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1. The Quiet Kite [p 7]
   Illustrations: Dorothy M. Wheeler
   Story: Sunny Stories No.242 Aug 29, 1941
2. What Skippy Drew [p 13]
   Illustrations: uncredited
   Poem: Specially Written
3. Firework Night [p 14]
   Illustrations: Eileen A. Soper
   Poem: Sunny Stories No.95 Nov 4, 1938
4. Too Late to be Sorry [p 15]
   Illustrations: Kathleen M. Gell
   Story: Safety Fun No.1 1947
5. Toy Riddle-me-ree [p 17]
   Illustrations: not illustrated
   Poem: Riddle - Specially Written
6. An Adventure for Santa Claus [p 18]
   Illustrations: Eileen A. Soper
   Story: Picture Strip - Specially Written
7. The Clever Gnome [p 20]
   Illustrations: not illustrated
   Poem: Sunny Stories No.93 Oct 21, 1938
8. The New Doll [p 20]
   Illustrations: not illustrated
   Poem: Sunny Stories No.100 Dec 9, 1938
9. The Little Sugar-Mouse [p 21]
   Illustrations: Eileen A. Soper
   Story: Sunny Stories No.256 Dec 5, 1941
10. Jack Frost the Painter [p 27]
    Illustrations: Kathleen M. Gell
    Poem: Sunny Stories No.55 Jan 28, 1938
11. "I Don't Want To!" [p 28]
    Illustrations: Hilda Boswell
    Story: Sunny Stories No.246 Sep 26, 1941
12. Let's Make a Pair of Horses [Make Yourself a Horse] [p 33]
    Illustrations: uncredited
    Story: Non-fiction - Sunday Graphic Jan 18, 1948
13. The Greedy Little Rabbit [p 34]
    Illustrations: Eileen A. Soper
    Story: Picture Strip - Specially Written
14. The Little White Hen [p 36]
    Illustrations: Dorothy M. Wheeler
    Story: Sunny Stories No.258 Dec 19, 1941
15. A Funny Little Tree [Let's Grow These] [p 42]
    Illustrations: Kathleen M. Gell
    Story: Non-fiction - Sunday Graphic Feb 29, 1948
16. The Mischievous Tunnel [p 43]
    Illustrations: Kathleen M. Gell
    Story: Sunny Stories No.265 Feb 6, 1942
17. Toy Riddle-me-ree [p 46]
    Illustrations: not illustrated
    Poem: Riddle - Specially Written
18. Christmas Song [p 47]
    Illustrations: uncredited
    Poem: Sunny Stories No.101 Dec 16, 1938
19. Betsy-May and the Bear [p 48]
    Illustrations: Eileen A. Soper
    Story: Sunny Stories No.268 Feb 27, 1942
20. Pixie Hats [p 55]
    Illustrations: Hilda Boswell
    Poem: Sunny Stories No.91 Oct 7, 1938
21. Wouldn't It Be Marvellous? [p 56]
    Illustrations: Kathleen M. Gell
    Poem: Sunny Stories No.99 Dec 2, 1938
22. What a Shock for William! [p 57]
    Illustrations: Kathleen M. Gell
    Story: Specially Written
23. The Tired Fairy [p 61]
    Illustrations: Dorothy M. Wheeler
    Poem: Sunny Stories No.92 Oct 14, 1938
24. Toy Riddle-me-ree [p 61]
    Illustrations: not illustrated
    Poem: Riddle - Specially Written
25. Tommy's White Duck [p 63]
    Illustrations: Eileen A. Soper
    Story: Sunny Stories No.107 Jan 27, 1939
26. Toy Riddle-me-ree [p 68]
    Illustrations: not illustrated
    Poem: Riddle - Specially Written
27. The Squeaky Doll [p 69]
    Illustrations: Kathleen M. Gell
    Story: Sunny Stories No.262 Jan 16, 1942
28. The Boy Who Wouldn't Race [p 74]
    Illustrations: Hilda Boswell
    Story: Sunny Stories No.282 Aug 14, 1942
29. The Tiresome Twins [p 80]
    Illustrations: Eileen A. Soper
    Story: Sunny Stories No.252 Nov 7, 1941
30. The Tooth Under the Pillow [p 84]
    Illustrations: Dorothy M. Wheeler
    Story: Sunny Stories No.285 Sep 25, 1942
31. The Disobedient Boy [p 90]
    Illustrations: Kathleen M. Gell
    Story: Sunny Stories No.277 Jun 5, 1942
32. The Tale of Twisty and Ho-Ho [p 95]
    Illustrations: Hilda Boswell
    Story: Sunny Stories No.45 Nov 19, 1937
33. Can You do this Riddle? [p 100]
    Illustrations: not illustrated
    Poem: Riddle - Specially Written
34. Goofy's Shining Shilling [Goofy's Shiny Shilling] [p 101]
    Illustrations: Kathleen M. Gell
    Story: Sunny Stories No.280 Jul 17, 1942
35. Red Indians [p 106]
    Illustrations: Eileen A. Soper
    Poem: Sunny Stories No.98 Nov 25, 1938
36. A Very Queer Thing [p 107]
    Illustrations: Dorothy M. Wheeler
    Story: Sunny Stories No.271 Mar 20, 1942
37. The Good Gardener [p 112]
    Illustrations: Dorothy M. Wheeler
    Poem: Sunny Stories No.89 Sep 23, 1938
38. A Quarrel in the Morning [p 113]
    Illustrations: Eileen A. Soper
    Story: Sunny Stories No.282 Aug 14, 1942
39. Billy-Bob Has a Horse [p 119]
    Illustrations: Dorothy M. Wheeler
    Story: Sunny Stories No.261 Jan 9, 1942
40. The Silly Little Dog [p 124]
    Illustrations: uncredited
    Story: Sunny Stories No.279 Jul 3, 1942

[ ] indicates the original title
The 'Gifford Flower Books' contain short tales from various sources although, as usual, 'Sunny Stories' is well represented. The illustrations are by popular artists whom the avid Blyton fans will recognise, and in this volume they are Kathleen Gell, Dorothy Wheeler, Hilda Boswell, and last but by no means least - Eileen Soper.

