Search Required

Looking for a book or a story? Post details here and hopefully someone will be able to help.
tix
Posts: 385
Joined: 07 Jan 2005, 12:56

Search Required

Post by tix »

The Enid Blyton Society is often called upon to identify books or individual stories, and occasionally it can be a difficult task when the author's output is taken into consideration. Take for example a recent request for assistance that sits on the Enid Blyton Society's introductory page whereby a 'Mandy' enquires after the title of a long lost Blyton.

This entreaty is a little special insofar as the subject has seen light of day before. Looking back a year or two, 'Myra' also wants to read what appears to be a much sought-after story, and even earlier, a 'Joan' expresses her wish to peruse the 'flip and a flop' tale.

It appears the book has even been searched for by US educators, so what's the attraction of this publication with its sought after tale?

I think it has to be found - if only to satisfy curiosity, and this website's the ideal place from which to launch an investigation due to the plethora of information it contains concerning Enid Blyton. The data has been gathered together by knowledgeable persons from all over ...... people such as Tony, Anita, Courtenay, Moonraker and many others who possess encyclopaedic memories when it comes to recalling just what's in in the Blyton catalogue.

The more clues available the better our chances of tracking it down, so let the hunt continue.

For starters, there's supposed to be an illustration depicting a small girl's bedroom with toys and fairies visible ..... but who's never seen a Blyton book containing this very representation? Immediately the first 'Bedside' pops up because of its cover. Unfortunately it's not quite the ticket, despite the last page featuring a very applicable image of a little girl in bed with fairies and pixies all round. There's even a Fairy Queen waving her wand but the contents don't fit in with what clues we have.

Can't recall " ... flip and a flop and a terrible thud ...." (repeated many times), but Enid Blyton could certainly have included that in a poem.

"You want to go to Fairyland I have the magic key ..."

Now that sounds Blytonish and could remind one of those little rhymes scattered throughout the short story reprints.

'Magic Soap' and 'Bitsy Bunny' are typical of our esteemed author but so far no 'Bitsy' seems evident although it's not to say one doesn't exist. A Blyton account entitled 'The Magic Wash Tub' features a 'Binny' and also 'Magic Soap' but the set-up doesn't fit in with a downed clothesline; it's merely the oft-used theme of a person borrowing something without permission and being engulfed by what follows (cf: Rubbalong Tales_'Sniff Gets Into Hot Water').

"Girl rescues fairy from a flower containing rain water."

The only reference connected with saving fairies from a watery grave (to mind) is where Betty rescues one from a pond (cf: The Astonishing Ladder_'Betty's Fairy Doll').

"Ned the Kuomb!"

Now what could that possibly be? Could 'Kuomb' be a misinterpretation?

A 'Bluebird' is mentioned.

What EB story has a bluebird in it?

"Picture of dancing bugs!"

This brings to mind those full-page colour illustrations in the 'Holiday' or 'Gifford Flower' books' but these don't appear to contain any displays of insects jiving together, although such a concept would fit well into an Enid Blyton tale.

Many times fans have recalled stories, which they 'think' were by the author only to find they came from another source - so could this be the case? It would still be interesting to see the book/story even if it isn't by Enid Blyton - just to see what the attraction is. Admittedly all the above-mentioned 'clues' would more-or-less fit a Blyton production .... but one tiny item could raise a hint of doubt.

A Head Fairy, who loses her necklace of pearls, is mentioned.

That fits in all right with any story, but upon learning her name is 'Mary, a slight suspicion is aroused. Would any Blytonite feel comfortable seeing 'Mary' the fairy appearing in an Enid Blyton tale? 'Peronel' was a name often used, although not necessarily for a Head/Queen. 'Titania' could hardly be employed, however our author has bestowed many creative handles on her fairies, pixies, and other characters. Chinky's a good example.

But 'Mary?'

The case remains open.
User avatar
pete9012S
Posts: 17572
Joined: 24 Jan 2010, 15:32
Favourite book/series: Five On A Treasure Island
Favourite character: Frederick Algernon Trotteville
Location: UK

Re: Search Required

Post by pete9012S »

Great detective, theoretical reasoning in that most enjoyable post Tix.
Thank you.

My curiosity about this elusive book is now well and truly piqued!

Regards

Pete

ps

Bitsy Bunny would seem to be real character:

https://www.jellycat.com/bitsy-bunny-bit3bm/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
" A kind heart always brings its own reward," said Mrs. Lee.
- The Christmas Tree Aeroplane -

Society Member
KEVP
Posts: 550
Joined: 15 Oct 2015, 02:18

Re: Search Required

Post by KEVP »

SInce this search seems to have gone on for YEARS, my suspicion is that folks are looking in the wrong place. Perhaps this particular story wasn't written by Enid Blyton?
KEVP
Posts: 550
Joined: 15 Oct 2015, 02:18

Re: Search Required

Post by KEVP »

Yes, I am also finding these searches all over the internet. They are so similar I think the same person is doing the searches.

