The Enid Blyton Society
The Enid Blyton Nature Readers (No. 23)
Back Book 23 of 36 in this category Next

Book Details...

First edition: 1946
Publisher: Macmillan
Illustrator: Eileen A. Soper
Category: The Enid Blyton Nature Readers
Genre: Nature
Type: Readers

On This Page...

List of Contents
Artwork
Review by Terry Gustafson

  1. The Water-Babies
    Story: Specially Written
  2. The Rabbit's Party
    Story: Specially Written
Nature plates, illustrated by Eileen A. Soper



The Water-Babies

This is nothing to do with the Charles Kingsley version.

It begins with a cow taking steps to prevent a gnat from biting her. The gnat needs blood so that she can lay her eggs however the cow wisely steps into a nearby stream and stands there with water up to her waist.

The gnat then flies to a horse but she's out of luck again because the prospective victim, having been bitten only recently, tosses his mane and swings his tail about almost putting the gnat out of action. This is no place to be, so the insect with an agenda flies to where a girl is lying in the garden reading. Her little plump legs have no stockings on them which means the gnat is in luck. She dives in, and after pricking the girl's leg a tiny drop of blood is sucked up and a cry of pain heard. The gnat barely avoids being flattened with a sharp slap.

"Oh dear," cries the little girl. "Now I shall be awake all night. Bother the gnats, why must they bite us?"

We know why.

The annoying insect makes herself scarce and flies to a pond where she lands on the surface. A water-spider swims up to enquire as to why she's standing there and is suitably informed about the important event about to take place - namely the egg-laying process.

"How many will you lay?"

"Oh, hundreds and hundreds," says the gnat.

The spider watches with interest as the eggs are laid neatly together in rows resembling a raft, and then fastened to a twig. The gnat's biggest task has been completed and now if she dies there will be hundreds like herself left to 'carry on the tradition,' as it were.

A few days later the inquisitive water-spider drops by and watches as tiny lids open underneath the raft of eggs. Legless gnat babies with large bristled heads are ejected but like mosquito larvae they need air, so every now and again the grubs swim to the surface and stick their tails out. The spider often talks to them but when he refers to their mother as a winged insect who lives high in the air they simply don't believe him.

There's no necessity for them to eat, in fact they can't - the grubs just keep on growing and thinking how silly the water-spider is saying that one day they'll fly through the air. Eventually of course the spider's wisdom prevails and after rising to the surface where the hot sun can crack their skins, the winged insects emerge and fly delightedly away. The final sentence is worth reading -

"Eggs, grubs, gnats, eggs, grubs, gnats. So the story of life goes on - over and over again, and there's never any end to it."


The Rabbit's Party

Bobtail's birthday is nearing and he would like to hold a party for the occasion, so Big-Eyes says he'll help to write some invitations. The guests are a wide-ranging lot - Big-Eyes the hare of course, Hoppy the frog, Flitter the bat, Dozy the dormouse, Scaly the snake ... and should they invite Prickles? They decide 'Yes,' but he'll be told to keep a respectable distance from the other guests, for obvious reasons.

The potential participants are excited about Bobtail's upcoming party which is to be held outside but sadly, when the allotted date arrives, there's frost and a cold wind about so Bobtail's burrow is decided upon as the venue. The fare is so varied that we all might wish to have been invited because there are beetle cakes, seed-buns, carrot cake, flies, and of course bread and butter. At three o'clock everything that has to be done has been taken care of and now Bobtail with his pal Big-Eyes await their guests.

They wait.

No one arrives! Has there been some great calamity? No one could have had any problem locating the venue because a sign outside the burrow declares: "This Way To The Party." Bobtail and Big-Eyes peer out but not one guest do they see and a great sadness descends ... as it would. The guests couldn't have all forgotten surely.

They decide to investigate.

Running down to the pond they hunt for Hoppy but he's nowhere to be seen. Those who have read some of the Enid Blyton's nature books might be able to add two and two by taking the time of year into account. Crawly, Flitter and Dozy are also hunted down and Bobtail peeps into a hollow tree where Scaly and his friends are ensconced, oblivious to the world. A nearby robin suggests they could invite some other guests such as Slinky and Wily to the party ... or how about Red-Coat?

On a high note, the party has five guests to liven it up and all-in-all, it's a very successful get-together.


#1:

The cow's tail would no doubt prevent the gnat from landing on her back to obtain a meal.

Gnats are actually light enough to walk on water.

The gnat's egg must be an infinitesimally tiny object seeing hundreds of them can fit into the insect's body together with its heart and lungs and brain and apparatus that makes the "Eeeeeeeee" noise.

It's a wonder the spider didn't consume the gnat or her grubs. Actually seeing there were hundreds and hundreds he probably did partake of one or two meals on the side.

This simple account is, as always, made interesting when the Enid Blyton treatment is applied. Arachnophobes stay clear.

#2:

Slinky, Wily, and Red-Coat are a stoat, weasel and fox in that order.

This tale is of course very similar in plot to Wanted - A Royal Snow-Digger. (I'll Tell You Another Story)