The volumes are large format and contain plenty of pictures printed in one tone only, but the colours vary and they're effective. There are one or two strip picture stories in this volume, plus verses, Riddle-Me-Rees and even a couple of 'How To Make' sections. The Gifford books are ideal for relating to children at bedtime and would be helpful to those who are learning to read all by themselves.

The colourful covers easily rival the 'Holiday Book' series.

The Quiet Kite

Is a kite a toy?

When a kite arrives one day, the nursery residents are puzzled. It's certainly not a doll, and the teddy decides the kite is no relation to his side of the family, as does the train. The rocking-horse describes it as 'silly' because this toy can't run as the others can seeing it has no legs. It can't roll like the ball, and the pink dog comments that it has a wag-less tail. He's very proud of his own because it waves to and fro if someone winds him up.

The kite is able to talk and he says that he doesn't like to move his tail in case it gets tangled. The red-haired doll asks him to come out of the cupboard and play but as he has no legs the kite prefers to stay there. The others laugh at him and acting very unkindly, they unwind his string so that it gets all muddled. The kite is unable to untangle it himself because he has no arms but fortunately a little ostrich from Noah's Ark comes over to do it for him.

A friendship is formed and the kite asks in passing where the second ostrich is because, as we know, the Ark animals are usually in pairs. He's told the ostrich's mate was broken when it got trodden on and because he's now the only bird of his kind he feels quite lonely. The kite tells him he can visit anytime he likes and a friendship is struck despite the teddy-bear asking what the ostrich sees in the "silly kite."

Now one day a great wind starts up. It blows the clouds to rags and whirls the leaves around, which means the nursery has a visitor. It's John of course rushing in to take advantage of the weather.

"Where's my kite. Where's my kite. Kite, kite, where are you?"

He pulls the kite out and shakes its tail whilst Winnie comes in to collect the toys so she can place them in the garden to watch the kite soaring skywards. The toys can't understand. Why all the fuss? What's a windy day to do with this addition to the nursery? They soon learn however when they're all settled down outside. John unwinds the string and launches his kite into the sky where it rises higher and higher - quivering and shaking as if it were alive.

The toys watch in amazement hardly believing their eyes. John tells Winnie that his kite resembles a horse trying to gallop away and the toys just sit watching the spectacle, thinking how terribly they'd teased and laughed at the kite. The train sums it up by saying to the toys,

"He's much, much cleverer than we are."

After a while John hauls it down and races indoors with Winnie to get some biscuits from their mother. The kite is left fluttering around on the grass outside and then a marvellous thing happens. A few moments earlier the teddy-bear had remarked that ostriches don't fly, they only run.

Oh Yeah?

Too Late To Be Sorry

Peter and Jane want to take their new ball to school this afternoon but Mother doesn't want them doing that because if they start playing around with it, the ball might bounce away and cause an accident. Mothers are like that - they tend to pour cold water on everything - even such a triviality as children taking a ball to their place of learning and desiring to play with it on the way. Peter is ever obliging to his mother however so, full of good intentions, he tells her the ball will stay in his pocket all the way to school.

Mother trusts him and the children leave for school ... and we know exactly what's going to happen. Sure enough, Peter and Jane's ball sees the light of day, but don't worry because the children will only bounce it to one another as they walk along. No harm there, surely.

Enter Scamper.

Scamper's the family dog and he's obviously managed to squeeze out from somewhere. He runs to the children and, seeing their plaything, he jumps up at Peter. His master bounces the ball and catches it, then throws it down again and this time Scamper leaps up and knocks it into the road with his nose. He then races after the ball as dogs are inclined to do but unfortunately, he collides with a girl on her bicycle who screams and swerves - hitting an ice-cream cart. Down she goes! Unfortunately this isn't all that happens judging by the picture, and a scrutiny of events has to take place so that blame can be directed towards the right source.

We can only guess as to what recriminations will take place when the culprit (or culprits) is located.

The Little Sugar Mouse

Eileen must have marvellous self-restraint. Anyone else would be unable to resist consuming a sugar mouse if they were lucky enough to possess one, but not this girl. Eileen likes it so much that she's decided never to eat it because her sugar mouse is the nicest one she's ever seen.

This statement goes to the sugar mouse's head and he adopts a vain and haughty attitude when mingling with the other toys which means he won't let the big doll or golliwog or teddy-bear cuddle and stroke him because he feels too grand and important for that kind of frivolity. He fends off any of their attentions and after a while the toys grow tired of the mouse's high and mighty ways. They end up not speaking to him, which is annoying because the mouse wants to keep telling them how grand and wonderful he is.

Mr. Sugar-Mouse starts playing up.

He manages to push Teddy off the window-seat by prodding him with his sharp little nose and then, when the big doll is having a nap, he undoes her shoe-laces and all the buttons on her frock. The worst trick of all is played on Golly - the mouse grabs a handful of flour from the tin and throws it all over him, making the other toys stare in horror. The gollywog now looks as if he's suddenly grown old with his hair all white. It takes only a moment to discover the perpetrator of this prank but the sugar-mouse is too quick and he's off to hide in the brick-box, right away from his pursuer's fury.

The toys then make up their minds not to allow the sugar-mouse to accompany them on walks around the nursery or even outside on the odd occasion. However, the mouse decides he WILL go along with the other toys on their very next excursion and the time comes when a stroll round the garden is arranged despite the weather being a little inclement. The big doll has an umbrella so she wants to test it out, while Teddy and Golly both have mackintoshes plus sou'westers of their own that haven't been worn in the rain to date. When they set off the mouse makes his intentions known ... he's coming too despite the big dolls admonition that sugar-mice never go out when it's wet. This makes no impression however and he follows them into the garden and commences playing his usual tricks such as pinching the doll and splashing Teddy from head to foot by treading in a puddle right next to him.

It's now raining very hard.

