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Welcome to the website of the Enid Blyton Society. Formed in early 1995, the aim of the Society is to provide a focal point for collectors and enthusiasts of Enid Blyton through its magazine The Enid Blyton Society Journal, issued three times a year, its annual Enid Blyton Day, an event which attracts in excess of a hundred members, and its website. Most of the website is available to all, but Society Members have exclusive access to secret parts as well! Join the Society today and start receiving your copy of the Journal three times a year. Don't forget also that we have an Online Shop where you'll find back issues of the Journal as well as rare Enid Blyton biographies, guides and more.
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Posted by Sally on November 19, 2008
Tony - Jacky Hawthorne at Old Thatch, Bourne End, advises that she would be delighted to open the garden on Sunday 10 May for a private visit by Blyton enthusiasts, although minimum cost is £60 for a group visit, and we would need to get say 15 definite bookings to cover this. Would it be worth asking members booking for the EB day on 9 May if they wish to book for an Old Thatch visit on 10 May at £4 a head? I will book two if this can be arranged. We may be surprised at the response!
Barney says: That's very kind of Jacky Hawthorne, Sally. I am not sure how many people would still be around on the Sunday, as most probably have yet to decide about the EB Day, it is probably too early to ask about their plans for Sunday, but hopefully you will get some response to this message. I am not too sure if Tony would want to organise this the day after the EB Day though, it is asking rather a lot if he has to contact all those coming to see if they would like to visit Old Thatch on the Sunday. Perhaps someone else would be happy to organise the visit.
Barney says: That's very kind of Jacky Hawthorne, Sally. I am not sure how many people would still be around on the Sunday, as most probably have yet to decide about the EB Day, it is probably too early to ask about their plans for Sunday, but hopefully you will get some response to this message. I am not too sure if Tony would want to organise this the day after the EB Day though, it is asking rather a lot if he has to contact all those coming to see if they would like to visit Old Thatch on the Sunday. Perhaps someone else would be happy to organise the visit.Posted by Manuela on November 19, 2008
I am looking for a large, beautifully illustrated book of stories (in colour) I received as a child (1970s.) Some of the stories included, and excuse the vagueness, an umbrella with a goose head handle, shepherds purses and the underskirt of mushrooms, a naughty child not coming in for supper, a little girl not wanting to go to school. Any ideas? Thanks.Barney says: You may be thinking of "Enid Blyton's Gift Book of Bedtime Stories" (1978), a large book with coloured illustrations by Rene Cloke. The stories you've mentioned are called 'Dame Lucky's Umbrella,' 'The Forgetful Shepherds,' 'Dame Thimble's Work,' 'Johnny, Come at Once!' and 'She Didn't Want to Go to School.' There are 27 stories in total.
Barney says: You may be thinking of "Enid Blyton's Gift Book of Bedtime Stories" (1978), a large book with coloured illustrations by Rene Cloke. The stories you've mentioned are called 'Dame Lucky's Umbrella,' 'The Forgetful Shepherds,' 'Dame Thimble's Work,' 'Johnny, Come at Once!' and 'She Didn't Want to Go to School.' There are 27 stories in total.Posted by Margaret on November 18, 2008
Can anyone tell me which Enid Blyton story has children supposed to help Gardener clean plant pots where he hid a 6p I think under the last one to prove they cleaned them all (which they failed to do!)? Think they were also very bad and tipped rice pudding out of a window onto his head?Barney says: I've been chewing this one over, Margaret, and can't think of a story with exactly those details. However, I do wonder if you might be recalling - and slightly mixing up - two stories which appeared in "Tales at Bedtime" (Collins, 1961.) The first, 'Tom the Scout-Cub,' is about a Scout-Cub (named Tom, as you might have guessed!) who agrees to tidy old Mr. Langham's shed in return for payment. However, Tom is lazy and careless and doesn't do the job properly. That means he misses out on getting paid as Mr. Langham had left money and small gifts for him in flowerpots, sacks, etc, which Tom didn't find because he didn't turn everything out thoroughly. The other story is 'Junket Through the Window.' Not wanting to eat their junket, Douglas and Marian throw it out of their playroom window. It lands on Gardener, who was just below the window tying up roses, and needless to say he is not at all amused! I don't know whether anyone else has got any suggestions, just in case those aren't the stories you remember.
Barney says: I've been chewing this one over, Margaret, and can't think of a story with exactly those details. However, I do wonder if you might be recalling - and slightly mixing up - two stories which appeared in "Tales at Bedtime" (Collins, 1961.) The first, 'Tom the Scout-Cub,' is about a Scout-Cub (named Tom, as you might have guessed!) who agrees to tidy old Mr. Langham's shed in return for payment. However, Tom is lazy and careless and doesn't do the job properly. That means he misses out on getting paid as Mr. Langham had left money and small gifts for him in flowerpots, sacks, etc, which Tom didn't find because he didn't turn everything out thoroughly. The other story is 'Junket Through the Window.' Not wanting to eat their junket, Douglas and Marian throw it out of their playroom window. It lands on Gardener, who was just below the window tying up roses, and needless to say he is not at all amused! I don't know whether anyone else has got any suggestions, just in case those aren't the stories you remember.Posted by Margaret on November 18, 2008
Just want to say what a brill site! Thanks to your detailed list of books I have just managed to get a copy of News Chronicle Boys and Girls Story Book 6 - I lost mine 20 years ago and could only remember some of the stories in it - not the title - what memories it has brought back! My Gran gave it me in the 1950s!Barney says: It's always a pleasure to be reunited with a long-lost book. Almost as good as being reunited with a long-buried bone!
Barney says: It's always a pleasure to be reunited with a long-lost book. Almost as good as being reunited with a long-buried bone!Posted by Stephen on November 18, 2008
Wayne Pyer and Barney,
I am glad to learn that Sophie Smallwood will be bringing out her new Noddy book in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of his formation on November 22, 1969. That date has good and unpleasant memories. The pleasant news on that date is that tennis
superstar, Billie Jean King, was born on that day. The unpleasant aspect of that day is that President Kennedy was assassinated on that very day that Billie Jean King turned 20 in 1963. So Enid Blyton created Noddy in 1949 (14 years to the day JFK would be assassinated) on a day some would rejoice while others would weep.
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