?” Sally asked astonished.

“You would be trying to start an argument with everyone in the class about how they’re all training to blow up the world!” Julian teased her, putting his good arm around her shoulders and giving her a quick squeeze.

Sally’s cheeks flushed scarlet. “Am I really that bad?” she asked quietly. Julian and David shared a look over Sally’s head as Darrell tried not to laugh. Darrell knew the boys were winding Sally up, and she knew that Sally knew but there was something sincere in her friend’s voice that told her that Sally really did want to know if she was being difficult.

“No, Sally, you are not bad in the slightest,” David said seriously. “However it is quite funny when you start on Julian about developing an atom bomb,” he added with a teasing glint in his eye. Sally smiled at him, slightly reassured.

“It would be a lot funnier if you started including David in your little pep talks about how we’re going to blow up the world though,” Julian said giving David a shove on the shoulder-blade. Sally smirked and shared an amused glance at Darrell who slipped her arm through her friends.

“Where should we go now?” Darrell asked as they rejoined the main path that led to the expanse of smooth golden sand the walked slowly along the path.

“We could always just wander in the rock formations,” Sally said quietly, “I don’t fancy struggling along against just wind and sand.”

“Oh yes, let’s add seaweed and rocks as well!” David said sarcastically. Sally sent him a withering look. David smiled first.

“Alright,” Darrell said with a laugh. She looked at Julian who was looking a little confused. “Oh dear, Julian, have we confused you?” she asked tucking her arm through his good one with a laugh. She didn’t let him get a word in edge wise though as she pulled him towards the beach saying, “I wouldn’t try and fight it if I were you. As long as it doesn’t look like you’re going to need two hands to climb over rocks, Sally won’t tell you off for not being careful.” Darrell flashed him a smile as she talked.

Julian had to laugh. He really liked Darrell; she was fun and practical at the same time. Here was a girl with a head on her shoulders who knew when to be serious and when to let go a little. He let Darrell lead him towards the rocks knowing the Sally and David were behind them.

They spent a good half an hour amongst the rocks exploring all the little nooks and crannies. They marvelled at the rock pools and shells that were lying around. Julian found himself somewhere to sit after a while, his shoulder aching. He was sure that the sister wouldn’t have been happy to know that he’d been out all day instead of staying inside and resting. He was sitting on a big rock that was quite high, looking out towards the sea.

“Ahoy up there!” David called looking up at Julian from his place on the sand. “Can you see any smugglers up there?” he teased.

Julian laughed. “No, can’t see a single one!” he called back and David continued on, leaving Julian to look at the coastline around him. Sally was the next one to talk to Julian. She climbed up the rock as best she could and managed to sit down next to him. She was thankful that she had managed to pin her hair so firmly in place that morning because the wind was beginning to whip up a gale on the beach.

“Good view up here,” Sally commented as she wiggled herself more firmly into place. She could see that he was tired if nothing else. “How are you holding up? Are we being a bit insensitive to your need to rest?”

Julian looked at her and chuckled a little bit. “No, I would be urging you to be doing things if you three were trying to get me to go easy,” he said with another chuckle. He smiled at Sally who smiled bashfully back before turning her head to look out over the sea. Julian smiled to himself and copied her.

“I’m fine, honest,” he said after a moment’s silence as Darrell and David called to each other about little dips in the rock they had found a little further up the beach. “Thank you,” he added after a moment.

“What are you thanking me for?” Sally asked looking startled.

“For generally stopping me hurting myself again,” Julian said with a smile. “I do really appreciate it.” He gently took Sally’s hand that was resting on her lap and gave it a little squeeze as if to say thank you. Sally didn’t pull her hand away; it felt nice to have her hand in Julian’s. She was sure she could sit quite happily like this for a long time if David’s voice hadn’t carried over the rush of the wind shouting to Darrell about finding another rock pool. Carefully they let each other’s hand go. There was a slight blush to both their faces as they feel into silence trying to come across a topic of conversation.

“I like your brooch,” Julian said finally landing on something he felt was a safe subject. He hoped he didn’t seem too sheepish at this approach. Sally bowed her head a little and looked at the broach.

“Thank you. It was a birthday present from my parents,” she explained smiling bashfully. She wondered silently if now was not the time to put her and Darrell’s plan in order. She decided that she would leave it until another day which would maybe give her some chance to find something that didn’t have such sentimental value. She would hate it if anything happened to her brooch and her parents would be less than thrilled at her if she had to tell them that she had indeed lost it. Sally smiled a little to herself as she thought, ‘I would be almost as bad as Belinda and Irene.’ [1]

“Your parents have good taste,” Julian said smiling at her as she got lost in her own little world for a moment.

Sally smiled at him. “Thank you. I’m sure they will be happy to hear that,” she said with a smile. She looked over her shoulder to see Darrell and David half way up the beach on the rocks.

“I’m not entirely sure they’ve realised how far they’ve gone,” Julian remarked with a grin. “Do you think we should call them back?” he asked Sally with a laugh, “Or let them realise themselves?”