I Don't Want To

There exists a spoilt child called Fanny. She's eight and because of past illnesses her mother has let the girl have her own way just a little too much - and that's where the story title comes in. Whenever she's asked to do something such as posting a letter, Fanny pouts and says,

"I don't want to!"

The habit grows and soon she's saying, "I don't want to!" a hundred times daily - according to our storyteller. Maybe not quite as often, but one can get the picture. Because of this annoying habit, everyone looks on Fanny as a really unpleasant child and her Granny has suggested she cease her annoying habit. However, Fanny has the perfect answer to that:

"I don't want to!"

Something has to happen and it does, because one day Fanny takes a wrong turning when crossing the field and ends up outside a queer little house. She spies an elderly woman getting water from a well and upon noticing her, the lady asks if Fanny could possibly assist her only to hear the time worn response,

"I don't want to!"

The same reply is received when Fanny's asked if she could possibly carry the bucket of water into the lady's house and this causes the woman to remark that she may soon want to change her unpleasant habit. She shuts the door leaving a slightly apprehensive Fanny outside because she'd happened to notice the woman has green eyes. She could be one of the fairy folk. Running off she meets Jane who asks if she'd like to visit after tea and take a look at her new doll.

It can now be disclosed that Fanny doesn't say "I don't want to!" every single time she's approached because in this case she would very much like to see Jane's doll because everyone at school has heard about how it can stand up by itself and say, "Mamma!" Unfortunately when Fanny voices her acceptance of Jane's invitation, all that can be heard is,

"I don't want to!"

Jane is offended and she stalks off saying that Mary will be asked to her house instead. Something untoward has definitely taken place because when Fanny arrives home, Mother asks if she'd like to go and buy her supply of sweets seeing she didn't get this week's Saturday sixpence. Once again Fanny comes out with the usual answer causing her surprised mother to decide that John, the boy next door, can have her coin instead, seeing she doesn't seem to want it. A calamity appears to have descended on Fanny's head and a miserable period may be destined.

But for how long?

The Little White Hen

One day a hen wanders into Snip and Snap's garden. The two brownies decide to enquire around, and if the owner can't be found, they'll keep it for themselves. No one's run to earth so Snip and Snap are now chook owners. They'll construct a hen-house and Snip suggests they call their newly acquired pet, Snowball, but Snap says the name 'Snowball' is better suited to a cat, therefore 'White-Feathers' is decided upon.

The brownies feed it some corn and then, when White-Feathers settles down on a bundle of straw, Snip's delighted.

"She's going to lay us an egg," he says.

Sure enough the hen produces a lovely brown egg and Snap tells his pal that if she lays an egg every single day they can keep four, and sell the others at threepence each, which means they'll have an extra ninepence per week to spend for themselves. What shall they buy with their pending funds? Snip suggests they purchase a pig; he's always wanted one because they're so fat and comfortable-looking. Snap suggests that when the pig is fully grown they'll be able to sell it for a lot of money ... in fact they might be able to get a whole pound for it. This tale is going off on a tangent because now they are wondering what to call their proposed pig. Snip suggests they call him 'Roundy,' and then Snap suggests that with the money received for selling it they could buy a cow and name her 'Mooey.'

Is there anyone around who sees fit to admire the brownies' creativity when it comes to naming pets?

The plans have now advanced to a stage where they'll sell the cow's milk and eventually possess bags and bags of money to use for buying suits of silver and gold. They'll also be able to build themselves a house with one hundred windows and sixty chimneys and purchase a horse and carriage with which to impress the townspeople whenever they venture out for a ride, but Snap puts paid to that. Snip and Snap are obviously living in an era slightly outside the period in which Enid Blyton felt more comfortable because Snap reckons a horse and carriage is too old-fashioned. He wants to purchase a bright-red motor car with yellow wheels. Snip still wants a horse and carriage though because he likes to be different. The horse can be called Clippitty-Clop to match the sound of it's hooves as it trots along but Snap is adamant - he wants a car and that's that.

The friction is building now and Snip tells Snap that if he sees him in the street he'll gallop his horse straight at him, so Snap warns his goblin mate that he'll honk his horn loudly when driving past Snip, causing him to drop all of his shopping when he's run over. The quarrel progresses and Snip says he'll tell his horse to kick Snap to the moon. Snap, pretending he's a motor-car, rushes straight at Snip shouting - honk-honk HONK! Snip retaliates in like manner and when the two brownies collide, Snip who's holding the egg they've just collected, jumps up in a rage and throws it hard at Snap.

This action has very unfortunate consequences.

The Mischievous Tunnel

Like many young lads of the fifties, Jimmy has a clockwork train with rails, a signal, and a platform containing porters and passengers. He also has a tunnel for the train to run through but this particular piece of equipment must be alive because whenever Jimmy's train comes near, the tunnel adopts a crooked stance thus causing the vehicle to hit it. When that happens, Jimmy yells out,

"Accident! Accident!"

At first Jimmy and Jane, his sister, think it's quite funny but when the situation keeps occurring it becomes annoying. They can't understand why the accidents keeps happening and eventually Jane sets the rails up so there's a completely clear passage for their train to pass through the tunnel. Jimmy fills the carriages with passengers and he also places some cows in the cow-trucks. Seeing this the tunnel gets ready to have a field day, but the signal notices what's going on and speaks,

"You know that Jimmy and Jane are tired of what you're doing, so don't upset the train this time."

Unfortunately, the tunnel takes no notice of his plea and sets itself even more crookedly than ever whilst Jimmy is putting the engine and coal truck onto the rails. Jimmy then waves his flag and the train runs along until its protruding key hits the tunnel yet again and a tremendous accident is caused. One of the dolls breaks an arm and a cow loses its tail. This is the last straw and Jane removes the tunnel from its position although Jimmy wonders what else they can do with it because, after all, tunnels are fairly specialised items.

Jane has the answer.

Betsy-May and the Bear

Betsy-May looked about seven years of age when her book appeared in 1940 although, now, despite her being over eighty, like all Blyton characters she hasn't seemed to age. Her name doesn't pop up all that much but older readers will certainly know who she is - especially those who followed Enid Blyton during her earlier days.

