The Cherrys by Will Scott

[Ming]

He's actually on the left, with a Rowe Jr. on each side.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Ah yes. Glad you and your sons enjoyed the day, Nigel.

Anita

[Aurélien]

He's actually on the left, with a Rowe Jr. on each side.

*Oops!* Thanks, Ming. * Puts away magnifier* Moonraker with his face almost obscured by a young woman (with a full head of hair) seated right in front of him.....
Being myself only a little over 5 feet, that is an experience I also am used to.

[Lenoir]

I have now read the first book of the series, and found it better than I expected.

Was it was difficult to get a copy of that book? I rarely see them, and the few I have seen for sale on book sites are too expensive.

[Moonraker]

I have now read the first book of the series, and found it better than I expected.

Was it was difficult to get a copy of that book? I rarely see them, and the few I have seen for sale on book sites are too expensive.

Very easy, as it happens, and it was a First Edition c/w dustjacket! But then, it's not what you know, but who you know...

[Aurélien]

Posting my contribution to Lenoir's latest 'Caption Competition' picture reminded me of Will Scott's very topical 13th Cherrys book, The Cherrys in the Snow.

‘Aurélien Arkadiusz’

[Moonraker]

What a great cover - it reminds me of the Secret Seven artwork.

[Aurélien]

What a great cover - it reminds me of the Secret Seven artwork.

Well, Moonraker, as you doubtless know the artist [Lilian Buchanan] did illustrate a few of EB's books...I leave it to Tony to detail exactly which ones.

Old Aurélien, in the middle of a heat wave and with humidity in the high 80s (%), takes one last lingering look at all that refreshingly cool s-n-o-w on that railway station platform....

[Moonraker]

What a great cover - it reminds me of the Secret Seven artwork.

Well, Moonraker, as you doubtless know the artist [Lilian Buchanan] did illustrate a few of EB's books...

Yes, but it is George Brook's covers that spring to mind.

[Tony Summerfield]

Well, Moonraker, as you doubtless know the artist [Lilian Buchanan] did illustrate a few of EB's books...I leave it to Tony to detail exactly which ones.

It sounds as if Old Aurélien needs to come out of the summer heat into the cool of the Cave. The search facility is a wonderful thing and it will pick up illustrators as well as titles (or part titles) of books and short stories. Just stick Buchanan in and see what it comes up with.

I love the Cherrys wrappers as you already know and I also like the Bobby Brewster wrappers which were also illustrated by Lilian Buchanan in the 'Secret Seven style'.

[Philip Mannering]

Lilian Buchanan's artwork is particularly superb - shame she illustrated only three novels of Enid, and even they're not available here now. On the other hand, Eileen Soper has illustrated, according to the Cave, 134 books!! Did she like Enid's stories very much, I wonder?

Incidentally, if you type just 'Eileen Soper' it will come up with no results at all - left me nonplussed a bit. Then I remembered Soper's initial - 'A' (goodness knows what that stands for!), and it worked.

Edit: Just checked on Google, it seems that A stands for Alice.

[Tony Summerfield]

I have tried to be consistent as far as possible throughout the Cave and unfortunately the search only picks up exact entries which is why it can't manage Eileen Soper. You will find that just by putting in one name such as 'Soper' it works pretty well.

Unfortunately the search doesn't pick up reprints, or you would have seen that Lilian Buchanan also illustrated the reprint dustwrappers for all the Malory Towers books.

[Aurélien]

I love the Cherrys wrappers as you already know and I also like the Bobby Brewster wrappers which were also illustrated by Lilian Buchanan in the 'Secret Seven style'.

Indeed the crisp clarity of the late Lilian Buchanan's coloured illustrations continues to charm, Tony. But what most impresses old Aurélien about her illustrations for Scott's 14-book Cherrys series is the very considerable pains she took to dovetail all her maps and drawings together so that they totally mesh with each other over the whole series*.

I'd be interested in hearing from readers of the non-Cherrys books Buchanan illustrated whether this 'dedication 'above and beyond the mere demands of duty' is also noticeable in those books, too.

Shoot me down in flames [whilst uttering cries of utter outrage] if you disagree with me when I argue that such a high degree of accuracy by a serious professional artist was not always the case with the illustrations in children's books of the '40's to '70s, especially over an entire series of books.

While I was reading the earlier Cherrys books, waaay back when I was a youngster, Lilian Buchanan's maps and illustrations added powerfully to the overall impact the series had on me, but it was years before I took a closer look and figured out exactly why this was so.

‘Aurélien Arkadiusz’ sweltering in a NZ heat-wave...32.4 degrees yesterday, equalling the record Auckland temperature set way back in the nineteenth century.

• ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

* There was a minor change made to the 'Market Cray' maps part way through the series to accomodate the introduction of the 'Empty House'. Those who enjoy exploring maps can compare the 1st edition 'Market Cray' map that Lenoir linked to earlier on this thread with The Land of the Double Arrow.

Edit:
For some unknown reason my link above will only open [right-click] in either a new Tab or a new Window.

[Ming]

For some unknown reason my link above will only open [right-click] in either a new Tab or a new Window.

It's not a bug, it is actually easier this way, to have links open in new tabs.

I agree about Lilian Buchanan's illustrations being wonderful. Some of my Mystery books have her original illustrations in them, and they make superb reading.

[Aurélien]

For some unknown reason my link above will only open [right-click] in either a new Tab or a new Window.

It's not a bug, it is actually easier this way, to have links open in new tabs.

If one remembers to open links in a new window it works for me...trouble is, if I open links in a new tab I haven't found a way to close that new tab alone, and [if tired] I have been known to follow the prompt to close all tabs, which bounces one right out of this site.

I agree about Lilian Buchanan's illustrations being wonderful. Some of my Mystery books have her original illustrations in them, and they make superb reading.

Shows that [like Tony S] you've got good taste, then lass - but then your vase decorations had already demonstrated this. How faithfully do Buchanan's illustrations relate to the Mystery book texts that you've read, Ming?

‘Aurélien Arkadiusz’ , OOTWS*

* OOTWS = Order of the Wooden Spoon....used for stirring, naturally....