The Enid Blyton Society
The Enid Blyton Book of Fairies
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Book Details...

First edition: 1924
Publisher: George Newnes
Cover Art: Lola Onslow
Illustrator: Horace J. Knowles
Category: Non-Series Books
Genre: Fantasy
Type: Short Story Series Books

On This Page...

Reprint Covers
List of Contents
Artwork
Review by Terry Gustafson

Reprints
  1. Fireworks in Fairyland
    Story: Teachers World No.932 Nov 8, 1922
  2. Fairy Snow
    Poem: Specially Written
  3. Betty's Adventure
    Story: Specially Written
  4. Fairy Cradles
    Poem: Specially Written
  5. A Real Friend
    Poem: Specially Written
  6. Bufo's One-Legged Stool
    Story: Teachers World No.1004 Dec 26, 1923
  7. The Jealous Pixie
    Poem: Specially Written
  8. The Wizard's Magic Necklace
    Story: Fairyland Tales No.41 Oct 9, 1922
  9. The Kind Policeman
    Poem: Specially Written
  10. Lazy Pinkity
    Story: Fairyland Tales No.57 Jan 29, 1923
  11. A Spell to Make a Fairy
    Poem: Specially Written
  12. The Lost Golden Ball
    Story: Teachers World No.977 Jul 25, 1923
  13. The Pink Acorn-Cup
    Poem: Specially Written
  14. Pinkity and Old Mother Ribbony Rose
    Story: Teachers World Nos.959 & 960 Apr 11 & 18, 1923
  15. A Morning Bath
    Poem: Specially Written
  16. The Floppety Castle and the Goblin Cave
    Story: Fairyland Tales No.40 Oct 2, 1922
  17. The Little Man
    Poem: Specially Written
  18. Two Fairy Wishes
    Story: source not yet found
  19. The Fairy Polisher
    Poem: Specially Written
  20. The Green Necklace
    Story: Fairyland Tales No.73 May 21, 1923
  21. Puzzling
    Poem: Specially Written
  22. A Fairy Punishment
    Story: source not yet found
  23. The Search for Giant Osta [Fanny in Fairyland]
    Story: Fairyland Tales No.43 Oct 23, 1922
  24. The Tenth Task
    Story: source not yet found
  25. Who Is It?
    Poem: Specially Written
  26. If
    Poem: Specially Written
  27. Off to the Land of Tiddlywinks
    Story: The Schoolmistress Nov 8, 1923
  28. The Land of Great Stupids
    Story: source not yet found
  29. The Prisoners of the Dobbadies
    Story: source not yet found
[ ] indicates the original title


Colour frontis from the 1st edition, illustrated by Lola Onslow



Wraparound dustwrapper from the 1949 edition, illustrated by Horace J. Knowles



Cloth boards of the 1949 edition



Endpapers from the 1949 edition, illustrated by Horace J. Knowles
Newnes published this book plus The Book of Brownies as later editions in similar format with attractive covers. The two volumes are rather "Special" in the sense that they are about the only two of the very early EB books that have survived through the years with several reprints of each. "Fairies" has the wrap-around picture and the artist is Horace Knowles who is quite well known to Enid Blyton Fans. Despite the similarity in titles, this book is not a saga as "Brownies" is but rather a collection of short stories that include such supernatural beings as Fairies (naturally), Witches, Wizards, Elves, Gnomes, Brownies and there's even one or two Giants.

Running through each story can be useful when there's a desire for a re-acquaintance with a character remembered from back in a one's childhood or maybe it's a plot outline lost in the mists of time. Those who simply must know what happens in full can still acquire the book if they hunt around. Below is a synopsis of each tale.
Some workmen described as fairies' knife-grinders are introduced to us and one of them relates a story to the others about three little gnomes named Ding, Dong, and Dell but we don't get to hear it. Eventually they all fall asleep and the Fairy Queen happens to come by with a bunch of elves. It appears that in Fairyland knife-grinders mustn't be found asleep as early as 4pm with knives around them that are still blunt so the elves wake them up very abruptly on the Queen's orders. The workmen are furious. I don't know if they'd dare to show their anger in front of the Queen herself but she's moved on by now so they rush at the elves who immediately spread their wings and fly away. Revenge is planned. As the next day is November 5th which in England and some other countries is celebrated as Guy Fawkes Day, a couple of the angry knife-grinders shoot off to our world (the world of boys and girls) to get some fireworks. They plan to use them against the elves but they'll somehow need to gain admittance to the Palace but they are fortunate because tomorrow a great party is being held there and naturally the kitchen knives have to be sharp for the banquet. Who better to supply the sharpness than a bevy of knife-grinders so the invitation is duly received. Strategically placed Catherine Wheels and squibs and rockets give us the title – Fireworks in Fairyland. This story gives us Enid Blyton's explanation as to why grasshoppers buzz like grindstones among the flowers on summer days.
Betty doesn't believe in fairies! Apparently, every time a child says 'I don't believe in fairies' a little fairy somewhere, falls down dead. That information, found in the story of Peter Pan, places Betty near the level of a monster and the brownies who've heard the little girl's declaration decide to do something about it. They put up a sign that the girl's bound to see when she goes for a walk and this is what it says:

"Please Do Not Walk This Way."

The brownies obviously know Betty's rebellious nature and sure enough she takes no heed when she sets out for a stroll and chances to come across the instruction. With a little secret prodding behind the scenes, Betty ends up in Fairyland – a place she views with utter astonishment. There's a market place full of fairies, elves, brownies and gnomes and at first she thinks they're just children dressed up and wishes she had a fancy dress as well. Then, when a gnome offers her a magic spell she becomes a little cross. She tells him there aren't any fairies and of course that's a terrible thing to say in Fairyland of all places. No fairy drops dead though so the Peter Pan quote may apply only to pantomimes but it's certainly very bad manners to say such a thing and it makes the crowd very angry. The call goes out for Giant Putemright who will be asked to take Betty to prison but Betty's not hanging around and she takes to her heels. Boarding a train, she is whisked past fields of flowers and rose gardens and then in he distance she sees a Glittering Palace. Betty's in disgrace so she probably wouldn't have enjoyed the journey as much as we would have, but she sees the sights and even gets to meet the Fairy Queen who's just had the news imparted that Fairyland is hosting a child who doesn't believe in fairies. The Queen is grave and Betty is told that there is no way she can ever leave Fairyland because of her crime. Well ... there is one way.
The King of Fairyland holds a contest to find who can come up with the most useful idea – a prize will be given to the winner. Everyone is told about it excepting for ugly old Bufo the Toad who lives on the edge of Fairyland.

"What's the good of telling him? He's so stupid and ugly, he'd never think of any good idea," declares a pixie.