This particular interlude, which didn't appear in 'Tales Of Betsy-May,' concerns what happened when the little girl's pram developed a fault. Betsy-May takes her dolls and bear out every single day in it but on one occasion a wheel comes loose and falls off. The bicycle-repair man needs to be visited but being very busy these days and not being able to look at the pram for at least forty eight hours, he suggests the dolls and bear had better be sick and stay in; but Betsy-May tells him they've only just had colds so they can't have them again so soon.

She tries to console her toys and although the dolls still have smiles of their faces, the bear looks glum and Betsy-May feels sorry for him. Might she borrow Baby's pram but Nurse won't allow her to and instead suggests she put a cushion and a rug or two into her barrow and take the bear out in that. Betsy-May welcomes the idea and after she's made a nice little bed and propped an umbrella up at one end of the barrow to act as a hood, she sets off happily down the road. On her way she meets Mrs. Jordan who comments on Betsy-May's substitute pram but when she looks under the umbrella for a peep, she sees nothing there.

To Betsy-May's chagrin, her bear ... the teddy that joins her in bed every night and who is her favourite toy, has disappeared! She lifts the umbrella to see for herself and sure enough he's vanished. Tears rain down her face as she looks up and down the road expecting to see her furry friend running along the footpath; but there's no sign of him at all.

Where oh where can her teddy-bear be?

What A Shock For William

One or two of Enid Blyton's characters are partial to throwing stones at creatures of the wild and William's such a person. He once broke a robin's leg with his expertise at missile throwing, and Jane who happened to be nearby lost her temper with him and said she'd tell his father - but William had just laughed. When she ran off William sent a stone after the girl and hit her on the knee owing to the fact that he's a very accurate shot.

The title of this story can relieve some of our feelings about this boy and raise the hope that justice will prevail.

One day when out walking William notices a small animal sitting on the wall he happens to be passing. What is it? He stares hard and then realises the creature is actually a monkey. Now, any normal kid might venture a 'Hello' and endeavour to get nearer to such a critter - the likes of which is rarely seen in an English countryside setting - but this kid happens to be William, the stone-thrower. He's not a normal kid. True to form he picks up a stone and sends it hurtling towards the monkey striking it on the back. There's little more to be said save that anyone reading further will be satisfied with the end of this tale.

"I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear that William hasn't thrown a single stone at any animal or bird since."

Tommy's White Duck

Some time ago Tommy was given a duckling. His father made a wire-netting run for it and Tommy fed the duckling regularly. He also gave it a bowl of water to swim in.

That was then ... but things have changed slightly. Tommy's pet has grown considerably and he now owns a big white duck that instead of saying "Peep, peep, peep," expresses itself by uttering "Quack, quack, quack!" The run has been enlarged but Tommy's duck can no longer swim in the bowl so the boy asks his dad if a pond could be designed. Unfortunately this request is just a little much for Tommy's patient parent.

"It's too big for us now, Tommy, we'll have to sell it," he says.

Tommy's eyes fill with tears.

"Sell my duck! Oh, I couldn't let that happen ... someone might eat it for their dinner!"

That's a very constructive concern but Daddy reckons the duck is simply too big and it's got such a noisy quack. Tommy clues him up on that aspect:

"If we made it a little pond the duck would be happy and wouldn't keep on quacking. After all it wants to swim."

Daddy's answer is not all that comforting because he suggests they take Tommy's pet back to the farm from whence it came and then the duck will able to swim in the big farm pond. Tommy says no more but he's very sad and later passes the news onto his pet who simply quacks and gives her master a friendly peck.

The very next day Tommy and his father take the duck to its new home and, upon seeing many other ducks AND the pond, it goes literally mad with joy. Plunging into the water it looks as happy as Larry, and Daddy turns to his son.

"There you are. See how pleased it is to be here at the farm?"

Tommy still thinks the duck will miss his company but Daddy tells him that's nonsense. In Enid Blyton stories parents aren't often proved to be wrong, but in this case Tommy's father is. Next day the duck looks round and not seeing Tommy anywhere it sets off up the lane to enter the yard of its former home. Daddy's at work and Tommy's mother has slipped next door to have a few words with Mrs. White, leaving the baby asleep in its pram outside. The duck gives a quack but there's no response, and then something unexpected happens.

There's a sound of thundering hooves in the nearby lane and next moment two farm horses gallop into Tommy's garden. It appears someone had left the field gate open (not Tommy) and now these great big animals are here, where in a matter of seconds they could hurtle into the pram where Tommy's little sister is sleeping.

A solution has to be found that will attend to the desperate situation, and, possibly, to the duck's future living arrangements.

The Squeaky Doll

In Betsy-May's dolls' house there lives a tiny rubber doll no bigger than your middle finger and it's a favourite because when squeezed in the middle the doll lets out an "Eee-eee," - just like that. However one day a dreadful thing happens. When Betsy-May is showing the doll to Tommy he accidentally steps on it and kills the squeak! This is very sad and the rubber doll is put to bed in the hopes her squeak will return. Unfortunately it doesn't, despite the other dolls pressing her tummy over and over.

Betsy-Ann loses interest in her favourite toy and this causes the now squeak-less doll to cry bitterly ... after all she couldn't help losing her noise-making ability. Everyone rallies round to comfort her and she's even given a lolly from the toy sweet-shop. After they've tucked her up for the evening the other dolls meet in the kitchen to talk things over and the china doll lights a candle because it's dark. Suddenly, a perfectly lovely squeak is heard,

"Eee-eee-eee! Eee-eee-eee!"

Immediately they all rush upstairs thinking the rubber doll's squeak has returned - but no. How queer! The doll's still in her bed fast asleep so from where does the squeak originate? Suddenly, the door-knocker sounds and then, for the cost of one candle, a curious ritual takes place.

For what purpose?