Sally turned her face back to answer him when a movement some way off caught her eye. She twisted around to look back across the beach. She pulled on Julian’s arm to get his attention and slowly pointed where she was looking.

“Does that look like Thomas to you?” she asked curiously.

Julian looked briefly over his shoulder and noticed the familiar face of Thomas Ainsworth on the beach behind them.

“Yes, it does,” Julian said in a disinterested voice. He turned around and looked back over the sea. He wasn’t interested in talking to Thomas; after all he had been the reason that he had spent the night in the san.

Sally was watching Thomas looking slightly confused. He seemed to be waiting for someone or something. He was pacing up and down a little patch of sand just by the outcrop of the cliff. Sally was just about to turn back to Julian when she saw someone else come down onto the beach and walk quickly over to where Thomas was. Sally found herself pulling on Julian’s arm again.

“Look!” she hissed urgently, wanting him to see this. Julian grudgingly turned to look where Sally had pointed before.

“That looks like Anthony,” he said slowly becoming interested as he watched Thomas and Anthony, apparently having a heated conversation. Julian wished he could sneak up and have a listen to their conversation, but he was sure that he would be seen if he tried. Julian was pretty sure that the last time he had seen Thomas and Anthony anywhere near each other the former had been throwing food in Anthony’s direction.

Continue reading →

Posted in Fan fiction | Tagged Darrell Rivers, David Morton, Julian Kirrin, Sally Hope, St Andrews, The Missing Papers: A St Andrews Adventure | 3 Comments

Merry Christmas, Everyone & Christmas News, a poem by Enid Blyton

Posted on December 25, 2013 by Fiona

Christmas has come at last, so we hope you all have a lovely time. We’re sure you’ll all be too busy with presents, crackers and food to be browsing the internet but we’ve popped up a cute Blyton poem for you in case you happen to be online.

Christmas News

Some people say that Santa Claus
Has given up his sleigh because
His reindeer, though they’re very fleet,
In these days can’t really compete
With all the aeroplanes that fly
By day and night about the sky.
The reindeer get a dreadful scare
When aeroplanes rush through the air
And nearly bump into the sleigh;
It makes them want to run away.
So Santa Claus has bought a ‘plane
And now when Christmas comes again
I shouldn’t be surprised a bit
To see him come in a flying kit.
Roaring through the starry sky,
A Christmas twinkle in his eye.

Underneath his ‘plane it’s said,
Holly sprigs with berries red
Are painted very clear and bright,
And so, my dears, on Christmas night
I’m going to keep a sharp look-out,
To see if Santa’s ‘plane’s about.

And if I really saw it – ooh!
I would be happy – wouldn’t you?

We hope santa’s sleigh or plane has brought you lots of lovely Blytony goodies and we’ll see you on Friday for our regularly scheduled post!

Here’s a few pictures of my house late on Christmas Eve, all ready for Santa’s arrival.

Presents under the tree

Pinpricks of light

Mini tree

Abstract tree

Christmas magic?

Tree in the dark

Snowflake light

Posted in Blog talk | Tagged Christmas | 1 Comment

Last Monday before Christmas

Posted on December 23, 2013 by Fiona

Eep, yes we really are that close to Christmas now, so I hope you’ve got everything nearly ready by now!

Wednesday is Christmas day, so we won’t be putting up a contributor post this week, though there will most likely be a short Christmas message from us instead. Stef plans to give you another chapter of The Missing Papers, and I’m anticipating getting a new Blyton book as a present, which I can then review! (Or if I’m lucky enough to get several Blyton-y things, I may do a show-and-tell.)

Between work and Christmas prep, I’ve not managed to get out for any walks this month, so I’ll just a few photos from what I have done (and PS all of these were taken on my iPhone hence the poorer than usual quality!)

Peppermint hot chocolate from Starbucks

My sister slightly over-did the candles

Christmas décor at the Grill House, St Andrews

Christmas cocktails at the Grill House, St Andrews

And with that done; roll on Christmas!

Posted in Blog talk | Tagged December, Monday | 1 Comment

Five Run Away Together

Posted on December 22, 2013 by pippastef

First Edition Dust jacket picture by Eileen Soper

I recently had a conversation about this particular Enid Blyton novel and an interpretation of the story. In the past people have suggested that the Famous Five behaved appallingly towards the Sticks and their dog; however last week the person I was talking to suggested that the Five’s behaviour was totally justified.

Now wait a moment, before you start exclaiming that it’s not possible and I shall explain!

Five Run Away Together starts with George being on her own with Timothy during the holidays and her mother being ill. The jolly Joanna, who made her début in Five Go Adventuring Again, has gone off to look after her mother who had broken her leg, and Aunt Fanny has got a new temporary cook, the surly Mrs Stick.

From the off, when Julian, Dick, and Anne arrive and we are introduced to Mrs Stick, we know she has to be a baddie. She is bad tempered and hates the children on sight. She has a son Edgar who is no better, and dog, Tinker, that Timmy likes to chase and bite.