It seems to be an "anthology" book, that is it had a number of different stories.

Perhaps one (or a couple) of the stories was by Enid Blyton, but the searcher misunderstood and thought all of the stories in the book were by Enid?

I have found another website that mentions the lines "With a flip and a flop and a terrible thud/all of the washing came down in the mud!". But alas, that person doesn't mention the story or the author!

Is it also possible that the searcher may be confusing more than one story?
User avatar
Rob Houghton
Posts: 16029
Joined: 26 Feb 2005, 22:38
Favourite book/series: Rubadub Mystery, Famous Five and The Find-Outers
Favourite character: Snubby, Uncle Robert, George, Fatty
Location: Kings Norton, Birmingham

Re: Search Required

Post by Rob Houghton »

Very interesting, and I love searching for such things...BUT - to me it doesn't sound like an Enid Blyton story. For one thing, I can't imagine the 'flip and a flop' couplet being inserted into an Enid Blyton story unless it was all in rhyme, and for another, I don't believe that ENid would have a rabbit character called 'Bitsy'. Doesn't sound British to me - more like American.If 'Ned the Kuomb' was actually 'Ned the Gnome' that might make more sense...

I could be wrong of course. The most likely books would be the older ones, where Enid is often uncredited - but from the sound of it this book is one that was around in the late 1970's/early 1980's. Of course, it could have been a very old book, as 'Mandy' doesn't say - but if it was one printed at that time, I doubt that the lines quoted are from an Enid Blyton story. As far as I'm aware, by the late 1970's no Enid Blyton stories would have appeared in books containing stories by other authors. This was rare if not unheard of after Enid's death, as far as I know.
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



Society Member
tix
Posts: 385
Joined: 07 Jan 2005, 12:56

Re: Search Required

Post by tix »

Pete's response was immediate and shows he's working on the conundrum in best Find-Outer fashion. When the website link was clicked, what came up was interesting but I feel the link with EB would be a little tenuous. Still it was a good attempt at supplying an answer to that which is puzzling the international community. In fact, thinking about it, maybe the toy rabbit depicted is actually connected with a USA 'Bitsy Bunny' story.

KEVP's thoughts make sense as do Rob's insofar as the subject in question may not be from Enid Blyton's pen. The author was extremely pervasive (not so much in America) and when childhood stories are recalled it's very easy to presume she wrote them.

Maybe the 'flip and flop' piece was indeed incorporated as a rhyme, but the suggestion that it's nothing to do with Enid Blyton tends to look more reasonable due to the American link. It'd still be interesting to read the story, and it's been pointed out that a copy appeared in the 1970/80's although a cursory glance at several books of that period has yielded nought so far.

Ned the gnome? Quite a reasonable guess.

As this is an Enid Blyton site and a sought-after title is usually tracked down fairly promptly (not every single time) the mystery might have to be resolved by an outsider who remembers reading the particular story from an unconnected source.
KEVP
Posts: 550
Joined: 15 Oct 2015, 02:18

Re: Search Required

Post by KEVP »

In terms of the age of the book, Myra's query dated October 25, 2016, included the phrase "My mum who's 92 used to read it to us as children". Which I think puts it at least before 1970.
User avatar
Rob Houghton
Posts: 16029
Joined: 26 Feb 2005, 22:38
Favourite book/series: Rubadub Mystery, Famous Five and The Find-Outers
Favourite character: Snubby, Uncle Robert, George, Fatty
Location: Kings Norton, Birmingham

Re: Search Required

Post by Rob Houghton »

I'm a little confused now...is this a different person to the woman who asked about a book in the late 1970's, early 1980's? :? And is it a different book or the same book?! :? :?
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



Society Member
KEVP
Posts: 550
Joined: 15 Oct 2015, 02:18

Re: Search Required

Post by KEVP »

Well, this is a bit like looking for ghosts, or bigfoot,or UFOs, or something like that.

All we have to go on is the descriptions of individual people who knew the book in the past, and those people are just relying on their fallible human memory. There is I think enough agreement between them that I think we can say (unlike ghosts, bigfoot, or UFOs) that this book definitely did exist. But there is some disagreement between these witnesses on some details. But that is only to be expected with human witnesses relying on their memories from childhood.

It seems to have been ONE book that contained a number of different stories. What bibliographers would call an anthology. My suspicion (which I don't know for certain, just a suspicion) is that Enid Blyton may have written at least ONE of the stories in the book, but not all the stories in the book.

It is possible that the book was reprinted in more than one edition. However, I strongly doubt that, because if it had more than one edition it would be easier to find!
KEVP
Posts: 550
Joined: 15 Oct 2015, 02:18

Re: Search Required

Post by KEVP »

Okay, so everything we know is: (most of this information comes from the website: http://www.educereschool.com/lost-childrens-book/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)

The book was 8.5 inches by 11 inches (about 21.5 cm by 28 cm), or maybe slightly larger.
The book was illustrated, possibly by watercolors
One illustration showed a little girl in her bed, and all around her are pixies and fairies peeking at her from behind the pillows and toys on the window seat.
At least one witness remembers reading the book in the 1960s.