The Boy Who Wouldn't Race

The seaside is a fun place to be and Ronnie's there with his mother and other holidaying children. Uncle Dick visits them regularly and organises games and exercises although he's not really Ronnie's uncle ... everyone just calls him that. He sets the children up in rows and has them marching up and down on the sand, and there are also races which are very popular because the winners receive prizes. Sweets have been awarded and even a toy boat or a spade for digging in the sand so the children are eager contestants - all except Ronnie.

He's shy and doesn't want to take part in anything. His mother tells him he's being silly, after all it'd do him a lot of good to run about and mingle with the others; but Ronnie's afraid of coming last in the races even though he hasn't ever entered for any. Uncle Dick has tried getting him to take part but it's no good ... Ronnie just wants to stay by his mother although, sometimes, he wishes he wasn't so reluctant to involve himself when he sees the winners being awarded ice-creams and sailing boats.

One afternoon when everyone's on the beach a great wind springs up and what a gale it is. The sea's so rough that no swimmer is game to venture out very far. The children's hair is blown about like anything and two of them can be seen racing after a ball that's being blown along the sand. Uncle Dick happens to be reading a book at this particular moment in time and Ronnie, who's watching him from nearby thinks he has about the nicest face in the world ... all twinkly and kind. Suddenly, a breeze lifts the man's hat up into the air and sends it rolling away. Ronnie's mother sees it and calls to him,

"Ronnie, run after Uncle Dick's hat before it rolls into the sea. Quick!"

Impulsively, her boy jumps up and races after it, together with some of the other children who also happen to have spotted the runaway headgear ... and from this simple act of kindness there springs a fountain of self-realisation that leads to a slight attitudinal change for our Ronnie.

A change for the better?

The Tiresome Twins

When this title appeared there was an instant recall of the very first story in 'Tales After Supper.' The Eileen Soper picture of a small boy and his sister in this account could mean only one thing - 'quarrelsome children and their ultimate fate.' We just know what's going to happen.

Sure enough, Timothy and Tilda are twins who're quite capable of getting on each other's nerves, and one day when they have an hour to themselves after tea, Mother says they can do whatever they like - play in the garden, stroll to the shops, visit the park or even run along to see Aunt Susan.

Timothy and Tilda look at each other in glee and begin thinking of what activity to choose. Timothy would like to visit the park and sail his ship but Tilda's against it. She's not interested and would rather they went to feed Aunt Susan's chickens, but Timothy's not in the mood for that. Tilda falls into a sulk, drawing her brother's animosity.

"There you go, scolding me again. You're just horrid," says Tilda. "All right, seeing you don't want to feed the chickens, why don't we go for a swing in the garden?"

Timothy informs her the swing's broken and she immediately accuses him of damaging it but Timothy tells her the swing wasn't working when he last went to use it. Tilda's answer is short and to the point,

"Story-teller!"

We're about to get physical now because Timothy threatens to smack his sister if she calls him by that name again. Tilda reminds him of an ancient tradition ... boys aren't supposed to hit girls, but Timothy offers her the benefit of his wisdom by mentioning that girls like her deserve to be smacked. Tilda retaliates by calling his bluff -

"Story-teller!"

Timothy rushes at her and Tilda holds up a cushion to protect herself while he endeavours to tear it away from her. The scuffling increases and Timothy manages to deliver a slap to his furious sibling who immediately whacks his head with the cushion. He grabs hold of it and thumps Tilda whereby it splits and releases a shower of feathers. An argument then springs up as to who caused the accident.

If a jury were deliberating on this it would need to embrace the fact that Timothy hit his sister with the cushion, but for the defence it must be pointed out that Tilda had grabbed it and hit him first. Anyway, Timothy clouts his sister again causing more feathers to spill from it and then in the middle of all this the door opens.

The jury has reached its verdict and now justice is about to be served.

The Tooth Under The Pillow

Anne looks about the age when a child starts losing his or her milk teeth and sure enough the time has arrived. One came out this morning and her mother had said something rather surprising,

"We'll put it under your pillow tonight."

Mother explains to her daughter that fairies like to have the first teeth of children and one might come this evening to take the tooth and leave a silver sixpence in exchange. Anne's curious about this and determines to stay awake in order to see if a fairy actually calls.

Bedtime arrives and after Anne's tooth is placed under the pillow she waits and waits, growing quite tired after a while so she thinks up a scheme whereby if a fairy enters to claim the tooth, she'll be aroused. Getting out of bed she fetches a piece of thread from Mother's work-box and ties it to her finger. After fastening the other end to her tooth she replaces it under the pillow and drifts off to sleep ... perchance to dream.

Later whilst slumbering, Anne feels a tug on the thread causing her to wake. Bright moonlight is streaming through the window and she spies a small creature that is indeed a fairy with pointed ears sticking up through shiny hair and a pair of silver wings sprouting from her back. Impulsively, the girl lifts it onto the bed for a closer look and asks if she's come for the tooth. The creature nods and asks why it was tied to her finger and after explaining, Anne asks what fairies do with children's teeth. She's told that molars are composed of ivory and Mister Snoodle (a carver no doubt) fashions them into toys for fairy offspring.

"Oh, how lovely. I would so like to see one," Anne remarks.

Unfortunately she learns that only fairy children are allowed to possess them but Anne, who likes to get her own way if she can, says,

"It's my tooth. I don't think I'll let you go until you promise to bring me back the toy it's made into."

The fairy begs for her freedom because she has to be home by dawn and the other fairies will be worried if she doesn't get back in time. Anne insists,

"Promise! Promise! You needn't leave me the sixpence ... I'd rather have my tooth back and see what it's been carved into."

The fairy tells her she can't promise because Mr. Snoodle badly needs teeth right now as he hasn't had any for a long time but Anne's determined to get her own way. She tells the fairy,

"I have two more loose teeth so you can have those for Mr. Snoodle when they fall out."

Can't be fairer than that!

The fairy, thinking this might be a reasonable solution, says -

"I'll see what I can do about that."

She takes up Anne's tooth, spreads her wings, and flutters away into the moonlight. Next morning Anne is one excited little girl but Mother just laughs at her account of the night visit. She's inclined to think her daughter dreamt it all. There's a smattering of evidence however because no sixpence is found under Anne's pillow and this causes her to look every morning to see if a little ivory toy has been placed there. Unfortunately, she's discovered nothing to date so when another of her teeth wiggles off in a few days, she adopts the same 'thread on tooth and finger' procedure as last time. Is there a chance things will now turn out differently?

