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.

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.

  1. 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.
  2. Pre heat oven to gas mark 6/200 degrees celsius.
  3.  Roll out pastry on floured surface.
  4. Make [as many as] 16 to 18 rounds with a pastry cutter.
  5. Chill again in the fridge for thirty minutes
  6. 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.
  7. 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]
  8. 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!

Posted in Food and recipes | Tagged , , , | 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

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.

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

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!

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 , , , , , , | 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?

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.

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.

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

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?

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 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 , , | 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

Bill and her horse Thunder. Illustrated by Stanley Lloyd

Posted in Characters | Tagged , , , | 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!

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 , , , , | 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 by Stephanie Woods

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 , , , | 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 , , | 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

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 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

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

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

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

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

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 , , , , , , , , | 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 →

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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 | 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!

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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 by Eileen Soper

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 , | 5 Comments

Five on a Treasure Island – How has Blyton’s original text fared in a modern edition? part 2

Posted on December 20, 2013 by Fiona

Continuing on from my post two weeks ago, about the alterations in modern editions I’ve now looked at chapters three and four of Five on a Treasure Island.

The 1997 paperback, with the illustration from the first edition
The dustjacket of the 1965 edition (which differs from the first edition)

CHAPTER THREE: A QUEER STORY AND A NEW FRIEND

The first edit in this chapter is in the title, as in the modern edition it has become a peculiar story. 

There’s often talk about Blyton over-using the word queer anyway, though in the first four chapters I’ve only found it used four times. Incidentally I was reading Prince Caspian, from the Chronicles of Narnia series, by C.S. Lewis this week too, first published in 1951, I read a paperback from 1996. I counted queer or variations of it seven times, used by both the characters and the narrator.

“It gives me a queer feeling,” – Lucy

“It is the queerest thing that has happened this queer day” – Edmund

“This is the queerest thing I ever heard,” – Trumpkin.

‘Trufflehunter and the Dwarfs thought this a cry good idea and gave Pattertwig messages to all sorts of people with queer names…’ – the narrator

“Might have guessed we didn’t belong to this place with all its queer, nasty, unnatural creatures,” – the Telmarines

“I suppose what makes it feel so queer is that in the stories it’s always someone in our world who does the calling,” – Peter

It’s interesting that some works receive such “modernisation” while other classics from a similar period are left alone.

Back to the Five, the fourth instance of queer is the siblings thinking George was the queerest girl they had even known, and again it becomes most peculiar.

Again a reference to spanking has been removed, did you get spanked has become did you get told off?  

The other changes in this chapter are minor; Anne gets a lick on the nose from Timmy instead of a wet lick. Goodness knows why they thought it was necessary to remove the word wet there though, and some of the old-fashioned flavour is lost when George’s mother’s people become simply her family.

CHAPTER FOUR: AN EXCITING AFTERNOON

Chapter four earns the dubious distinction of being the most edited chapter so far, as I’ve spotted eight changes (not counting the removal of hyphens).

There are three in relation to their clothing, as with the earlier chapters shorts are jeans again, and in addition, Julian’s bathing-suit becomes his swimming trunks. After that his and George’s bathing-suits are referred to as bathing costumes. Of course the original illustration on the opposite page in the paperback still shows Julian swimming in his bathing suit, the sort that has shorts and a top with straps.

Julian's bathing-suit/bathing costume (but not swimming trunks)

Julian’s bathing-suit/bathing costume (but not swimming trunks)

Twice the sulks becomes a sulk, firstly when Aunt Fanny says she expects George will go into the sulks, and again when the other children don’t mind  George going into the sulks. I suppose a singular sulk is more common these days, but the sulks is hardly something modern children wouldn’t understand, is it?

One change I feel is particularly wrong (rather than just silly or pointless) is the fact the modern edition has removed Master when Alf the fisher boy is talking to George. I understand that children are no longer called Master Julian and Miss/tress Anne etc, but it’s quite an important character point, that George is treated as a boy and referred to as such. Those who either know how important that is to her, or who have truly mistaken her for a boy call her Master George, something that really pleases her. 

A final pointless change in my eyes is altering her face lighted up to her face lit up. Lit/lighted are both correct as far as I am aware,  for example she lit the lamp and she lighted the lamp should be equally acceptable. Though lighted might be a more old-fashioned term the meaning is still completely clear.