The book had a number of different stories. At least three.

At the beginning of the book was a poem. We may have some fragments of the poem as follows:
"You want to go to fairyland.
I have the magic key . . . .
Follow me.
. . . . lantern . . .
So take me by the hand."

(The ellipses [...] would represent places where the witness has forgotten words)

One of the stories is about a little girl who does not believe in fairies. But then she rescues a young fairy from a flower filled with rainwater. She also has a conversation with a blue bird.

Another story seems to be the one most witnesses remember. It may have been called "magic soap". Somebody who the witness remembers as being named "Ned the Kuomb" gives out magic soap to the mothers in fairyland. (I like Rob's theory that this may have been "Ned the Gnome").
Bitsy Bunny nibbles through a washline. Which leads to the following quote, or something similar:
"With a flip and a flop and a terrible thud
All of the washing fell down in the mud"
(These two lines seem to be the most remembered part of the book. One witness believes that the phrase "with a flip and a flop and a terrible thud" was repeated more than once.)
(However, one witness believes that the washline was not sabotaged by Bitsy Bunny, but by naughty elves)
Then Bitsy Bunny and a squirrel go to the mothers in fairyland to ask each if they have any leftover magic soap (I am guessing this is because the laundry that landed in the mud now has to be re-washed).

A third story is about a dance on All Hallows Eve (what we today call Halloween). But the head fairy, named Mary, has misplaced her pearl necklace. This story was illustrated with pictures of bugs dancing together, and also pictures of animals of fairyland.

One witness insists the whole book was written by Enid Blyton. But since this seems to be stumping the world's biggest Enid Blyton fans, I think this probably isn't true.
Last edited by KEVP on 04 Feb 2018, 20:03, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Courtenay
Posts: 19275
Joined: 07 Feb 2014, 01:22
Favourite book/series: The Adventure Series, Galliano's Circus
Favourite character: Lotta
Location: Both Aussie and British; living in Cheshire

Re: Search Required

Post by Courtenay »

Whatever it is, it's got my head spinning. :shock:
Society Member

It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
KEVP
Posts: 550
Joined: 15 Oct 2015, 02:18

Re: Search Required

Post by KEVP »

Okay, some speculation:

Maybe Enid Blyton wrote one of the stories in the collection, but the witness got mistaken and thought she had written all the stories? I think it is possible that each story had a different author.

Could Enid Blyton's name have been on the cover, even if very little of the contents (or even none of the contents!) were actually written by Enid? How often did this happen, if at all? When did it start happening?

If each of the stories had a different author, is it possible that each of the stories was originally published separately, then collected together in to the single volume that is being searched for here? Is it possible that some or all of the individual stories were published in magazines originally? Is it possible that the collection-the book-was only published in the USA, while the original stories were all independently published in the UK? (I suggest this last because some of the searchers seem to be based in the USA, particularly the ones who remember this as a whole collection, not an individual story)
User avatar
Moonraker
Posts: 22387
Joined: 31 Jan 2005, 19:15
Location: Wiltshire, England
Contact:

Re: Search Required

Post by Moonraker »

Rob Houghton wrote:I'm a little confused now...is this a different person to the woman who asked about a book in the late 1970's, early 1980's? :? And is it a different book or the same book?! :? :?
This whole thread has me confused!
Society Member
User avatar
Rob Houghton
Posts: 16029
Joined: 26 Feb 2005, 22:38
Favourite book/series: Rubadub Mystery, Famous Five and The Find-Outers
Favourite character: Snubby, Uncle Robert, George, Fatty
Location: Kings Norton, Birmingham

Re: Search Required

Post by Rob Houghton »

Moonraker wrote:This whole thread has me confused!
Agreed! It really can't be a book with Blyton contributions...because no books with Blyton contributions were reprinted, as far as I know, after her death...and there was supposed to be a copy around in the 1970's and 80's...unless it was a very old book, but the details don't seem to hint it was an old book.

Also - if it was a book completely written by Enid Blyton and was around in the 1970's and 80's, I'm sure someone would have heard of it!

So I conclude that it was nothing to do with Enid Blyton.
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



Society Member
User avatar
pete9012S
Posts: 17572
Joined: 24 Jan 2010, 15:32
Favourite book/series: Five On A Treasure Island
Favourite character: Frederick Algernon Trotteville
Location: UK

Re: Search Required

Post by pete9012S »

Seconded - (until I'm proved wrong as usual!) :D
" A kind heart always brings its own reward," said Mrs. Lee.
- The Christmas Tree Aeroplane -

Society Member
Post Reply