That is the question.

The Disobedient Boy

One day when the May sun is shining down brightly, Miss Brown tells the children that Farmer Straw has sent her a note. Apparently the boys and girls aren't shutting the gates when visiting his farm and the cows are wandering out. Because of this Miss Brown informs them all that no child is to enter the fields at all until permission is resumed ... the idea being that if they aren't able to pick butter-cups for a while they may remember to shut the gates when visits are allowed once again.

The children are sad because they'll miss playing in the fields. Doris tells them she always remembers to shut the gates and Will tells them he can't remember to do that but it doesn't matter because he simply climbs over. John opens the gates because some have barbed wire at the top, but he always remembers to close them.

So ... who's responsible for their plight?

Kenneth reckons it's Peter because that boy never remembers anything. Peter tells him to shut up and Kenneth obliges - not so much through cowardice, but more for self preservation reasons ... Peter's a fairly big boy. Peter looks round at the others and tells them he'll go into the fields anytime he likes.

"So there!"

He's as good as his word because the very next morning on his way to school Peter visits the butter-cup field and walks through golden flowers that shower yellow pollen down onto his boots and stockings. Admittedly the lad had meant to shut the gate on his way out but suddenly he spots a nest in the opposite hedge. He runs across to have a look and of course everything else filters out of his mind. Hearing a bell in the distance, he races off down the lane to school leaving the farm gate wide open.

A cow ambles up and as the gate's wide open she thinks it must be milking time. Passing through, she wanders along to see what she can see, followed by the rest of the herd. Farmer Straw happens to meet them on his walk round the farm.

There's an old saying: 'His anger knew no bounds!'

Off to the school he stalks in order to locate the miscreant once and for all or, as he says, -

"My name isn't William Straw!"

It wouldn't take a detective with Fred Trotteville's powers to detect who the wrongdoer might be when Miss Brown's children line up in front of the farmer.

The Tale Of Twisty And Ho-Ho

Ho-Ho the goblin is on his way to buy some cows from the market for his master. He's cut himself a big stick to drive them home and figures they'll be able to take drink from the stream he happens to be passing at this very moment. The sound of whistling is heard and turning, he spots Twisty the gnome approaching. Twisty's swinging a stick as well and Ho-Ho asks him where he's going. Coincidentally, his friend's also headed for the market in order to purchase some sheep so they'll be able to catch the bus together. That's fine, but when Twisty mentions to Ho-Ho that his master has insisted the sheep be given a drink on their way back, a problem comes up. It's hard to gauge Ho-Ho's I.Q. from the pictures, but maybe we can judge it from his next statement,

"You can't stop here, Twisty," he says. "My cows will be getting their drink from this stream and they'll take so much there'll be none left for your sheep!"

Twisty responds by saying that Ho-Ho must take the cows elsewhere to drink because his (Twisty's) sheep will be imbibing from this particular tributary. Threats and counter threats follow. Ho-Ho says that if Twisty brings his sheep to the stream he'll drive them away and Twisty tells him that if he brings his cows here he'll push them all into the water.

Fight, fight!

Ho-Ho strikes Twisty with his stick and receives a blow in turn that knocks his hat into the water. Furiously, he retaliates by poking Twisty hard with his own stick and knocking him into the stream. The enraged gnome climbs out and lunges at Ho-Ho whereby the two end up in mortal combat on the grass - causing both of them to roll down into the water. Choking and spluttering, the combatants clamber out and hang their dripping coats on a tree to dry.

Rumble-Rumble-Rumble!

Their bus is on its way to the market. The drenched individuals spring up and race across the field to catch it, however they don't board the bus at all, although it's not because they 're soaking wet! The result is that no trip to the market takes place, which means no cows or sheep are purchased.

They now have to return home and face the wrath of their masters!

Goofy's Shiny Shilling

Goofy's life experiences an exciting turn when he works as an errand boy for a couple of days at the local bakery. He takes to the job like anything because he loves cakes and buns, but his boss complains. Goofy has a little leeway when it comes to sampling the products but he's not allowed to eat the unspoiled biscuits for his lunch ... only the broken ones, of which there are very few.

Goofy thinks hard, and then, very cleverly (for him) he manages to get round the broken biscuit shortage. Taking up a tin of the required product he drops it on the floor and there you are - plenty of broken biscuits for his lunch. The baker's surprised to see so many damaged crackers and when he learns how this originated he calls Goofy a "careless, clumsy fellow." However, in Goofy's befuddled mind he believes the baker can't accuse him of being 'clumsy' and 'careless because, as he informs his boss, he dropped them on purpose.

This earns him a good slap and Goofy wonders why he's being treated so. The baker tells him he can clear out tomorrow because he won't have him in the shop anymore, so Goofy asks for his wage and receives it the next day - one silver shilling; but the lad's not happy - he wants twelve pennies instead of the tiny silver thing he's been given. The baker informs him that a shilling is equivalent to twelve pennies but Goofy leaves the shop in a puzzled frame of mind. How can there be twelve pennies in the little coin he's been given?

He passes the sweet-shop and in its window he sees the love of his life ... boiled sweets. There's a picture of Goofy staring at them and wishing he could buy some but how can he take a penny from the coin he currently possesses? He runs home to investigate ways and means. Thinking hard about it he recalls that big ducklings come out of small eggs and tall bean-plants come from small beans, so it's reasonable to assume that twelve pennies can emerge from a small shilling.

He fetches an axe from the wood-shed with one thought in mind ... if he chops the shilling in half he'll be able to watch the pennies tumbling out; however what follows can be labelled only as 'wanton destruction!'

He's not called 'Goofy' for nothing.

A Very Queer Thing

Katie places Susie doll into her pram one day and sets off for a walk to the primrose wood where she parks beside a birch tree and trips away to search out a few primroses. While she's gone a crowd of chattering elves saunter by and seeing the pram, they stop in surprise.