The last change actually appears in both books, but I thought I’d mention it anyway. George says how she wouldn’t take anyone to her island if she didn’t like them, not even The Queen of England. I’m fairly sure that as the monarch at the time was King George VI, the editions before 1953 would have read The King of England, but my copy is from 1965 so it has already been altered. It strikes me, that although it makes sense for books written after 1953 to have Queen (for example Kiki starts to say God save the Queen after that point in the adventure series) it is potentially confusing for characters to talk about a queen when in fact at that point in history they had a king. (If anyone reading this has an earlier edition than mine I’d be interested to know for sure when the change occurred.)

So that brings us to the end of chapter four! That’s 13 changes in those two chapters, and 24 altogether so far for anyone who’s interested in the numbers. Again, please comment with your opinions on these alterations, whether you’re for or against.

Posted in Updating Blyton's Books | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Three Cheers Secret Seven – A Review by Ben

Posted on December 18, 2013 by worldofblyton

Jack’s sister Susie is given a fantastic model aeroplane by an American cousin and the Secret Seven want to fly it. Annoying Susie agrees to let Jack show her how to use the aeroplane, a beauty with retractable wheels, on the agreement she can have a picnic with the seven in a field at the back of her house. What a fine feast it is. The children tuck into a huge spread consisting of some rock buns, chunks of gingerbread, a huge bar of nut chocolate, jam tarts, two bottles of lemonade and a bag of toffees. Soon it is time to fly Susie’s aeroplane. Jack shows his sister how to use the aeroplane before raising it in the air. The aeroplane circles around seemingly peacefully before suddenly jetting off in the direction of the wall of a nearby house.

Dustjacket from the first edition by Burgess Sharrocks

Dust jacket from the first edition by Burgess Sharrocks

Susie is devastated and demands Jack get it back. In desperation, Jack is helped up the wall of the house by Colin, George and Peter before he calls out to the gardener who works at the large and forlorn Bartlett Lodge, which has been shut up by its owners for a long time. However, Georgie Grim, the fierce and bad tempered gardener refuses to let Jack look for the aeroplane and threatens to knock poor Jack off the wall if he does not go.

Determined, Jack and Peter decide to return to Bartlett Lodge when Grim goes for his lunch. Through the field the pair go and down the little lane leading to the house. It is when Jack and Peter get to the house that Peter catches sight of the model aeroplane sitting on the ledge of the balcony. In excitement, Peter darts up a tree near to the balcony and carefully grabs the aeroplane. But just as Peter is about to go back down the tree, something strange catches his eye. It is a light in the house. Peter jumps back on to the balcony and when he looks in a gap through the curtains of a room, he sees a gas fire blazing merrily away.

Rescuing the plane

Rescuing the plane

In astonishment, Peter carefully makes his way back down from the balcony and tells Jack about the aeroplane. It is agreed that the seven hold a meeting in the afternoon about Peter’s strange discovery.  At the meeting, the seven decide to speak to Alice, a woman who did some cleaning for the owners of Bartlett Lodge to ask her if she had turned the gas off. Alice is not very well so the children go round with some peppermints. During their visit, the kindly Alice gives the seven some gingerbread and insists she turned all the gas off before the house was shut down.  This revelation leads the seven to wonder how the gas fire had turned itself on.

In curiosity, Jack and Peter say they will go back to Bartlett Lodge during the night to see if Peter really had seen the gas fire on. The night soon comes and Jack and Peter walk cautiously through the first drive gate and straight into some nearby hedges, desperate not to be seen. However, when the pair take their chance and sprint across the yard, they bump into Georgie Grim and an unknown man. The angry and surprised pair demand an explanation and threaten to phone the police. But Peter and Jack tell their tale and convince Georgie Grim and Mr Frampton from the bank, who had the keys to Bartlett Lodge to investigate.

Mr Frampton opens the house and Jack, Peter and Grim follow him into the house. It is when the group get inside that they notice the gas is still switched off and when they make their way to the room where Peter saw the gas fire, it isn’t on. At this point, Mr Frampton is livid and threatens to tell Jack and Peter’s parents as well as phone the police.  Angry Peter is having none of it. In his belief that he saw the gas fire on, Peter shouts at Mr Frampton and slams the door of the house.  In shock, Jack races after his friend who tells him that he saw other mysterious items in the room. A Primula plant, in good condition and an eight-day clock which was working. Someone simply had to be in the house and the excited boys arrange a meeting for the next morning.