Bufo does hear about it though from Bron the brownie who lives next door and he thinks he'll have a go at the prize but what is there that he can he offer? Bron is making a scarf of spider's web and thistledown but old Bufo doesn't possess that degree of skill. He's game for anything though and after sitting on his homemade wooden stool (it has only one leg), Bufo has an idea. He starts on an eiderdown made of rose-petals and sewn with spider thread but his clumsy fingers get in the way and the wind blows half the petals away. He decides to try something else – a pillow stuffed with a pink cloud that will be so lovely and soft for a fairy's head. Somehow he manages to catch a cloud but it's difficult to get it inside the pillow-casing and then, when he puts it down so that he can go over to smack Bron and his friends who are laughing at his efforts, the cloud floats away with the pillowcase. It's not Bufo's day. He goes back to sit on his stool and think again and has a flash of inspiration. He'll make some blue paint for the Queen's carriage because it needs a new coat. This time he produces a result after gathering all the exotic ingredients required for the mixture. Unfortunately, he upsets it all so he's back to square one and now it's time for the contest to be judged. There are some marvelous and inventive ideas displayed before the King and there are a few stupid ones as well. This story is yet another that Enid Blyton thought up to explain an aspect of nature and it's quite a clever example.
In Fairyland there lives an ugly little gnome by the name of Gillie. Greyears the rabbit hands him an invitation to a party and Gillie is thrilled but rather despondent because he's so ugly and he knows it. If you're a woman you want to look beautiful when you arrive at a party and if you are a man you want to look handsome. No way does Gillie make the grade and it seems quite unfair. If his suit was a little newer and if he had some beads to wear it would go some way towards making him a little more presentable. Greyears feels sorry for him and says he'll swipe cross old Wizard Coran's wonderful necklace of yellow and red stones and give them to Gillie for the evening. Things go to plan and Gillie is able to attend the party. Everyone thinks he looks fine, and he enjoys himself but on the way home there's a spot of trouble. The Wizard is on the trail. What happens to the necklace gives us an understanding as to how wallflowers (or as they are sometimes called - "Gillie-flowers") originated. Don't worry, Gillie himself survives.
"Stupid old Ding!" That's the lazy and naughty Binkity stating his opinion of the chief Brownie who's berated him for not tidying up Oak Tree Wood. Scrabbling around in the undergrowth for something to do, he finds some nuts belonging to a squirrel so he hides them in a different place and then wakes the owner up. Bushy stretches himself and then rushes off to have a nibble at his nuts but they're not where he hid them of course. Ding and a few other Brownies pass by and it doesn't involve much brainwork to determine who was responsible for depriving the squirrel of his precious nuts. Binkity's in disgrace, as always, and he feels that discretion is the better part of valour. He flees with all the Brownies after him and when he spies a cottage he uses his power of magic. The Brownies race past and off into the distance because the only thing they spotted as they tore by was a little puppy-dog. We know better. The puppy whose name is Binkity, whines and a little girl called Jean comes out to claim the "stray" and take him inside where there's a warm fire. Jean's ill mother is laid up in bed for the winter and it looks as if her daughter's going to have to do all the washing and sewing to earn enough for their bread. Binkity begins to feel sorry for them and plans to help them with actions that reveal a hidden side of his character.
I think the city of Chester still has a town crier roaming the streets - a colourful embellishment that can be attractive to the odd tourist. Fairyland has the Queen's heralds who sound a bit like town criers as they march around yelling "Oyez, oyez, oyez" with silver trumpets blaring out a message from the Queen. At half-past nine she will be speaking to all the citizens. Dead on the minute, the bluebells chime "Ding, Dong, Ding, Dong!" and the beautiful Queen flies down to sit on a throne in the middle of the market place. The gist of her message is that the Prince of Dreamland who had been staying in Fairyland has returned to his own country but on the way back he lost a golden ball inside of which is the secret of a spell that would make his sick daughter better. It disappeared in the confusion and muddle caused by a dog that barked and scared away the rabbits that were pulling the carriage. The Queen asks for everyone's help in finding the lost ball. There's a shy and rather ugly little gnome called Karin who joins in the hunt and he starts by looking under a gorse bush. The brownies jeer at him for choosing such an inhospitable place to search and sure enough, Karin finds nothing there but Hoot the owl who's perched on a nearby tree tells him of something he saw when flying over the heath near where Greyears the rabbit lives. Karin endures the long journey from Fairyland into our world and on the heath he finds crowds of our kind of people. He introduces himself to a little girl (Ann) who is lost and for about the first time in his life he finds someone who's glad to see him and who likes him in spite of his looks. More things happen, as they do, and with a sprinkling of luck there's a very happy ending to this tale.
Mother Ribbony Rose is a witch and she's permitted to live on the borders of Fairyland because she runs a shop that stocks such lovely things. She specializes in ribbons and they aren't just ordinary ribbons. Descriptions are in order -

Blue ribbons made of the mist that hangs over faraway hills.
Sea-green ribbons embroidered with the diamond sparkles that glitter on sunny water.
Broad ribbons of shiny silk.
Tiny, delicate ribbons of frosted spider's thread, and ribbons that tie their own bows.
Silver ribbon just like moonlight.
Ribbon made of pink sunset clouds mixed with almond blossom.

No wonder the shop is so popular. Jasmin comes in to buy a thin piece of yellow ribbon and then we're introduced to Pinkity who's a tiny gnome. He's very good at rolling up ribbons in fact he's a master at it but he's getting a bit sick of doing that all day. When another customer suggests he take up other employment he's tempted but he doesn't really know how to do much else. Mother Ribbony Rose has the only ribbon shop around and her attitude regarding her employee, in her own words, is –

"Pinkity belongs to me!"