Mrs Stick and Julian, Dick and Anne by Eileen Soper

Mrs Stick, Julian, Dick and Anne

Now for a few days the Five have a rather nice time, in the summer sun, even though Aunt Fanny’s mystery illness puts a damper on the proceedings and her illness (which I always thought of as an appendicitis for some reason, because later it is mentioned that she has an operation and because I didn’t know the names for any other illnesses that required operations when I read the book the first time around, it sort of stuck!) causes great upset when she is taken away to hospital, and Uncle Quentin goes with her, leaving horrible old Mrs Stick in charge.

This is where my conversation becomes important. The person who I was talking to suggested that the behaviour of the Famous Five from this point onwards was justified because Mrs Stick had a duty of care towards the Five that wasn’t being fulfilled, so their actions were completely justified. In fact they were reacting to a deliberate action.

I have met people before where this book seems to suggest to them that the Five can actually be quite nasty, and I suppose to a degree that’s true. However with this new idea – that the five are only reacting to Mrs Stick not fulfilling her contract towards them, to me sheds a different light on the matter. From this point of view, Julian’s put down, sharp attitude to the Sticks is justified, and their treatment of Edgar (who is about as pleasant as his mother is) makes more sense.

julian mr stick five run away together

I always believed that the five’s attitude was justified but I couldn’t explain why. As a child it was because the Sticks were the bad guys and the good guys were allowed to be mean to them as the baddies were mean first (I hope that makes sense).

Anyway, onwards? This has to be one of my favourite fives as the weather described in the books makes for a perfect beachy holiday. Not to mention the thrilling plot. The Five, deciding that they can’t stay in Kirrin Cottage with the Sticks any longer, head out to the island and one of my favourite parts is where they go around the house collecting supplies of food and blankets and things to use and live off of when they’re on Kirrin Island. It is perhaps the first ‘big’ thing to happen in the story since Aunt Fanny gets taken to hospital.

When the food is all loaded into George’s boat, and they’ve successfully tricked the Sticks into thinking they’ve gone to Julian’s parents’ home, the Five row over to the island and have a fun time for a couple of days before the Sticks show up again. The Five become convinced that the Sticks are involved in smuggling and set about trying to capture them.

Once the story get to Kirrin island, things start to move quickly, and in fact it’s quite a long time before the Five do the running away to Kirrin Island, but the conflict with the Sticks and the reader’s concern about Aunt Fanny means that you do not really notice the lack of action before then!

The short chapters are filled with descriptions of food, glorious loaves of bread, ginger beer, tinned pineapples and peaches in sweet juice, sardines, roast chickens, fresh tomatoes, jam tarts, meat pies and treacle tarts. This is one of the more foodie books of the Famous Five. This is possibly something to do with the fact that Blyton would have been writing during the height of rationing (the first edition was published in August 1944) and these were foods that were probably being missed from the war time diet. I must say all the meals they have do sound most mouth watering even now!

Of course things work out well for our heroes, they get to the bottom of the Sticks’ secret, naturally and all on a full stomach! However I do have a few niggles about this book during this read. One would be the ages, all the children are described as being a year older than they were in Five on a Treasure Island. I can’t help feeling that Blyton writes Anne as much younger than her eleven years, making her feel about nine which is odd because she was very much written as her age in the previous two books.

This is probably also the novel where Julian’s pompous nature (loved by some [me] and hated by most) starts to really develop. He takes a lot of control around the Sticks and begins to really take control and organise the Five in a way we haven’t seen before, as they’ve always had the steadying guide of Aunt Fanny in the background. In Five Run Away Together, Julian’s character comes out into the light more, and this pompousness is continued and revisited throughout the rest of the series. In a way this is very much Julian’s book, which is probably why it was my favourite when I was younger, because it feels very Juliancentric.

Overall, this is a very good Famous Five and feels more comfortable than the two before. Certainly a nice easy, thrilling ready during these dark evenings. Gives you a reason to dream about the summer to come and all the adventures we’ll have!

The Five getting cosy on the island

All illustrations are by Eileen Soper and have been taken from the Cave of Books

Posted in Book reviews | Tagged Five Run Away Together, The Famous Five | 5 Comments

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TIMMY’S TIMELINE

MEET JULIAN

GEORGE’S HAIR IS TOO LONG

MEET GEORGE

WHERE IS KIRRIN ISLAND? (…AND OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE FAMOUS FIVE BOOKS)

FIVE GO OFF TO CAMP

RESCUE THE FAMOUS FIVE

FIENDISH FAMOUS FIVE QUIZ PART ONE

FIVE GO TO DEMON’S ROCKS

MORE FUN AND GAMES

FAMOUS FIVE FIND-A-WORD

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EXCITING PLANS!

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CHAPTER SEVEN: BACK TO KIRRIN COTTAGE

CHAPTER EIGHT: EXPLORING THE WRECK

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Chapter eleven:

Noises in the night

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YOU WILL NEED

TO MAKE

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All illustrations are by Eileen Soper and have been taken from the Cave of Books

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WHERE IS KIRRIN ISLAND?
(…AND OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE FAMOUS FIVE BOOKS)