Checking out the house

Checking out the house

This is the part where the girls come into it.  Pam is sent off to her gran to ask about Grim’s character as the seven suspects him while Janet and Barbara are tasked with going to Grim’s house and finding out where he is at night. Soon, Pam is off questioning her granny and does well to find out Grim is perfectly honest and has a lovely wife. While Janet and Barbara discover that Grim and his wife live in a horrible damp house level which has a damaged roof and is next to a near-by canal, which flooded the house after a prolonged bout of rain. The girls also find to their surprise that Grim helped his ill wife with the shopping in his dinner-hour from work and cooks a meal at night.

All this unlikely news leaves the seven confused and wondering where to go in the adventure. The seven all thought Grim was a fierce, bad tempered man when in fact he is kind and helps his wife. There was only thing left to do and that is to watch the house at night to see who comes in and out.  So during the night, the four boys go back to Bartlett Lodge to keep a look-out. Colin is to stand near the gates, George behind the tree near the balcony and Jack and Peter to go up the tree to see if anyone comes through the window of the mysterious room.  Hardly daring to breath, the boys finally hear something. A man is slowly creeping up on the tree. The man knocks a couple of times on the window and the curtains are opened.  A huge burst of light suddenly comes through. To the astonishment of Jack and Peter, the man is Georgie Grim. How could it be? The seven were convinced of his honesty and now he was breaking into a house where a potential burglar was staying! But is this all it appears to be?  Read Three Cheers, Secret Seven to find out!

Three Cheers, Secret Seven is definitely the best and most heart-wrenching book I have read so far in this wonderful series. The manner in which Enid Blyton constructs the plot is masterful as the reader is left wondering a number of things. Is anyone in the house? Did Peter really see a gas fire? Is Georgie Grim really up to no good? Blyton cleverly creates the suspense needed with a complex plot designed to entice the reader to carry on flicking through each page. It certainly worked with me and the excitement eventually leads to an unexpected ending.

The seven children end up being very charitable in this book, showing all the qualities of compassion and decency you would expect from any Blyton character. Blyton also shows in this book her understanding to the most vulnerable and that sometimes desperate things must be done to help them in their hour of need.  The only criticism is the usual lack of action from the girls in the most dangerous parts of the mystery and the usual domination around Jack and Peter as best friends and the two main characters throughout the series. But this isn’t enough to take away from what is arguably one of the best Secret Seven books Blyton wrote.

Although not the last book in the series, this is the last review we have.

For more Secret Seven reading, however, we have The Secret Seven books at McDonald’s or a review of The Mystery of the Skull – Pamela Butchart’s continuation to the series.

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Two Mondays till Christmas

Posted on December 16, 2013 by Fiona

So we’re almost at Christmas, and things are getting busy! But before we’re too bogged down in the idea of Christmas, I hope you will join me in wishing Fiona a very Happy Birthday for yesterday!

This week Fiona will continue looking at the textual changes between different editions of Five on a Treasure Island. Our Wednesday contributor, after a long absence, is Ben with Three Cheers for the Secret Seven.

As for me? Well I have several options, and I’m not sure at the moment, so I’m afraid it will be a surprise for us all!

This week, I’m treating you to a few pictures of the moon, some orchids and red kites.

Pink orchid
The moon
Red kite
Red kite
Three red kites
Diving red kites
Floating on the breeze
Orchid
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Making Blyton’s Food: Mince pies

Posted on December 15, 2013 by pippastef

I know it’s been a while since I have done a foodie blog, and I apologise, but things just got away from me.

As the title suggests, I’m bringing you a blog on mince pies. Now I’m not entirely sure if Blyton ever had her characters munching on mince pies, but as it’s nearly Christmas, and they’re the sort of thing I can imagine Blyton characters eating, I thought I would include them in this category.

So there are two steps to making mince pies, and I shall start by walking you through making the pastry cases.

Ingredients for the Pastry

8 0z of butter
1 lb of plain flour
8 oz of sugar

For an added taste I grated some orange zest and mixed it into the pastry.

This will make you a short crust pastry. For a vegan or dairy free option use dairy free or soya margarine.