The King and Queen are holding a dance tonight and the Lord High Chancellor of Fairyland has arrived to buy yards of various ribbons to make an archway leading from the Palace to the woods. Mother Ribbony Rose unrolls all kinds of ribbons to display them for her important customer so it looks as if Pinkity will have to work overtime to get all the rolls re-rolled. When the Chancellor has departed, poor little Pinkity accidentally ruins all the ribbon that has been earmarked for the palace and the result is that he becomes a fugitive. Yes, he's on the run from Mother Ribbony and if he's caught he'll be taken to the Palace and punished. It's round about here that Enid Blyton once again gives us an insight into how a plant characteristic originated and Pinkity plays a part in the process.
A boy called David is in the next story and he wanders into Fairyland by mistake and meets Tom, the Piper's Son. Tom grabs his pig and then sets off with David to show him around. They visit the Floppety Castle and while Tom wisely stays outside, David wanders in to look at the place. There are pictures of kings and queens on the walls with heads at the top and the bottom as well. A gnome is sitting in one room and he warns David not to be so clumsy with his feet. You must be very careful in this castle but unfortunately for David, he trips and falls over. The castle tumbles down and you have to figure out why? They spot the butcher who is after Tom for stealing a pig although that was ages ago and the pig Tom has now is his own but the butcher hasn't forgotten and he's still chasing the lad. Next, they visit caves where goblins make glittering brooches and necklaces and then they become hopelessly lost so there's a spot of wandering around to be done before David confronts the next problem - how to get home. There are two wishes in this tale and there are two wishes in the next one.
Two Fairy Wishes has as its stars – Jack and Ann and it's a different Ann from the one who was in the 6th tale. They're digging in the garden and, like the genie that emerged from Aladdin's lamp, so does a fairy emerge from an old bottle that Ann's spade strikes. The fairy has been imprisoned for a hundred years and is so grateful to be released that he asks the children what he can do for them and the title of the story reveals what they get. Yes, it's one wish each and it would be very foolish to wish without thinking hard first. What often happens with wishes in stories is that humans tend to say, "I wish," quite often during normal conversation. Enough said. This is the shortest story in the book – a mere two pages plus an illustration.
There are one or two recurring characters in this book such as Greyears the rabbit and now Hoo the owl makes a reappearance. Marjorie has just lost her dear little green necklace and Hoo tells Marjorie that it was a fairy called Briony who made off with it. The owl informs her that in order to reach Fairyland and recover the necklace she needs to break off a piece of a certain mushroom, rub it between her hands and chant Acrall-da-farray three times. She does so and is transported to her destination where she meets the Pixie piper and a Big Sleepy Sloo who lives in the Glittering Cavern. On her journey she also befriends a mole on the train to Breezy Hill where the Simple Witch lives and at last she meets up with the fairy Briony, but he hasn't got the necklace – a giant has it. Is a necklace worth all this? Obviously, Marjorie thinks it is.
Untruthful Peggy is next and she makes the mistake of telling a fib to a fairy. You mustn't do that because if you do you'll be marched off to the Land of Pretence and that's not a nice place because no one will believe what you say no matter how truthful you are. Peggy does not enjoy her stay at all.
A fairy called Corovell visits a girl called Sylfai. The fairy tells Sylfai that her friend Peronel may have had a spell put on her because she's fallen into a deep magic sleep and only a person with the name Sylfai, can break the spell! They reach Fairyland in a twinkling and Sylfai is told that she has to go by herself and search out a castle belonging to the good Giant Osta. Some advice is given to her before she sets off – if you ever feel cross with someone in Fairyland, say something nice! Sylfai's journey is a little Alice-in-Wonderlandish when she has to enter a house by the chimney and then she ends up gliding down a slippery passage to a dark river. The little sightseer floats past great caves and dimly lit passages and she meets a peculiar creature that bursts out of a ball, and then a Crawly-wawly Bumpty who rolls on people's toes just to see what they say! At times, Enid Blyton seemed to put her whole heart and soul into creating a string of esoteric visualizations that run from the rather odd to the fairly ridiculous but that's what Lewis Carroll did and take a look at his record of success.
The Tenth Task is a story of Zani, the wicked spirit and the way it's worded gives the impression that there were nine earlier chapters with tasks from 1 to 9. There's a boy called Jack in this tale and he's going to enter a door that he found in the hillside but he has to wait until Thursday midnight because that's what the sign says. His sister Jean wants to come of course but she's a girl and Jack doesn't want any silly little girls in his adventure, thank you. She packs up some cakes for him though and sees him off just before midnight with the comforting thought that Jack might allow her to come next time - she's not clever enough or old enough to come this time. The little door leads to Fairyland and Jack sees groups of chattering and dancing fairies in an enormous hall and there's also a large and impressive box to one side with a key in it.

"Beware – Turn Not This Key!"

