Journal 48

[Lucky Star]

Just received journal 48 and it looks like the usual thumping good read. I haven't done more than skim it yet really but I read Anita's excellent summation of the recent EBS Day and it transported me back immediately. Was it really only two months ago? It feels more like ten.

I loved the colour sections; Georgina Hargreaves' roughwork for the Wishing Chair books were beautiful and the Blyton Diary display box on the rear cover was something which I never even knew existed. It is little things like this and the rare old Blyton articles, poems and adult stories which are the hidden joys of the journal. These items would be all but forgotten were they not resurrected in this form. Having said that I again found the adult story to be very weak; I always think to myself "Thank God she decided to write for children, if she'd written this stuff for adults we would never have heard of her". Compared to her contemporaries like George Orwell and Graham Greene, her adult stories are positively childish. Just my opinion and as I said it is important that they are published in the journal. Their very rarity makes them almost historical artifacts.

That was a very powerful poem inside the back cover. I was not surprised to find that it was published shortly after The Six Bad Boys; very similar themes and imagery, the book also ended with the boys in the dock. Another rebuke to those who claim she did not tackle serious issues in her writing.

I'll be reading the rest of the journal at leisure over the rest of the week and will post more then. For now its just congratulations to Tony again on such a superb and value for money product.

[Loony the Dog]

I loved the True Blyton article. The paragraph at the end about the man who thought that nursery rhymes should be changed was quite amusing. The three blind mouse donated cheese! I also liked the Gollywog article. Interesting the history of them.

[Sally]

Received my journal two days agao - already made a start - and loved Anita's resume of the day (were you taking notes, Anita, or do you just have a good memory?) The second part of Those Dreadful Children review made more sense now I have read it, and as an adult reading it for the first time, it seems to me that EB had cleverly given the title to both families (both called each other the same things) and left it to her children readers to analyse each character and see where they were going wrong and the lessons they learned from each other. Brilliant - and she does the same in other family books e.g. The Mistletoe Farm Cousins, House at the Corner etc.

Loved the Loony story, Julie. He and Miranda were my favourite pets in the EB books, and I think EB portrayed him very realistically, obviously because he was based on her own dog. The perfect companion for Snubby, who, as you say, was deeply insecure and lonely and very much afraid by the outside world. Loony made him feel safe, as did Barney, whom I saw as playing a huge part in Snubby's development.

Yet to read the rest this weekend, and I can't wait.

Thanks Tony and to all who have contributed, as always.

[Julie2owlsdene]

Just a few more chapters to read now from my journal. As always, I'm enjoying in immensely. Great review of the Day from Anita. As Sally says, you must have a fantastic memory, Anita, if you didn't take notes.
Thanks for your comments about my article, Sally. Always nice to have some form of feedback.
Loved the rest of Robert's article on Those Dreadful Children. It was by reading Robert's article in the journal before that I just had to find a copy of this book and read it, and I wasn't disappointed. So finishing the rest of Robert's article made perfect sense, and well observed.

Loved Georgina's paintings in the centre fold, and the sad picture of Enid in her declining years.
Nice to read Enid's input, and I'm glad Roy got punished by the ants for taking the birds eggs!!
Terry's was very well written and so enjoyable as was Angela's contribution.
Just have to read Adventure in Wales now and Sunny Stories for Little Folks.

Thanks Tony. Well done once again.

[Enikyoga]

I also liked Angela Canning's exploration of the critisisms of Enid's writing...though I didnt quite agree with what she seemed to be saying about the song 'Ten Little Nigger Boys' - suggesting that as the black minstrels sang it and enjoyed it then it wasnt racist as such...I had always presumed that Minstrel shows consisted of blacked-up white people...so presumably the song 'ten Little Nigger Boys' wasnt very often actually sung by true black people.

On teh other hand, as I have said previously, a while ago, I think Enid was being anything BUT racist in her story about Little Black sambo. What she was actually saying, in my opinion, was that we should accept all people, regardless of colour, and judge them only by their personality...something that the critics of that story obviously didnt agree with.
D

In fact, I expound on these issues in my book, The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage.
Stephen I.

[Julie2owlsdene]

Please Stephen, do you have to plug your book at every opportunity!!! Please at least spare us this on our very own Society Journal thread!!

[Anita Bensoussane]

Received my journal two days ago - already made a start - and loved Anita's resume of the day (were you taking notes, Anita, or do you just have a good memory?)

Great review of the Day from Anita. As Sally says, you must have a fantastic memory, Anita, if you didn't take notes.

