The Enid Blyton Society

I'm just slowly working my way through the many additions Tony has accumulated. I just didn't realise how much work he does behind the scenes. It's mind boggling! I'm new to the vast majority of Enid's poems/short stories, etc, so I've got a mega amount to catch up on...if I ever do! Many thanks to Tony for opening my eyes to works I've never seen before.

A further selection of poems, pictures and fillers from Sunny Stories:

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/maga ... ?magid=281" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The poem in issue 30 really set my teeth on edge, the memory of gritty sandwiches on the beach from my childhood I suppose. And we have a new picture serial starting in issue 33.

I can remember crunching sand up when I was a child and some got on my food or lips etc...I must have been weird!

Interesting that Enid is extolling the virtues of learning to swim in her editorial letter - just as she was in this fortnight's letter in Enid Blyton's Magazine. I know she believed very strongly in all children learning to swim - and so do I - she was right on the button with this. It's one of the most important things all children should learn to do. Its disgusting that many people still can't swim today.

A delightful selection. Thanks, Tony. I see that Enid refers to 'Simon's Clean Handkerchief' and 'A Shock for Lucy Ann!' in her editorial for No. 30 (August 6th, 1937), remarking that Gillian particularly enjoyed the former. I liked both those tales as a child when I read them in Stories for Bedtime (Dean), though my favourite story from that volume was the clever and atmospheric 'Connie's Curious Candle'. What a gorgeous cover picture by E. H. Davie, showing a scene from 'Poor Captain Puss!'

Maureen Hughes' puzzle in the next issue is a good one and the Colonel Peppercorn story made me chuckle ('A Strange Butterfly!') Donald Harvie's puzzle in a later issue kept me occupied for a little while before I managed to solve it. How proud he must have been to see it in the magazine, so beautifully illustrated by E. H. Davie.

'Merry Meg' by Elizabeth Strachan is a charming poem. Enid Blyton had some very talented readers.

The girl in the illustration that accompanies the poem Sand doesn't look very happy either. Even though she says that she does love it so!

Best not look at this month's Sunny Stories if you are of a PC turn of mind:

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/maga ... ?magid=285" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And in issue 35 Marjorie Thorp's illustrations for the Riddle-Re-Mee and the poem are copied from Cicely Mary Barker's Flower Fairies; 'Who is it?' is based on The Horse Chestnut Fairy and 'Brownie Blackberries' is taken from The Honeysuckle Fairy. We also have the first episode of the The Secret Island in issue no.37, one of my favourite books.

I see what you mean! The young poet sounds to have a very wide vocabulary of a nine year old too!

Yes, I have a copy of this Sunny Stories, and admit, even though I'm not exactly 'PC minded' in a bad way, that its still quite 'shocking' to see the poem. However, its just normal for the time it was written - and to be fair, the name of the doll is 'Pretty Sue' - so there's no racist meaning in the poem at all.

Oh indeed... it is quite sweet and innocent.

Thanks as always for putting these in the Cave, Tony. Until this thread began I hadn't fully realised that E. H. Davie was so adaptable as an artist. As well as illustrating novels of adventure and circus life beautifully, s/he was adept at comic pictures, representations of wildlife and and whimsical illustrations of fairy folk - all of them striking. Marjorie Thorp's pictures are very attractive too.

Adventures of the Toys is a most entertaining picture-strip and Joyce Johnson's illustrations are bold and eye-catching. Teddy's "scarf" (Issue 36) looks more like a ribbon though.

What lovely words of invitation and encouragement from Enid Blyton to her young readers in Issue 34:

"Thank you for all the nice letters..."

"Don't forget to let me know if you'd like a story written about anything special, will you?"

"Thank you, too, for all the nice poems and riddle-me-rees... Some aren't quite good enough to print on page 2, but I like to read them all the same - so don't be afraid of sending in anything you've written."

"Go in for the new competition, all of you - and good luck to you!"

Children must have felt valued and empowered by her words. No wonder so many came to regard her as a friend. And fancy being among the very first to read the opening chapters of books like The Secret Island and The Three Golliwogs, unaware of the lasting impact they would have.

Kate Mary wrote:Best not look at this month's Sunny Stories if you are of a PC turn of mind:

I was going to put a link up on Facebook page. Maybe I'd better not!

The poem, The Dolls' House had a very similar (if not identical) meter to I had a Little Nut Tree:

I had a little nut tree,
Nothing would it bear
But a silver nutmeg,
And a golden pear;
The King of Spain's daughter
Came to visit me,
And all for the sake
Of my little nut tree.

You can sing it to the same tune!

A selection from Sunny Stories for October 1937:

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/maga ... ?magid=289" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I like the picture strip serial 'Adventures of the Toys', check out frame 28, issue 40, it is a delightful illustration. And I love Enid's poem The Birthday Cake and Letty Maisie Jones' 'Rover' in issue 41 but the illustrations in the picture strip 'Jackie Squirrel Gets A Surprise' in issue no. 42 is enough to give me nightmares!

It's great to see these as always. Thanks, Tony!

I like the chapter title illustrations for The Secret Island and I enjoyed Bimbo's clever idea in the picture strip 'It was Bimbo Who Laughed!'

Hilda McGavin's cover illustration for the issue containing 'The Pixie in the Pond' is delightful, as are Ernest Aris's for 'Oh, Brer Rabbit!' and Doris Osborne's for 'The Bubble Airships'.

Letty Maisie Jones' poem, 'Rover', is very sweet and thoughtful and the same applies to Enid Blyton's 'Bird Acrobats'. I also like the riddles composed by readers. Jean Needham's took a little bit more working out than the others.

I can't tell you how much I enjoy and appreciate the chance to see the contents of these early Sunny Stories magazines.
Thank you very much indeed for making them available Tony.

I wonder when the posting of the name and address of contributors/prizewinners stopped? It seems so odd today in the modern world.