We know what happens and the rest of the story deals with the ten tasks. The idea is that Jack will have the opportunity to ask Zani, who is chief of the wicked spirits, to perform a task. He'll have ten opportunities and if he strikes on a task that is too difficult for Zani, then the horrible creature will go back into the box. If, however, Jack can't think of something impossible to do then he'll be a slave to Zani for the rest of his life! That premise immediately adds interest to the story and we can only hope and pray that Jack can extricate himself from the predicament he's brought down upon himself.
John and Polly climb up Feraling Hill on a windy day. They find a kite and Polly, like the meddlesome golliwog, is hoisted up into the air when she holds the kite by herself for a few seconds. She disappears. A Brownie makes an appearance and John learns from him that the kite belongs to the Yellow Giant so it now looks as if the boy has a trip ahead of him. With a little instruction from the Brownie there's a trip to The Land of Tiddlywinks where Polly is supposed to have landed but not before he's met some Rollarounds, which are things like India-rubber balls that talk in a squeaking sort of way. There's a journey in a boat that floats past colourful caves and then past fields full of wonderful flowers that talk to each other and there's a meeting with Giant Certain-sure who helps John on his way as he continues to search for his lost sister.
Pat thinks all girls are stupid and when quarrelling with Joan, his sister, he suggests that she should go to the Land of Stupids. She does so – just like that! A little gnome sitting up in a tree supplies the puzzled boy with an answer and so, once again, an exotic search is on the cards. Pat has to find his way to The Land of Great Stupids – a place owned by the old and cross Witch Wimple and off he goes with a few instructions from the gnome. A boat ride and lovely caves come into the story - a formula that's repeated a few times in this book but it's not surprising because Enid Blyton characters, especially the more famous ones, have frequently experienced such environments. The boy ventures through a trapdoor and down into a hill and then there's a boat ride to the Gnome Railway. The train he catches rushes past all sorts of lovely caves until it crashes when the driver is blown away by the windy conditions. Pat then meets a dwarf and they go to find Witch Wimple and after a bit of wangling they manage to get her permission to visit the Land of Great Stupids. The witch lends them a green chair and sends it up into the air with a recitation that begins with "Acrall-da-farray." We've heard that before! Pat and his friend fly across hills and fields and even the sea to arrive in The Land of the Great Stupids. There's plenty more to take up their time and if you've forgotten Pat's mission, it was to find his sister and bring her home. Fantasy reigns in this story.
The final tale is the longest and it introduces us to the Dobbadies and yet another random search for a sister. Yes, this time it's Pamela who runs into the wood to get a ball that Nurse threw to her, and then disappears. Peter volunteers his services and his Mummy and Daddy are quite happy to let him search for her. It doesn't take him long to find a ring of toadstools and use their inherent power to meet up with a little fairy named Morfael who tells Peter that his sister has been taken to the Princess of Dreamland. Why? Because the Princess is sick and can only be cured by the laugh of a mortal girl and the fairies know that Pamela has the sweetest laugh in the world. Peter's directed to visit a gnome called Garin who tells him that his trip may not be easy because the Dobbadies don't like the Princess and may try to prevent her from being cured. They might even capture Pamela. A great yellow bird that looks a bit like an eagle takes Peter and a host of other passengers on its back and launches into the air for a glorious flight to the land where fairies reside. Just like a 'plane, the bird stops every now and again to let various passengers off and only Peter and Miss Muffet are left when Fairyland is reached. There's action aplenty, which includes a compulsory confrontation with a spider (think Miss Muffet), and a Hideaway House that might bring to mind Mr. Tumpy's caravan because it has large feet to propel itself around. There are plenty of adventurous moments for Peter and there are also Sleepy-Sloos. A giant called Roffti and a great sparkling palace with thousands of windows play their parts and then there are the Dobbadies. These gnome-like creatures with three legs instead of two are hostile! Once again, just when I thought it had been missed out, there's a boat ride on an underground river and then much excitement as the Dobbadies show their anger at the intrusion of outsiders into their world. It'll need a little resourcefulness to come out on top in this tale.

"Fairies' knife-grinders" is quite an odd name for the workmen in the first story. Guy Fawkes Day is the one day when we're allowed to play with explosives to celebrate the demise of Guy (Guido) who endeavoured to blow up the English Houses of Parliament a long time ago. To this day (well at least up to when this book was published), fireworks have been forbidden in Fairyland.

