Another fortnight has passed, and so here's another issue of Enid Blyton's Magazine!
http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/maga ... ?magid=914
Its another great issue, but somehow a little more 'thin' than usual. The Secret Seven serial has finished, there's no new Famous Five serial yet, and so it is made up of short stories, and a Noddy story and the only serial is The Birthday Kitten - which isn't exactly gripping.
The cover shows an illustration from the uncollected short story
What Happened After School. Its a really enjoyable story about a bully and how the two main children manage to trick him and avoid being bullied. I really like it - it has a great atmosphere - and is a very cosy and gentle tale. The illustrations are also superb - by an uncredited artist.
Enid Blytons editorial
Letter tells us all about her fish and the pond and the birds that visit it. She is writing outside a lot now as the weather is so good. She tells how the goldfish in her pond are now all hatched out from their eggs and are slowly turning gold. I didn't realise that baby goldfish weren't gold - but apparently when they're born they're just grey - harder for the visiting heron to spot!
Enid also tells us about her next Magazine Annual - which is currently being printed. This was to sadly be the last Magazine Annual. I have them all with dust jackets and they are lovely books, crammed full of great stories and puzzles etc, and also some great board games!
After the first story, What Happened After School, we have
Our Letter Page with three interesting letters from Blyton readers. One tells of a teddy bear a little girl saved up for and sends to Enid for the children in her Home. Enid is very pleased, calling it
a magnificent teddy bear! She tells us how fond the children in the little Children's Home are...but I wonder if there were ever any 'scraps' over who cuddled it most or took it to bed!? Another little girl called Angela Rummins tells how she has a baby cuckoo visiting her garden, with its 'mother' - a starling. This must be very rare, as I have certainly never been lucky enough to see a cuckoo being fed by its foster-mother!
The last letter tells of how Pauline Bowey (a Famous Five Club member) did some dusting and tied the duster around her head, then spent ages searching for the duster when she wanted to use it. Pauline reminds Enid that she wrote a story about this in a magazine, called 'Where's That Duster?' - and Enid thinks Pauline's letter is very amusing...but I must be a real cynic, because I can't help wondering if it really happened, or if Pauline just hit on a good subject for a letter!
Puzzle Page follows. Here are this weeks puzzles -
Sunbeams Puzzle -
Can you find the countries hidden in the following sentences?
a) Please can Ada come to the party?
b) Those eggs will hatch in a minute
Famous Five Puzzle -
"Whoever is this letter for?" asked the postman as he looked at the letter on the top of the pile. This is how it was addressed -
TTILEL DONYD
SOHEU - ROF - NEO
YANTLDO GEIVLAL
The postman soon found out who the letter was addressed to. Can you?
Busy Bee's Puzzle -
Can you find the name of a fish hidden in the following sentence?
"Did you like her ring, Mary?"
Following on from this is a Noddy story
After The Party. No - it's not about Noddy walking home drunk, falling into the fish pond and then having a massive hangover - its a typical Noddy story where Noddy behaves very stupidly, and this time, Tessie Bear isn't much better! This is the sort of Noddy story that I find tiresome, as you know the outcome almost from the beginning. Its a tale that must have sufficed for a Noddy story time and again!
Rumble and Chuff continues with another four picture-strip frames, telling us how Chuff makes himself bigger so he can drive the train (Rumble) which was made bigger in the last episode, so he can take the little girl they found lost in a previous episode, back to her garden. Thankfully they arrive safely at the garden, and then are invited to tea in the summerhouse...
The Teddy Bear's Tale is a story that was printed in
Enid Blyton's Bedtime Annual 1971 and can be read there if you have a copy. Its a story that reminds me a bit of an Amelia Jane story, but this time the naughty doll is replaced by a naughty Imp. Its an entertaining story for younger children - I quite enjoyed it - but nothing exceptional. Just an amusing diversion!
The Birthday Kitten follows this (after an advert again about being a 'Cadbury Taster' and also the Painting Competition - which someone has painted very neatly in my copy but never actually sent. The Birthday Kitten is now on chapter 5 - "Please tell us what to do." As I said previously, I find it mildly intriguing that this book is the only EB book I know of where every chapter heading is a sentence of speech! I wonder if there are any other Enid Blyton books that employ this technique? I don't think there are.
Considering that The Birthday Kitten is aimed at younger children, and so is the Teddy Bear story, and the Noddy story, slightly older children must have been wondering why they weren't being catered for!
To end this issue, there's an interesting page of adverts - including an offer for the
Free SPRATT'S BADGE for dog owners! Also, an air bed for 16 shillings, a waterproof tent for 34 shillings and 9d and a radio for 20 shillings. One thing I always wanted as a child and never got was
a Real Microscope! - at only 7 shillings and 6d that sounds like a real bargain! Wonder if it worked?!
Until next time - when we will begin the first chapter of the new Famous Five serial - Five Get Into A Fix - cheerio! !