Steps

  1. Sift the flour and sugar into your mixing bowl
  2. Add the butter and optional orange zest and quickly rub into the flour using your fingertips until the consistency of fine breadcrumbs, with no large lumps of margarine remaining
  3. Bring together to form a dough, adding water a teaspoon at a time if too dry, or adding flour if too wet
  4. Optional: chill for 30 minutes

Now I shall put up the instructions for making your own mincemeat, but I must admit I didn’t have much time so I just used shop bought – Waitrose own traditional mincemeat, though you can select any brand that takes your fancy!

The Mincemeat

Ingredients

  • 3 oz bramley apples, cored and chopped small
  • 6 oz mixed dried fruit
  • 1 oz  suet
  • 2 oz soft dark brown sugar
  • juice and grated zest of half an orange or lemon
  • 1 level teaspoon of mixed ground spice
  • 1 pinch ground cinnamon
  • 1 pinch fresh grated nutmeg
  • 1 small handfull whole almonds, chopped (optional)
  • 1 tablespoon brandy (optional)

Steps

  1. Put all the ingredients apart from the brandy into a saucepan
  2. Cook on a low heat mixing frequently, until everything is soft and thoroughly combined
  3. Remove the pan from the heat allow the mixture to cool, stirring occasionally
  4. Once cold, mix thoroughly (optional: stir in the brandy at this point)

Construction of mince pies

You will need

  • Round pastry cutter
  • Enough bun tins to cook 30 pies

Steps

  1. Roll out your pastry to about 3mm (eighth of an inch) thickness. Be careful not to roll too thin or the cases won’t hold the mincemeat.
  2. Cut one large circle for the base, and a smaller one for the lid
  3. Place the base in a greased bun tin and use spoons of the mincemeat mixture to fill the cases.
  4. Put the lid on top and pinch around the edge to join it to the base
  5. Repeat until all your pastry and mincemeat is used up! If you have leftover pastry, why not use it to decorate the pies?

To cook you will need the oven to be on Gas Mark 6/ 200 degrees C (or for a fan oven 180 degrees).

20 minutes or so should be sufficient cooking time, but keep an eye on them and leave until they’re golden brown.

Remove from oven to cool – approximately five minutes before eating. And enjoy!

Recipe taken from http://mincepierecipes.com/vegan.

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More About Amelia Jane! part 2

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Fiona

So, picking up where I left off last time, reading this book for the first time.

ameliajane

AMELIA JANE AND THE TELEPHONE

In Amelia Jane and the Telephone, Amelia Jane has been away for a few days, and in that time a toy telephone appears in the nursery. The toys are quite afraid of the real telephone as it rings so loudly and contains strange voices from far-away, so they steer clear of the toy one too. Amelia Jane isn’t scared, though, and uses it to pretend to order sausages, buns and a watch to come to the nursery.

The toys believe she really has spoken to people on the telephone, and worry about how they shall pay for the goods. Amelia Jane demands the bits of change they have scraped together as payment for her to ‘cancel’ the orders, and does another bit of pretend telephoning. She adds a rude message, apparently from the watchmaker, about the teddy bear, which gives her an idea.

Using a bicycle bell to make it seem like the toy telephone is ringing, she starts answering it and passing on rude and rather threatening messages to the toys from a the made-up Mr Mumbo-Jumbo.

The toys cotton on to her trickery when the bell falls out of her pocket and the clown is the one to come up with the clever plan for revenge this time. They hook up a rubber hose to the telephone so they can talk into it without Amelia Jane knowing, and so the next time she picks it up, Mr Mumbo-Jumbo threatens to come and get her, frightening her off of using the toy telephone again.

Just on a side-note, how often do you ever read or hear the word telephone any more?

Amelia Jane on the telephone

Amelia Jane on the telephone

NOW THEN, AMELIA JANE

 

 

For once, a story starts off with someone other than Amelia Jane being a bit naughty. She’s actually behaving, doing a bit of sewing and the skittle starts being quite rude to her, so she retaliates by poking at him with her needle, causing her to lose her thimble which the skittle then makes off with.

She takes chase, but instead of taking it back she smacks him over the head and jams the thimble on tightly, so tightly none of them can get it off again. As it is Amelia Jane’s fault, she is persuaded, or rather threatened, into speaking to the imp who lives in their garden.