Thanks for the kind comments. I was sitting next to you during the talks, Julie, so I think you'd have noticed if I'd whipped out a notebook and pen!

I particularly enjoyed the EB adult story, and I have to say I thought it was very amusing...more like a joke than a short story, but very enjoyable.

Quite a few of Enid Blyton's adult stories appear to be based around well-known jokes or humorous anecdotes, which she has fleshed out.

I also liked Angela Canning's exploration of the critisisms of Enid's writing...though I didnt quite agree with what she seemed to be saying about the song 'Ten Little Nigger Boys' - suggesting that as the black minstrels sang it and enjoyed it then it wasnt racist as such...I had always presumed that Minstrel shows consisted of blacked-up white people...so presumably the song 'ten Little Nigger Boys' wasnt very often actually sung by true black people.

I wondered about that statement too and I was also surprised that there was no mention of Florence Upton's Golliwogg books, published between 1895 and 1909. How interesting that as early as 1986 (before the advent of Mr. Sparks, I believe?) Mr. Golly the garage owner had been replaced by a Mr. Bobby Bear in the Purnell edition of Hurrah for Little Noddy.

...being quite a fan of Georgina Hargreaves, I'm sorry I missed seeing her in action. It also cleared up a mystery I have often wondered about, as it appears she drew illustrations for Dean editions before moving on to the Wishing Chair deluxe editions...which explains some of the similarities in some of the illustrations, which I always thought had been done by Rene Cloke, as her style is very similar.

When Georgina Hargreaves talked about having illustrated other Dean & Son books, I think she was referring to non-Blyton titles.

Georgina Hargreaves' artwork is always a treat and it was interesting to see the different colours she experimented with originally for the Wishing-Chair books. My deluxe copy of The Wishing-Chair Again is a later printing and the cover depicts Peter, Mollie and Chinky heading for the shed. I'm not sure why that change was made because, although the later cover is attractive and atmospheric and has a certain charm, the earlier one captures the essence of the story better in my opinion.

Reading Julie's article, I love the way Loony takes pride in being based on Enid 's dog Laddie and therefore calls himself "the most important dog of all"!

I learn something every time from David Chambers' articles, and this one was no exception. Of particular interest was the information about the picture strips (Snip, Snap and Snorum; the one about toys and the one about Tony and Gilly and their disappearing dog Bonzo). It's amusing that Hilda McGavin kept Bonzo in the illustrations, albeit discreetly on occasions, for quite some time after Enid Blyton seemed to have forgotten all about him!

'Roy 's Punishment' is very slight, more like an outline of a story than an actual story, but it's good to see the drawing by Phyllis Chase.

Enid Blyton's comments on cinema films make for fascinating reading. She was obviously aware of her potential to mould and influence children through her books (and, she clearly hoped, films of her books!) Like Tony, who commented on the piece in his editorial, I wonder what she would think of Harry Potter and various other books and films that are written/made for children today!

The poem 'The Little Thug' is notable for addressing the same concerns as The Six Bad Boys. It offers no solutions and appears to me to be unduly harsh on a mother who is coping with a full-time job, a drunken husband/partner (or ex-husband/partner- it's not clear), overcrowded living conditions and a 12-year-old son (one of three or four siblings) who has already become embroiled in violence and crime. At least the boy's mother is there at the court with her son, unlike his father who hasn't turned up.

I also liked Angela Canning's exploration of the critisisms of Enid's writing...though I didnt quite agree with what she seemed to be saying about the song 'Ten Little Nigger Boys' - suggesting that as the black minstrels sang it and enjoyed it then it wasnt racist as such...I had always presumed that Minstrel shows consisted of blacked-up white people...so presumably the song 'ten Little Nigger Boys' wasnt very often actually sung by true black people.

On teh other hand, as I have said previously, a while ago, I think Enid was being anything BUT racist in her story about Little Black sambo. What she was actually saying, in my opinion, was that we should accept all people, regardless of colour, and judge them only by their personality...something that the critics of that story obviously didnt agree with.
D

In fact, I expound on these issues in my book, The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage.
Stephen I.

Honestly, Stephen, your response strikes me as rude. You quote what Robert Houghton said about Angela Canning's article yet you say nothing yourself about either the article, Robert's remarks or the Journal in general. Instead, you simply blow your own trumpet for the umpteenth time.