"What is it?"

"A sort of bed on wheels perhaps! Look there's a fairy asleep inside."

"No, it's not a fairy. It isn't alive."

"Let's make it come alive!"

One of the elves touches Susie with her wand and, magically, Katie's doll experiences the breath of life. She smiles round at the elves and tells them her 'bed on wheels' is actually called a 'pram.' One of the elves asks if she could try it for a minute or two and Susie's happy to oblige. She scrambles out quite delighted to find she can actually walk; and after the elf has been tucked up for a snooze, the rest of them take Susie off for a stroll.

By and by, Katie returns with a lovely bunch of primroses and realises she'll have to hurry home or be late for dinner. Placing her flowers on the pram-cover she sets off in a hurry - not even looking to see if the doll is all right, but the pram's movement causes its occupant to open her eyes. Katie gets the surprise of her life when she sees what's in the pram.

"You're not a doll," she says. "Where is my Susie?"

Well, we know where she is (after a fashion) but Katie doesn't; so now what happens?

A Quarrel In The Morning

Can anyone envisage an Enid Blyton story beginning with a worm? Well this one does and when it opens we see such a creature hurrying to enter its hole because the sun's rising and, apart from the 'Early Bird' being around, it also detects the hoppitty-hop sound a frog makes. The noise of scurrying feet can be heard as well and that spells 'hedgehog' so there're definitely a few enemies around on this sunny morning. The worm suddenly feels a tug on its tail from the blackbird and a nip on its waist from the hedgehog and then a sticky tongue touches its head - the frog also has an interest.

Leaving the worm momentarily, the three visitors regard each other and begin arguing as to whose worm it is. Whose indeed? They've all made contact with it although the. Blackbird appears to have got in first. They start arguing - the hedgehog says he smelt the worm long before the others were aware of it but the blackbird tells him he spied it from a treetop. The frog saw the worm as well, so who gets the goods?

The blackbird pecks the hedgehog hard when it attempts to grab hold of the worm but if it came to an all-out fight, would a bird have any chance against such a prickly creature? The blackbird says that if anything's tried on him he'll simply fly off, and the frog who's a little reluctant to start fighting tells them to settle the problem once and for all by combat. However the hedgehog's suspicious about this suggestion - suppose while they're fighting, the frog eats their worm?

A mouse patters by and the hedgehog tells him of their problem ... as they can't decide who'll have the worm could he adjudicate? He agrees and decides it would be best for them to run a race for it. As most Enid Blyton followers would have read one or two similar stories we'll go no further.

Of course, each tale concludes a little differently but when we see what the worm does (picture), there's no mystery as to what will happen in this particular narrative.

Billy-Bob Has A Horse

'William Robert' is probably not all that familiar to the Blyton fans but shorten his name to Billy-Bob and he may be recalled. Billy-Bob actually his own dedicated book, although his sister Belinda, doesn't. (Betsy-May does).

One day Mother asks Billy-Bob and Belinda to fetch a loaf of brown bread from the village but her daughter doesn't want to go because she doesn't like brown bread, and her legs "feel tired." Billy-Bob tells her she has to go because Mother has told them to but Belinda is in a refusing mood and says that if Billy-Bob tries to make her accompany him she'll "cry and squeal!" Why Billy-Bob doesn't just leave her to face Mother's displeasure is anyone's guess but he looks to be a responsible chap and perhaps he wants to ensure there's no bad feelings caused.

Billy-Bob has an idea.

He opens the toy cupboard and pulls out a pair of leather reins with little bells on them. They belong to Belinda but Billy-Bob asks if he can borrow them so that he can ask Susie next door to be his 'horse.' He'll gallop her down to the village and at the same time she'll be company for him. Belinda informs her psychologist brother that she can gallop faster than Susie and after thinking about it, her mind is made up.

She wants to be the horse.

Billy-Bob puts the reins over her shoulders and Belinda stamps her foot on the floor ... she's raring to go. Her bother smiles a secret smile, and they're off with Billy-Bob putting his best foot forward in order to keep up with his 'horse' because Belinda acts her part vigorously and gallops very quickly along the road. Leaving his 'horse' outside the bakery, Billy-Bob purchases his loaf and then emerges to take up the reins once more. Away they go and everyone they pass turns to stare at the combination. Mr. Jones yells to Billy-Bob that he should put his 'horse' in for a race ... he's sure it'd come first.

There's little that could be called 'plot' in this tale and the ending is just as we would like it to be. The final words are left to Belinda -

"I made a mistake, I like brown bread, and I like being a horse, and I like you Billy-Bob!"

The Silly Little Dog

Why are so many dogs called 'Spot?' This one has a black circle on its back so at least it qualifies, but one could perhaps address this creature by the name of 'Yappie' because he barks all day. This is an annoying habit and his master tells Spot that watchdogs are only meant to bark when they think something's wrong - such as the appearance of a robber. Spot's not happy about that because he enjoys barking anytime -

"Yap-yap YAP!"

He's smacked hard for this blatant disregard of his master's wishes so he decides to bark only at night - and that's exactly what he does. His master and mistress are woken abruptly and thinking there may be a robber about, the head of the house takes up a poker and sets off to see what's happening downstairs. After a thorough search, nothing amiss is found and he says to Spot,

"You may have heard a noise and frightened the robber away."

Satisfied with that he goes back to bed leaving Spot feeling quite proud of himself to think he'd interrupted everyone's slumber and caused his master to descend. Next day Mr. 'Whoever He Is' has to go away for some reason leaving his wife children and maid on their ownsome, and at three in the morning, Spot decides once again to rouse everyone as he had the night before.

"YAP-YAP-YAP-YAP!"

Everyone wakes with a dreadful jump.

"Burglars!" the children screech. Nobody dares to go downstairs and look round but Mother rings for a policeman and soon one arrives. Nothing untoward is happening of course so, rather annoyed, he returns to the station. Next night the unthinkable happens ... a real live robber passes by and seeing an open window (wonder why it wasn't checked) he enters. No more needs to be said because those persons familiar with an aforesaid tale will know exactly how this might end -

Oh yes! There's an extra bit of news that involves Spot and a deaf old lady.