She and the imp dislike each other, and Amelia Jane is unable to stop him taking her shoes. He at least gives her a way to get the thimble off the skittles head though – heating it up so that it expands! (Rather a scientific answer rather than the magic one would expect from an imp.)

How to get a thimble off a skittle

How to get a thimble off a skittle

AMELIA JANE GETS INTO TROUBLE

Amelia Jane really does get herself into trouble in the story which is aptly named Amelia Jane Gets Into Trouble. She easily persuades the red-skinned doll to give up his outfit so she can go off to a party, frightening him by saying he might have his head chopped off if he goes. She was right to warn him, though, as she is pounced on and tied up by the children – and ends up being left there into the night. As has happened in a few stories, the toys are too kind-hearted for their own good and Redskin shows surprising bravery in going out to rescue her.

Amelia doesn't have a good time

Amelia doesn’t have a good time

AMELIA JANE HAS A GOOD IDEA

We find it’s another toy that’s misbehaving in Amelia Jane Has a Good Idea – the tiny teddy by the large name of Sidney Gordon Eustace, or Sid for short. He’s lazy and unpleasant, and Amelia Jane joins forces with the other toys to teach him a lesson. The mouse that lives in a hole in the play-room answers to the name Sid or Sidney, and even Sidney Gordon Eustace, so when the toys call on the bear to do a job and he ignores them, the little mouse does it and earns the reward instead, until the bear is very fed up and begins doing his own jobs. Amelia Jane has the last laugh, too, when she reveals the mouse will answer to any name, even Polly-Wolly-Doodle!

Sidney the II

Sidney the II

AMELIA JANE IS VERY BUSY

This story has the doll showing off her knitting skills. Unfortunately she knits all sorts of things into the long, long (Dr Who-esque) scarf, including a hair-ribbon, some bootlaces and the clock-work mouse’s tail. The toys use her knitting to tie her to the table, and only let her free when she agrees to knit them all new clothes… only she deliberately makes them too big, too small, or with extra armholes!

Amelia Jane does a bit of knitting

Amelia Jane does a bit of knitting

OH BOTHER, AMELIA JANE

Amelia Jane digs out a paint-box in Oh Bother, Amelia Jane, and after painting lots of pictures she starts running amok, painting on all sorts of things she shouldn’t, including the other toys. There’s to be a fancy-dress party later, and Amelia Jane has a wonderful queen-costume, only the toys decide to get revenge by painting designs on her face as she sleeps. They have a great laugh at her expense until she realises what they’ve done, and she has to change her costume at the last moment which they’ve all escaped to the party already.

Amelia Jane paints the sailor doll

Amelia Jane paints the sailor doll

GOOD-BYE AMELIA JANE

Suitably, the last tale is Good-Bye Amelia Jane (this is the last book in this little series, though there have been a couple of other collections of Amelia Jane stories published in more recent years.)

The toys are sick of Amelia Jane after a spate of unpleasant tricks, and decide to play one on her. They make a tea-tray very slippery, and when she slides down the stairs on it, it just keeps going. Out of the front door, down the garden path, across the road, on and on until she lands in the stream. The toys are quite pleased to see the back of her at first, but then start to feel rather guilty. Fortunately for everyone, Amelia Jane gets an unexpected lift back home, and everything turns out alright in the end.

Amelia Jane playing one of her tricks

Amelia Jane playing one of her tricks

I did enjoy the book, though at times it felt like going over old ground – the same stories with a few details changed. Which I suppose they are, as there are rather a lot of stories about Amelia Jane (around seventy in all) so it’s unsurprising there is a bit of repetition. I also didn’t have the benefit of nostalgia this time around, which often masks things like repetition and plot holes.

I don’t have any of the recent collections, so for the moment this is the end of my look at Amelia Jane, though if I spotted any of the books in the charity shops I would probably be tempted to pick them up, even knowing they’d be minus the golly and the smacking.

Illustrations are by Sylvia I Venus and are photos taken on my camera.

Next review: The Amelia Jane Bumper Book

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Corinna’s Famous Five Pick’n’Mix Reflections: Five Go to Billycock Hill

Posted on December 11, 2013 by worldofblyton

As one of the blog’s regular commenters Nigel pointed out, these are not really reviews but more personal reflections.  Fiona has written good Famous Five reviews and I don’t feel any need to replicate or try to compete with them!  So let’s rename this series Corinna’s Famous Five pick’n’mix reflections.

