The Enid Blyton Society

The black guy seldom was the villain. Something the PC brigade tend to overlook. But why let a fact get in the way of a good rant.

They are lovely pictures indeed. Thanks for putting them up Tony.

I suspect Nigel was being facetious, but then, you never really know...

Great to see these illustrations: thanks for all your work, Tony! I really like these pictures: they express the characters and scenes wonderfully and really bring the stories alive. I particularly like the chapter headings - a wonderful, enticing introduction to the stories.

I have now finished Naughty Amelia Jane! and made a start with The Adventures of Mr. Pink-Whistle which now has a nice bright redone cover image.

Oh, lovely! I grew up with Rene Cloke's illustrations and have always been fond of them, but Dorothy M. Wheeler's - which I'd never seen before - are beautiful, elegant, full-of-character line drawings.

My only objection is that she makes Sooty look very odd - sort of bloated and rather unwell - at least in this first picture. But I think she's got Mr P-W just perfect!



Looking forward to seeing the rest as they come - and thank you once again, Tony, for all the care and effort you put into this. It really is greatly appreciated, and I know I'm not the only one who thinks so!

I've enjoyed looking at the rest of Sylvia Venus's illustrations for the first Amelia Jane book and I look forward to seeing all the Pink-Whistle ones by Dorothy Wheeler. My own copies of the Amelia Jane and Pink-Whistle (and Meddle) books have illustrations by Rene Cloke, and I love them. However, I also love the drawings by Sylvia Venus and Dorothy Wheeler (I'm quite familiar with their work from reading the Journal, etc.) Dorothy Wheeler's portrayal of Mr. Pink-Whistle certainly is striking.

Edit: I meant to say that the illustration above the chapter title 'The Little Secret Man' (The Adventures of Mr. Pink-Whistle) is wonderful, like an elaborate tapestry!

Thank you so much, Tony.

Illustrations drawn by Cloke, Wheeler, McGavin, Van Der Beek and Brook are my favourite. I love their illustrations because they look cute. I love all the cute things.

Courtenay wrote:I suspect Nigel was being facetious, but then, you never really know...

I wouldn't say facetious, but it was a tongue-in-cheek ironic comment! I was making the point that John confirmed!

I have completed The Adventures of Mr Pink-Whistle

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/book ... nk-Whistle" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and Mister Meddle's Mischief is under way

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/book ... s+Mischief" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have also completely redone both cover illustrations which are now vastly improved.

Thanks, Tony. The Pink-Whistle illustrations are an absolute delight but the Meddle ones are rather wacky!

They have come out very well. Nice to see them and the title page and front.

Yes, those Meddle ones are a very unusual artistic style, to say the least! Not unattractive, but certainly not what one would expect in a children's book of the 1940s.

The Pink-Whistle illustrations are gorgeous! Tony, will you be adding the original illustrations for the other two Mr Pink-Whistle books eventually? I'd love to see them too.

Courtenay wrote:The Pink-Whistle illustrations are gorgeous! Tony, will you be adding the original illustrations for the other two Mr Pink-Whistle books eventually? I'd love to see them too.

Yes, is the answer to that, Courtenay. When I finish the Meddle book I am moving onto the first Twiddle book and then I will go back to the second book in each series. I intend to do all twelve books, but haven't set too rigid a timetable on it.

Well, that's a LOT of work, so I think we'll all understand if you can't get it all finished by the weekend!! But it is a marvellous job you're doing, and it's such a delight to have this treasure-trove of original illustrations from so many Blyton classics - it really enhances the whole website. Thanks again for all the effort you put in!

I echo everybody else's sentiments here. It's great to see these wonderful illustrations from early editions that many of us are unable to afford or otherwise locate. Much apprecciated Tony. (even if I prefer the Rene Cloke pictures from my beloved Dean & Sons editions...)