http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/maga ... ?magid=909
It's that time of the month when we get our new Enid Blyton Magazine delivered! Its another great issue - in fact I think this issue is one of the best i've read so far - all the stories are enjoyable, and one is, I think, exceptional.
We start with the Cover story, which is happily in The Cave for us all to read - thanks again to Tony, whose scanning work is very much appreciated and helps to make this thread come alive. Follow the link above to see the Editorial and THREE uncollected stories.
The cover shows an illustration from
A Very Peculiar Word - and its quite a peculiar story too - but one I found very entertaining! I had to smile a bit when I heard it involved the recipe for something called 'Tinkle Pudding'...obviously Enid didn't know the word had other meanings...!
I loved the story though, and thought it was quite clever. I liked the way she included a couple of 'puzzles' in the text - and in my copy the original owner has actually worked out the magic words etc in the margin of the story!
In Enids Editorial
Letter - also available to read in The Cave, we have the usual news about what ENid has been up to since we saw her last. I particularly liked her description of an April day -
the glorious blue of the sky and the dazzling white clouds that loom up against it towering high...' because this was exactly the sort of April day I witnessed just yesterday, on a walk in Wootten Wawen with my dad - except the white clouds were few and far between. The sky was dazzling blue and it was very warm - a real spring day.
Its good to see Enid reminding her readers of the 'country code' of shutting gates, clearing up litter, stamping out fires etc - and she mentions the bluebells thrusting up their spikes...which seems a bit late! Yesterday we saw hundreds of bluebells, all fully out.
I was also interested to see that Enid advertises her new series, to start the following issue - 'The Birthday Kitten' - which I have in book form - and also she tells us
I am now writing a new Famous Five story for you, you will be pleased to hear! It hasn't got a title yet - but I can see that the Five are getting into a fix of some kind!'
After the cover story, we have
Puzzle Page with some entertaining puzzles -
Can you find the fruits hidden in the following sentences -
a) "Is that june or Angela?"
b) "Will the train stop each time?"
c) "It won't take me long to get there."
The Famous Five Puzzle asks us to rearrange the letters to spell three well-known British rivers -
HAMSET
BHUREM
VSNREE
Lastly, the Busy Bee competition question - which I admit, I couldn't answer - so I had to google it! -
Through which country does the St Lawrence River run?
Next we have a Brer Rabbit story -
Brer Rabbit's Great Idea - as with all Brer Rabbit stories, its very enjoyable and amusing - but also very much like all the other Brer Rabbit stories. As a child I loved them and read my Dean Brer Rabbit trio of books avidly - but I'm less inspired by them these days. You can read this in Enid Blyton's Bedtime Annual 1971' - if you happen to have it. I felt that it was heavily based on some of the ideas in 'The Rat-a-Tat Mystery'!
Secret Seven Mystery follows with chapter 15 - and another illustration by Burgess Sharrocks which doesn't feature in the book version.
The feature
In My Garden returns after a few weeks break, telling us its time to plant wallflower seeds, forget-me-knots and sweet Williams 'without delay'. Enid also suggests we ask someone to give us a Chrysanthemum root. She says
pull apart each little cutting with a root and make a single plant' - which sounds Double-Dutch to me!
Rumble and Chuff continues - and is just about as exciting as the Noddy strip story was. I much prefer it in the book form, which goes into more detail. This week the carriage from the toy engine is thrown into the garden by an angry boy - and Chuff the pixie-man decides to climb in the window to take a look at the engine it belongs to.
Our Letter Page highlights letters from The Famous Five Club. One letter, from Susan Younger from Wylye in Wiltshire tells us how she is enclosing a cuddly dog for the Children's Home
which I bought with some money I got by fining my Daddy whenever he eft his shaving brush or soap or anything else about'
Next we have
Welcome To The Countryside - with some good tips and rules about how to behave on rambles and nature walks - such as always walking on the right when there's no footpath on a road - something people could do with being reminded of these days, as many don't observe this simple rule. She also encourages children to learn to read maps and to wear something white when they are out after dark.
Next we come to what I think is an exceptional Enid Blyton short story -
Seven Ripe Plums. It is an Enid Blyton classic - effective, quite emotional in parts, and above all its totally 'real'. I also love the illustrations by Anne Read - which seem different to her usual style, using lots of vertical lines. I like them a lot. the story is all about Patrick, who steals some plums from his neighbour's tree. Its a fine story, and its a real pity it has never been reprinted.
The last uncollected story in this week's issue is a rather strange one called
Something Funny Going On. I say its strange because its one of those stories that probably, as a child, you wouldn't question, but as an adult I had several 'what!?' moments! I mean - a tortoise was obviously going to feature, as there's one drawn on the title illustration - so that spoiled the suspense a little...and then I thought 'wouldn't the tortoise have woken up long agao?' and then I thought 'why would you put a tortoise to hibernate on a high up shelf?' - and then I thought 'wouldn't the tortoise have fallen off the shelf and damaged its shell? Maybe I'm just too analytical!
Lastly
Our News-sheet and as always Enid fills us in on the stuff her various clubs are doing, plus any other news. I really do find her description of the children in her homes very telling - her love for children really shines through - and especially for the little black girl called Violet, whom Enid describes as
our small dark Violet...was the picture of happiness and health, beaming at me with her great dark eyes. You simply can't help loving such a merry little thing... And once again I find myself saying 'This is a woman who is apparently racist'?!
Enid also tells us about some girls who, being members of the Busy Bees, stopped some boys throwing crabs against a wall to kill them, by threatening to phone for help. Then they rescued the crabs and put them safely into a rock-pool...although Enid also tells us they 'put the other smashed ones out of pain'. I was left wondering how? Did they stamp on them, or what?!
I also found it interesting to read what Enid has to say about 'Pony Books' - one of the few genres for children she never wrote. She explains -
You would be surprised how many children as me if I will PLEASE write them a book about ponies or horses, because they love them so much. But as there are already some fine writers of horse books, there is no need for me to add to them! You will see two new pony books on page 43, so if you are a horse lover, do make a note of them because I think you will like them' The new pony books are
A Red Rosette by Geoffrey Lapage and The Second Mount - by Christine Pullein-Thompson. Enid sounds quite generous, pressing horse-lovers to buy these books by other authors...but I'm not taken in by her excuse that there are so many horse books, why should she add to them! That never stopped her with school books, or magic, or adventures etc - so I'm guessing horses were not Enid's strong point. I seem to recall that she got most of her horse-knowledge from Imogen!
And so that's another issue done and dusted. Hope you enjoy reading the stories in the link.