---

#1:

Winnie is of course John's sister.

#2: The plot makes a good story and it's similar to at least a couple of others in the Blyton collection - 'A Little Thing That Made A Big Thing' (Book Of Naughty Children) and 'One Thing Leads To Another' (EB's Friendly Story Book).

The tale is only two and a half pages long, but a lot happens in it.

#3:

A definition of Sou'wester: Hat worn when it rains. Longer at the back than in front. Ties under the chin.

How can a sugar mouse tread in puddles without damaging itself?

#7:

There's not all that much aging of characters in the EB stories although one can defer to the 'Kirrin' books in passing. On first appearance the characters are portrayed as rather small kids and in the last volume they've matured somewhat; although throughout the series there is, admittedly, some variation.

#8

Again, here's an idea that has seen light of day in such tales as 'The Boy Who Threw Stones' (EB's Third Bedside Book).

#9:

Wonder what Tommy called his duck.

#10:

Kathleen Gell portrays a quite detailed interior picture of Betsy May's dolls' house.

Interesting to compare Gell's 'Betsy-May' picture with Soper's version.

#12:

If a girl hits a boy he should be able to respond in like manner, or is that too much for modern society to countenance? Once again we can see how advanced Enid Blyton was in her ideas, and an example of this can be found in the Whyteleafe School stories where students held their own kind of 'court' proceeding each week; at least one English institution entertains (or entertained) the same idea in later years. Then of course there's the equality of females to be considered. When this book originated it was acceptable for Tilda to inform Timothy that boys mustn't hit girls. Nowadays of course it'd be quite reasonable for him to hit back because we have sex equality (won by females after a long and bitter struggle). As can be seen, EB allowed Timothy to slap Tilda way back in 1941 (original story date) which just shows the author's forward thinking. More than once she's placed girls and boys on equal terms in days when females were supposed to be 'protected,' and treated differently from males. In Enid Blyton's world, brothers could give as much as they got and one of many examples can be found in a book entitled 'Sea Of Adventure.' When a couple of fairly short tempered siblings round on each other, the boy (Philip) receives a stinging slap on his cheek which causes him to dole out an equally violent assault on his sister (Dinah). Again, in 'Second Book Of Naughty Children,' Betty meets up with a boy who slaps and pinches and kicks her in exactly the same way she frequently acts towards other children (Bad Tempered Betty).

As an aside, there's a story entitled 'Tiresome Tilda' in the 'Ninth Holiday Book.' No mention of a brother, so perhaps Tilda was a preferred name for tiresome girls.

#11:

'Fanny' (as in 'I don't Want To') and 'Dick,' are two names that don't seem very common these days. There are trends in the naming department often governed by those who happen to be in the public eye. 'Dick' was once so common that it featured in three names pertaining to the ordinary chap - 'Tom, Dick, and Harry.'

#13.

How did the fairy get into Anne's bedroom? Answer: The window was open a little at the top.

It's curious as to why Mister Snoodle is short of ivory seeing that children are constantly losing their milk teeth. Perhaps there's a multitude of Fairyland carvers all requiring the essential product.

Anne's fairy is a typical Dorothy Wheeler version.

A story with exactly the same title can be found in 'Green Story Book.' The tooth 'fairy' turns out to be a gnome and George's experience with fairy folk exceeds Anne's 'adventure' a hundredfold.

#14.

Once again Miss Brown is the teacher in this tale. She features many times in class situations ... two examples being her repetitive appearance in 'EB's Book Of The Year' with pupils John, Peter, Susan and Mary (it's a very small school); she's also reported as having a 'Donald' in her class (Dec. 1938 'Teachers World' contribution)

Farmer Straw is also a regular in Blyton books and this particular tale is quite special because, after all these years, we learn of his first name - 'William.'

The word 'stocking' seems to apply more to females but in Blyton days it covered ordinary socks. Might still do of course.

Fred Trotteville! For the few people who have never heard of this guy, he's a detective in the Blyton stable whom, upon maturing, may well exceed the investigative expertise displayed by that other famous private eye - Sherlock Holmes.

'Who' the wrongdoer might be, or 'Whom?' Sometimes the slightly wrong version of English can sound better (I reckon).

#16:

'Goofy' is a fairly popular handle for someone who's, well ... a little goofy. Walt Disney popularised it by naming one of his characters as such and Enid Blyton featured more than one in her repertoire, although it might have been the same person in one or two cases. ('Friendly Story Book' ; 'EB's Sixth Bedside Book')

#18:

The plot of this tale would be similar to one or two others such as 'A Bit Of Bacon Rind' (EB's Second Bedside Book).

#19:

Belinda does have a tiny book of her own ... published several years after Enid Blyton finished her spell on this planet.

Looks like the pics of Billy Bob's personal book (1938) are penned by May Smith, but in this tale Dorothy Wheeler supplies the illustrations. Whose are the more acceptable? Smith's illustrations are quaint and the characters quite well drawn although one or two could have done with a little more detail. Dorothy Wheeler is Dorothy Wheeler is Dorothy Wheeler, so her pictures are pretty good ... as they usually are.

#20:

The master's wife is obviously in charge because it's her husband who has to descend the stairs with a poker. Enid Blyton has taken care of a question that might arise: 'How come they had a poker in the bedroom?' Answer: It contains a fireplace.

One doesn't have to read all that much of the tale to be reminded of the Aesop fable.

---

The first strip picture tale features Bobby and Betty and the plot has been duplicated to a degree in at least a couple of other tales - Ellen & Jack's encounter (Green Story Book), and Bobby's Christmas Eve adventure with his sister, Betty (EB's Happy Story Book).

The second strip has a rather gruesome ending that might be considered rare for an Enid Blyton tale.

Most appealing pictures? Page #53 ('Betsy-May and the Bear') could easily qualify, and so could that of Tommy on Page #62. Can't really beat Eileen Soper at her best.