I’d also like to apologise in advance if this blog is a bit disjointed – I’m writing it as I cook my Christmas cake (only a month until Christmas, and I need to allow plenty of time for generous sherry infusions!) and have to keep getting up to check that it’s not burning on top.

Now – on with the show!

For those of you who didn’t read the last couple of installments, I’m re-reading the Fives in any old order I feel like – hence the “pick’n’mix”.  After finishing Five Go To Mystery Moor for some reason my eye was grabbed by Five Go To Billycock Hill.   This might be because, as it turns out, I have 3 copies!  I have  a 1991 Knight paperback from the series I collected as a child, a first edition in reasonable condition with  no dust jacket (this was the one I read this time round), and a second impression from 1959 with a fair dustjacket.

Five Go to Billycock Hill Dustjacket

Five Go to Billycock Hill Dustjacket

Once again, for those not familiar with the story, I’d refer to you Fiona’s synopsis.  This relfection however might have a litte more detail about the plot than my previous entries, as I really liked how all the elements of the plot linked neatly together.

In the very first chapter (the second page even) we learn that Billycock Hill, where the children are heading off to camp, is near a butterfly farm and some caves to explore.   By chapter three they have arrived, and met two key characters: Toby, a friend of Julian and Dick’s, whose farm the Five are camping near, and his little brother Benny and his pigling Curly (because of his curly tail of course!)  I had never heard the word pigling before I read this book!  A quick check of my 1990s paperback reveals that “pigling” was used in this edition.  I would always use piglet.  However, it is very clear what is meant by this word, and actually Curly the pigling was a great favourite of mine in this book!  Not to mention that Curly’s habit of running away (and Benny’s habit of following him) is a key plot point.

After a “whopping great tea” at the farmhouse (courtesy of Toby’s mother, who plays the always important role of keeping the Five well-fed!) the children head up the hill to find a campsite, and spot an airfield nearby.  They learn that Toby’s cousin Jeff is a flight-lieutenant there, and whatever they are working on is all very hush-hush.  The very next day the children meet the strange inhabitants of the butterfly farm (the human inhabitants, that is!) who will also prove to be key to the plot.

So it’s all set up reasonably quickly – unlike some Fives which seem to take a few chapters of picnics and teas and rowing and walking etc before the adventure really kicks off!  Or maybe that’s just me being a quick reader?

What I like about this book is the way everything is all tied together, and it’s not necessarily what you expected (even on re-reading as an adult).  The strange man that isn’t Mr Brett from the butterfly farm, the mysterious, sad old woman Mrs Jane, Cousin Jeff’s alleged treason, and even how Curly the pigling “runned” away are all  nicely linked together at the end.

Much to my relief I also liked George better in this book than the other two I’ve recently re-read.  She doesn’t have any incidents of temper or sulkiness – or at least none that come to mind!

Despite this story being so tidily put  together, it being full of good characters and exciting events, I liked Five Go Off To Camp better.  Perhaps it was just the evocative atmosphere of the spook trains.  I did like Billycock Hill more than Five Go To Mystery Moor though, which seemed rather slow in comparison.  Oh well – we shall see how it comes out in the overall rankings once I’ve re-read them all!

  1. Five Go Off To Camp

  2. Five Go To Billycock Hill

  3. Five Go To Mystery Moor
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Three Mondays till Christmas

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Fiona

It’s Monday again, and it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas (in my house it is anyway!) I’ve got most of my Christmas shopping done, just a few bits and pieces to get now.

Our contributor this week will be Corinna with her thoughts on Five Go to Billycock Hill, and I’m planning to finish my review of Amelia Jane Again. Stef has already started on her blog for the week (gold star for her!) and is going to look at The Island of Adventure.

I linked to some Christmassy and wintry posts a couple of weeks ago, but if you’re looking for some more Blyton-themed Christmas material, you can check out some of her poems. We’ve got In the Stable, Santa Clause Gets Busy and The Party.

After charging up my camera, I finally managed to take some pictures of our Christmas tree, so I’ve added a few of those to the end of this post along with a couple from my latest walk (haven’t done many lately thanks to the weather.)

 

Flowers in winter
Sunset over Dundee
Sunset behind hogweed
Tartan bauble
Gold Bauble
Our tree
Another snowflake
Gold snowflake
Tartan Christmas pudding
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