Teachers World Letters, Jan 1930 - July 1934

[Kate Mary]

I don't remember ever seeing a reference to Gillian's Granny in previous letters, a visit from Hugh's mother was a rare occurrence perhaps. The Poppy's Day is another lovely poem, I haven't the book it was published in so I don't think I've seen it before.

[Daisy]

So now we know why wagtails wag their tails! I love the imaginative way Enid teaches about how to recognise birds. I read the bibs on male sparrows story when I was a child and have found it quite useful in identification ever since. These stories certainly can draw a child's attention to the variety of birds we have and is a fun way of remembering differences.

[Courtenay]

Yes, I enjoyed the letters and story and poem too and had a good laugh at Bobs as usual! I also love Enid's fanciful little stories about birds and other creatures and how they came to be as they are — some of the Pip the Pixie stories are like that too, of course (he was the one responsible for the male sparrows' black bibs and the male blackbirds' golden beaks). This one was interesting in that it gives us a reason for the wagtail's call of "Chissic, Chissic!" It just reminded me of another story by Enid — I can't remember which book it was in — where an owl is sent out to find the thief who stole something from the fairies (the fairy queen's jewels, possibly). He calls out "Who? Who? Who?" as he searches for the thief, who turns out to be a pixie called Tvit — and of course, as the owl returns with his captive, he tells everyone "Who? Tvit! Tvit!" Which of course, he still does to this day...

[Daisy]

I think I read the sparrow story in one of the Holiday Books first. Having said that, I think the Pip stories came first, so the one I read was a rehash of the original.

[Courtenay]

In a way, Enid's "how it came to be" stories about nature are reminiscent of classics like Kipling's Just So Stories, or even of traditional tales and creation myths from around the world. Growing up in Australia, we had plenty of children's books based on Aboriginal legends of how the birds got their colours, why the emu can't fly, why the koala lives in trees, why the kangaroo hops, why the kookaburra laughs, and so on... I always loved those. So I remember being delighted to discover that Enid wrote stories in that vein as well!

[Anita Bensoussane]

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Amusing letters and an enjoyable story. I've always known 'The Whispering Game' as 'Chinese Whispers'.

'The Little Green Beetle' is a lovely poem, looking at life as a beetle. It reminds me a little of Emily Dickinson's 'A Bird Came Down the Walk', which looks at life as a bird:

A Bird came down the Walk—
He did not know I saw—
He bit an Angleworm in halves
And ate the fellow, raw,

And then he drank a Dew
From a convenient Grass—
And then hopped sidewise to the Wall
To let a Beetle pass—

He glanced with rapid eyes
That hurried all around—
They looked like frightened Beads, I thought—
He stirred his Velvet Head

Like one in danger, Cautious,
I offered him a Crumb
And he unrolled his feathers
And rowed him softer home—

Than Oars divide the Ocean,
Too silver for a seam—
Or Butterflies, off Banks of Noon
Leap, plashless as they swim.

[Kate Mary]

Enid's poem The Little Green Beetle reminded me of another poem too, not Emily Dickinson but William Blake's The Fly, it's long been a favourite of mine.

I've never seen a multi-headed dandelion or one with a stem three feet long or anything close to that. Has anyone seen such a thing? Bobs' letter makes the most of the joke; brilliant as always.

[Courtenay]

I've never seen a dandelion with a stem three feet long (or one with multiple heads), but a couple of years ago while helping a friend weed her garden, I did dig up a dandelion with a taproot as long as my arm. Literally — I was right up to my armpit in the hole before I finally got to the end of it!!

Delightful letters and poem as always. I know the whispering game as "Chinese Whispers" as well (and of course the term is used metaphorically to refer to a story or rumour getting garbled up as it's passed around), though I don't remember us calling it that when we sometimes played it in kindergarten. Once we started primary school, there was one boy in our class who was deaf and simply couldn't hear a whisper, so we never played that game as a class any more, out of fairness to him.

[Anita Bensoussane]

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Very interesting to read about the dry spell, the two wells at Old Thatch and the excitement of a sudden shower one evening.

Bobs' account of the rats and the ferrets is most entertaining but it must have been stressful in reality.

Thanks, Tony, for putting up these delightful pages every week!

[Courtenay]

Yes, lovely letters. I love Enid's description of her wells (I wouldn't have known the word "artesian" when I was little!) and running out to sniff the "glorious earth-smell" after the rain. Bobs sounds very sweet with the kittens, letting them climb over him and licking them! He does give an exciting account of the rat hunt, though without any gory details included. I like his comment "Nobody knows what my nose knows!"

"The Dragon Called Snap" is another entertaining story, if slightly predictable. Actually, I feel sorry for the poor dragon being turned into a flower instead of being accepted by the villagers as a kindly dragon who would never eat people! I always wished I could meet a friendly dragon when I was little.

[Kate Mary]

I know just what Enid means, the scent of the earth after rain when there has been a prolonged hot dry spell is delicious. A lovely little puzzle poem this week easy enough for the youngest child in the class. These columns are a delight week after week, many thanks.

[Anita Bensoussane]

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Like Enid Blyton, I'm enjoying watching the bees and listening to their humming as they visit roses, foxgloves, snapdragons, catmint, honeysuckle, etc.

'The Little Clockwinder' is an amusing tale.

[Kate Mary]

I looked at a picture of a dock plant online but I'm not sure I would recognise it if I saw one, has anyone tried it on a nettle sting? But I like the poem nonetheless.

[Tony Summerfield]

Gosh I thought that was a well known thing, since I was a small boy (and that wasn't last year!) I have always rubbed a dock leaf onto any nettle sting and the pain goes instantly. I have found it is almost always the case that docks grow in the close vicinity of nettles - or I have just been lucky all my life!

[Daisy]

I have used dock leaves on nettle stings since I was a child! Yes, it seems to take the stinging sensation out relatively quickly. Scrunch the leaf up to get the juice from it and rub hard!