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1. The Angry Toys
   Story: Specially Written
2. Tell-Tale Tommy
   Story: Specially Written

The Angry Toys

Mummy wants Eileen to look through her toy cupboard and see if she has anything that can be donated to the children who are spending Christmas in hospital. Some toys could also be put aside for poorer kids who live in the less elegant district. Unfortunately, being rather attached to her playthings, Eileen's reluctant to part with anything at all. Her mother says she has more toys than most children and it's true because they actually tumble out whenever she opens the cupboard door. The girl has seven uncles and five aunts so she's literally showered with presents but after casting a critical eye over her collection, Eileen decides that none of the nice toys can be discarded ... ones such as her dolls, big and small, or the dolls' house even though she has a much bigger one now. After sorting through the great pile she ends up with her donation to the cause — a broken doll's chair and two torn books.

That night the toys converse,

"Did you ever know such a selfish child? All she can spare is a broken chair and two spoilt books."

The teddy-bear's upset and wishes he could belong to a nice kind person who'd share her toys with friends instead of hiding all the best ones when they visit. He lets on that he knows of a poor child who would love to own him so why shouldn't he go to her? The golliwog also thinks about leaving — he'll go to the hospital where there are plenty of sick children who would relish a little extra company, and the rocking-horse decides to depart as well because he thinks the boys and girls who are recuperating would love to ride on him. The feelings build and very soon every toy has made up his or her mind to leave Eileen and seek better pastures; so with one accord, they leave the nursery and exit through a garden door. Even the skittles join them.

Making their way through quiet streets to where the hospital is situated they wait for a nurse to unlatch the door and then half of them sneak in while the remaining toys set off for a part of the town where poorer children reside. They slip inside any open doors they find so it looks as if there'll be some very happy youngsters in those homes come tomorrow. Meanwhile the first batch of toys have crept along the hospital corridor to a ward where children are sleeping and a nurse is reading something down at the other end. She doesn't notice the visitors settling down behind a screen to await the dawn, which upon arrival, heralds a surprise that has to be recorded in the institution's annals. The same goes for several downtown homes when many underprivileged kiddies find a golliwog, toy dog, or doll cuddled up to them when morning arrives.

Does Eileen learn a lesson? Does she reclaim her toys? We can see the little girl sobbing bitterly in front of her mother so we can only speculate as to whether or not she obtains another batch of playthings for Christmas.

But if she does, might they disappear the same way?

Tell-Tale Tommy

Tommy would have been quite a nice little boy if he weren't such a taleteller. Some kids like to see others get into trouble ... possibly because they're always getting into mischief themselves, and it gives them a feeling of 'balance' to know they aren't the only ones having a rough time when restorative justice takes place.

"Miss Brown, Annie talked when she shouldn't have!"

"Miss Brown, Leslie has taken my rubber."

"Miss Brown, Joan nudged my arm and made me smudge my writing."

That's typical Tommy, and despite the teacher telling him to cease his tale-telling habit, she makes no impression at all on the boy.

He describes the other children's various transgressions to his mother as well ... how John knocked him over and little Gladys poked her tongue out at him this morning, and do you know,

"Jack broke a window at school today."

In desperation, his mother has occasionally used a threat she keeps up her sleeve ... if he doesn't stop telling tales she'll take Tommy to old Dame Dark-Eyes and get a spell to correct his attitude, but this doesn't affect her boy in the slightest. He just laughs because he's quite sure no such dame exists.

But he's wrong.

An elderly lady with very big dark eyes appears before Tommy when he's going home one day and asks his name. He tells her and, true to form, adds a few embellishments,

"My name is Tommy. I go to Miss Brown's school, and that boy over there does as well. Do you know he upset the ink today, and see that little girl," Tommy says, pointing, "That's Doris and she's very naughty because she takes people's pencils and keeps them."

The old lady looks at Tommy and says she'd like to tell him about another little boy.

"He's a horrid little tell-tale so I'm going to put a spell in his shoes and let the tongues in them talk."

To Tommy's surprise she strikes his shoes with a stick and continues on her way. Tommy looks at the tongues of his shoes sticking out and doesn't believe the woman for one moment because shoe tongues can't talk.

Or can they?

Shortly Tommy meets up with his Auntie Susan. She greets him and asks if he did well at school that day and Tommy answers in the affirmative, but there's an unexpected hitch; Auntie Susan learns that he didn't obtain a single mark for his writing, and was put into the corner for telling tales! This is dreadfully embarrassing and Tommy runs away, only to meet Doctor Wells who waves to him and asks if he's been a good boy at home. Despite Tommy's answer, the good doctor learns other things.

The truth!

Tommy runs home in a great state and Mother's the next to learn what he's been up to. You'd be shocked to hear the list of things her son gets up to in a normal day and this results in an aversion by Tommy towards his shoes. He wants to discard them but unfortunately that solution is not available because his only other footwear is away being mended. Tommy's stuck with wearing shoes that are making his life unbearable.

The end result is not necessarily an ideal one in Tommy's eyes because Dame Dark-Eyes becomes involved once again and a kind of bargain needs to be enforced.

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#1:

An attractive picture on Page #9 shows three dolls, a golliwog, bear, monkey, elephant, rabbit, three skittles and the rocking horse. How the last-named makes its way along is anyone's guess.

#2:

Tell-tales are ideal fodder for an author like Enid Blyton and they've been the subjects of more than one story before today. 'Rubbalong Tales' has an account dead similar to the one featured above. 'Water-Lily Story Book' contains another 'Tell-Tale Tommy.' A tell tale named Tilly is found in 'Book of Naughty Children' where she meets up with a tell tale bird, and another of our feathered friends makes an appearance in one of Enid Blyton's ultra short stories called 'The Little Bird.' This creature turns invisible and, interestingly, is the origin of that saying, "A little bird told me." (Five O'Clock Tales). There's also a goblin called Roundy in 'Enid Blyton's Magazine' (May, 1954) whom everyone calls 'Tell-Tale.' I think we can guess why.

One quality that makes 'Pennant Series' so attractive has to be the number of delightful two-tone Soper illustrations — many of which can be found not only in the 'Enid Blyton Society Journal,' but also in the Fabulous Cave of Books. These illustrations are hidden by default to ensure faster browsing. Loading the illustrations is recommended for high-speed internet users only.