If Ding, Dong, and Dell sounds familiar but can't be placed, the three words are the title of a nursery rhyme – DDD, Pussy's in the well ... (I always used to say Ding, Dong, Bell).

Here are the ingredients for the blue paint that Bufo made in case you want to make some yourself: You ask the dawn fairies for a scraping off the blue of the sky and the blue butterflies for a little powder off their wings. You also need one bluebell and one harebell (they are flowers). You then mix a blue shadow with honey and water and pour the other ingredients in, mix them up, and there you have it.

Some years later, Bufo the toad featured in a Sunny Stories tale (Old Bufo the Toad) where the Queen of Fairyland was Dame Silverwings. At that time he wasn't allowed inside Fairyland because he was considered too ugly although he got in good with the Queen in that story so maybe she allowed him to visit every now and again. In this book (Fairies) he lives on the edge of Fairyland and interestingly, the King's wife in this EB tale is "Oberon" - the answer to a fairly common question one finds in crosswords – "Who is the King of the Fairies." "Old Bufo the Toad" can also be found in "Round the Clock Stories."

The heath where Karin searched for the golden ball is a real location – Hampstead Heath!

"Yards" of ribbon could be interpreted as "Metres" of ribbon. (Pinkity and Old Mother Ribbony Rose)

Floppety Castle was constructed of playing cards.

The Sleepy Sloo in The Green Necklace is a queer mouse-like creature and the description is much the same for those that feature in Prisoners of the Dobbadies.

Charles Dodgson wrote Alice in Wonderland but, like EB herself did a few times, he used a pseudonym.

The Meddlesome Golliwog featured in My Enid Blyton Bedside Book and, like Polly (Land of Tiddlywinks), a kite dragged him up into the sky as well.

The Rollarounds (Land of Tiddlywinks) might be cousins of the Hoo-Moo-Loos because they are very similar ball-like creatures. The Hoo-Moo-Loos are to be found in The Green Goblin Book (Later - Feefo, Tuppeny and Jinks), which came out about ten years after this one.

The chair that flew Pat into The Land of Great Stupids easily pre-dates the more famous Wishing Chair belonging to Peter and Molly. The Enid Blyton Book of Fairies is from the 1920's and Adventures of the Wishing Chair arrived about ten years later!

Mr. Tumpy's caravan was another Enid Blyton book that had in it a caravan with two enormous feet for locomotion! (Prisoners of the Dobbadies).

In the stories, the word Brownie is sometimes given a capital B and other times not!

There are plenty of strange words for characters' names or for various incantations. Acrall-da-farray (The Green Necklace, and The Land of great Stupids) is definitely in that category and it might be that in trying so hard to come up with something incredibly exotic the result was a little over the top. The name Zani (The Tenth Task) sounded almost as if it had come from some Norse Legend or Greek myth. Dobbadies is another weird word. Morfael! Is that of Celtic origin? Someone called Caryll took Pamela to Fairyland (Prisoners of the Dobbadies) and there are also gnomes called Karin and Garin. There are two characters with quite similar names – a brownie called Binkity and a gnome called Pinkity (A 1925 EB book was entitled Pinkity's Pranks). Many words in the EB book collection can be classed as typical of the author although they may not necessarily be original. A name such as "Feraling" would always make me think of Enid Blyton (The Land of Tiddlywinks – Feraling Hill). The sound of Fera or Farra like other combinations of letters were recurring - remember the five Farrell children in House-at-the-Corner?

Glancing at the Contents, I received the impression that The Enid Blyton Book of Fairies was a kind of saga like The Land of Far Beyond. Starting with a few headings such as The Floppety Castle and the Goblin Cave some adventuresome children could go on to Search for Giant Osta and then The Tenth Task and perhaps a visit to the Land of Tiddlywinks and to The Land of Great Stupids, and then finally they could all become The Prisoners of the Dobbadies. Not so of course – the stories are all separate although there are a few similarities in content.

Three groups of poems have been inserted and they deal with topics as varied as fairies (naturally), a robin bird, and even a scene in London's Oxford Street

The front and rear endpapers feature a large map of Fairyland drawn by Knowles and designed by Enid Blyton. The map has been commented on a few times in the Forums of The Enid Blyton Society and is occasionally remembered by people who had seen it in the book when they were very young. It's a handy reference to the stories because it contains the various locations mentioned in the book – Roffti's Castle, The Land of the Great Stupids and Mother Ribbony Rose's shop - they all seem to be there.