Possible error in the Cave?

[Courtenay]

I was just browsing through Noddy entries in the Cave of Books and, out of interest, clicked on Harmsen Van der Beek's name to see how many Noddy books and other items he illustrated. I was surprised to find he was listed as the illustrator for a Purnell board book published in 1967: http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/book ... %27s+Noddy" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Beek died in 1953, so was this book made with illustrations cribbed from earlier ones he'd illustrated, or is his name here a mistake? Other illustrators took up the Noddy mantle (so to speak) soon after Beek's passing and all the other Noddy books I can see in the Cave from the mid-late 1950s and '60s either have another named illustrator or are uncredited, so I can't see there would have been a reason for the publishers to recycle old Beek illustrations for a new board book, but I could be wrong of course. Just wondering...

[pete9012S]

Some examples of the signed internal illustrations for those who do not own the book:

First edition: 1967
Publisher: Purnell
Illustrator: Harmsen Van der Beek
Category: Noddy Board Books
Genre: Fantasy
Type: Picture Story Books

[Courtenay]

Ah, thanks, Pete. I was hoping someone would have the book on hand (and didn't like to ask Tony, as I'm sure he has enough to do without trying to dig it out if he has it!). So that proves it then — they are recycled Beek illustrations. I know I recognise one or two of them from (I think) the Big Noddy Books, which I would guess is where they all come from. Thanks for clearing that up promptly!

[Rob Houghton]

Yes - I think they are all recycled illustrations from The Big Noddy Book (the first one that was ever produced, in 1951) -

[Courtenay]

The one with the moon in the pond and Mr Plod laughing at Noddy is definitely from the second Big Noddy Book, as that's the one my dad has (and he kindly let us read it when we were little).

[Rob Houghton]

Yes - quite correct! I was remembering it from my own childhood, and so thought it must have been in the first Big Book - because that was what we had - but I forgot we also had a paperback 'Big Noddy Book' from the 1960's, too, which probably consisted of stories from various Big Books -



This also had the Noddy and the moon story in it.

.

[Courtenay]

All right, this definitely is an error in the Cave — just a minor typo on the main page about Noddy: https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/noddy.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you scroll down a little to the list of original Noddy books, the heading says "There are 24 original Noddy books by Enid Blyton written between 1942 and 1963..." The 1942 should be 1949, as we can see from the publication date of Noddy Goes to Toyland.

(I was wondering if maybe Enid started writing the first Noddy stories in 1942 and they weren't published in book form until later, but Tony's footnote at the end of the entry for Noddy Goes to Toyland confirms that it and the second book — in reverse order! — were first published as serials in the Sunday Graphic in 1949, so I assume that's definitely correct for the year Noddy was created.)

[Tony Summerfield]

If you scroll down a little to the list of original Noddy books, the heading says "There are 24 original Noddy books by Enid Blyton written between 1942 and 1963..." The 1942 should be 1949, as we can see from the publication date of Noddy Goes to Toyland.

I was surprised to read this, but when I saw where it was I realised what had happened. The one-liners at the start of a series were actually not written by me, but they were added by Keith when he was setting that page - and I can see that he has used the dates of the Famous Five books!

Incidentally that page is not in an area that I can get at, so I can't actually change it.

[pete9012S]

Let's hope the Daily Mail doesn't spot Keith's innocent error and print a full page article on this small inaccuracy Tony!!

[Daisy]

Let's hope the Daily Mail doesn't spot Keith's innocent error and print a full page article on this small inaccuracy Tony!!

Stranger things have happened!

[Rob Houghton]

Let's hope the Daily Mail doesn't spot Keith's innocent error and print a full page article on this small inaccuracy Tony!!

Doesn't The Daily Fail do this all the time? They don't often lets facts get in the way of a good story!