The Enid Blyton Society
Brer Rabbit (Little Book No. 1)
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Book Details...

First edition: 1942
Publisher: Evans Brothers
Illustrator: Alfred Kerr
Category: Evans Little Books
Genre: Fantasy
Type: Short Story Series Books

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List of Contents
Review by Terry Gustafson

  1. Oh, Brer Rabbit!
    Story: Teachers World No.1705 Jan 29, 1936
  2. Brer Rabbit and Mr. Lion
    Story: Teachers World No.1875 May 3, 1939
  3. Brer Rabbit and Mister Ram
    Story: Teachers World No.1880 Jun 7, 1939
  4. Brer Rabbit is a Brave Fellow
    Story: Teachers World Nos.1847 ... 1848 Oct 19 ... 26, 1938
  5. Brer Wolf's Mistake
    Story: Teachers World No.1865 Feb 22, 1939
  6. The Tale of the Silkworms
    Story: Teachers World No.1679 Jul 31, 1935
This booklet is only 13cm high with about thirty or so pages and it's one of several publications in which Enid Blyton retells the Brer Rabbit tales that seem to have originated in Africa. Brought over to the USA they were eventually seized upon over a hundred years ago by one — Joel Chandler Harris. Ensconced in the Deep South, he spread his own versions of them around for everyone to enjoy and the readers of these little tales eventually included Enid Blyton. I think most people will probably have heard of Brer Rabbit who could be described as intelligent, cheeky, lovable, scheming, wicked, a very fast runner, lover of carrots and, at times, extremely lucky.

The stories are generally short and to the point. A typical plot would contain a threat to Brer Rabbit being averted by his cunning ways. Fortunately for him his enemies, although possessing mass and muscle, tend to be right down the scale as far as intelligence is concerned. In this booklet Brer Rabbit has a wife and at least a couple of children and he encounters such rogues as Brer Fox, Brer Wolf, and Brer Bear. There's even a Brer Hippo!

As with most Brer Rabbit tales there's plenty of action which is logical because each story being only three or four pages in length requires a plot that develops rapidly.

Alfred Kerr is the illustrator and he supplies plenty of full-page black & white pictures.
Several characters are prefaced with other social titles rather than Brer in Enid Blyton's Brer Rabbit books — Br'er itself would be short for Brother which is how the animals tend to address each other. There's Mister Lion, Mister Man, Miss Goose, Mister Ram, and even a Cousin Wildcat — which presents a fairly rough use of the word — Cousin.
Strangely, there's a three-page story at the end which has nothing whatsoever to do with Brer Rabbit! It's about Miss Brown's class and how their collection of silkworms foils a burglary. It could perhaps be looked upon as a bonus, and it has no connection with Miss Brown's little school-house in Enid Blyton's Book of the Year.

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