[Fiona1986]

If I were you, Anita, I'd be deleting such comments by Stephen as they are essentially spam. If he were to add to the discussion and also mention his book, obviously that would be fine.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I was thinking that this morning, Fiona - that Stephen's post amounts to spam. Which is strange, because most of the spam I delete is from newcomers who have registered just to promote a particular product. Stephen, you need to have more consideration for your fellow forumites and post only if you've got something to add to a topic - not just drive by to plug your book yet again. Otherwise you may well find some of your posts being deleted.

[Lucky Star]

Aww the forums wouldn't be The Forums without a daily reminder of the existance of the infamous anecdotage.

I doubt Stephen meant to be rude as such; he just can't resist his promotional activities.

[Poppy]

Just received journal 48. It looks like another interesting read.

[Rob Houghton]

...being quite a fan of Georgina Hargreaves, I'm sorry I missed seeing her in action. It also cleared up a mystery I have often wondered about, as it appears she drew illustrations for Dean editions before moving on to the Wishing Chair deluxe editions...which explains some of the similarities in some of the illustrations, which I always thought had been done by Rene Cloke, as her style is very similar.

When Georgina Hargreaves talked about having illustrated other Dean & Son books, I think she was referring to non-Blyton titles.

I have always been puzzled by this, and mentioned it to Tony once, who couldnt see any similarity between the illustrations, but if we take the book 'Adventures Of The Wishing Chair' (Dean edition) there are lots of pictures almost exactly the same as the De Luxe edition. On page 29 of the Dean edition is a picture of the Ho Ho Wizard...compare it with the Hargreaves illustration on page 21 of the coloured De Luxe edition. Surely these are far too similar to have been drawn by two different illustrators?

[Enikyoga]

I was thinking that this morning, Fiona - that Stephen's post amounts to spam. Which is strange, because most of the spam I delete is from newcomers who have registered just to promote a particular product. Stephen, you need to have more consideration for your fellow forumites and post only if you've got something to add to a topic - not just drive by to plug your book yet again. Otherwise you may well find some of your posts being deleted.

Anita, my heartfelt apologies on this issue. Next time, I will try to add to the discussion about such a topic and I may leave my book out of the discussion.
Stephen I.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Thanks, Stephen.

...if we take the book 'Adventures Of The Wishing Chair' (Dean edition) there are lots of pictures almost exactly the same as the De Luxe edition. On page 29 of the Dean edition is a picture of the Ho Ho Wizard...compare it with the Hargreaves illustration on page 21 of the coloured De Luxe edition. Surely these are far too similar to have been drawn by two different illustrators?

I've just had a look at those two pictures and I see what you mean, Robert. They are indeed remarkably similar, as are the pictures of the Windy Wizard (p. 117 Dean & Son and p. 73 deluxe) and some of the other illustrations as you say (p. 33 Dean & Son and p. 23 deluxe; p. 39 Dean & Son and p. 25 deluxe; p. 41 Dean & Son and p. 26 deluxe; p. 45 Dean & Son and p. 29 deluxe; p. 71 Dean & Son and p. 46 deluxe; p. 159 Dean & Son and p. 100-101 deluxe). Other pictures also bear a resemblance to one another, though often it seems to me to be a matter of arrangement rather than style. One explanation might be that Dean (who also published the deluxe editions) asked Georgina Hargreaves to retain a flavour of the earlier (Rene Cloke?) illustrations while updating the children, the toys in their playroom, etc. to the 1980s. So it's possible that whenever she particularly liked the earlier interpretation of some characters, such as the Ho-ho Wizard, Georgina incorporated them into her own work. Or are you right, and the earlier illustrator was Georgina Hargreaves after all? Personally, I don't think so. What makes me doubtful is little details such as the distinctive sharp noses and unruly mops of hair of many characters in the earlier pictures, which don't appear to be a feature of Georgina's drawings. And Georgina's style seems softer altogether.

An interesting topic, Robert!

[Tony Summerfield]

I have always been puzzled by this, and mentioned it to Tony once, who couldnt see any similarity between the illustrations, but if we take the book 'Adventures Of The Wishing Chair' (Dean edition) there are lots of pictures almost exactly the same as the De Luxe edition. On page 29 of the Dean edition is a picture of the Ho Ho Wizard...compare it with the Hargreaves illustration on page 21 of the coloured De Luxe edition. Surely these are far too similar to have been drawn by two different illustrators?

I am sure that Anita is right here, Rob. Georgina has listed the Blyton work that she did on more than one occasion and the only mention that Dean got was for the de luxe editions. She also illustrated four little books for World Distributors (not yet in the Cave!) and two books from the Award series, but the other work that she did for Dean would have been non-Blyton.