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1. The Rich Little Girl
   Story: Specially Written
2. What a Silly Thing To Do!
   Story: Specially Written

The Rich Little Girl

Kitty is pretty and many people comment on this factor.

"How sweet she looks," they say and when Kitty hears this she smiles and feels very pleased with herself. Yes, she has the advantage of an attractive face and also lovely clothes because Mother likes to dress her little daughter up. There's a hitch though, and one day Kitty's father takes her aside to have a word about something he's noticed — she's becoming vain. He feels this aberration has to be nipped in the bud and reminds Kitty that she lives in a lovely house with fine clothes and toys but he doesn't want to see her distancing herself from children less fortunate than she. In fact he wants her to ask a few of them to tea, although a concept such as this goes a little against the grain as far as Kitty's concerned because she likes showing off and telling everyone about her wonderful possessions.

One day Kitty receives a complete new outfit consisting of blue silk dress with yellow roses worked all over it, blue socks, blue shoes, a new coat with fur cuffs and a hat topped with a fur tassel. When she tries on the ensemble Kitty presents a very charming picture indeed and then when her mother says she can have someone to tea, Kitty's chooses Janet.

Why choose Janet?

We're told the reason: Janet's poor and she often has to wear her sister's old clothes so Kitty thinks she'd be the ideal person to impress. She wants Janet to envy her fine new outfit.

"Won't she wish she was me," Kitty thinks and that explains it all in a nutshell ... that's if we haven't already sized this girl up.

When the day arrives Kitty's mother has an engagement but before leaving she tells her daughter to wear an old frock and not the new one because Janet never has any nice clothes. Unfortunately, after Mother has left the house, Kitty takes no heed of the instruction. She doesn't want to miss such a wonderful opportunity to show off her new clothes, so she puts on the new dress, socks and shoes and also places her coat and hat on display in order to make the best impression she can on her impending visitor. She even slips on the bead necklace Daddy bought her for Christmas, and it has to be said that when togged up in her new duds she looks as sweet as anyone could possibly be.

Janet arrives. She's dressed in a clean but patched frock with the hem turned up because it'd once belonged to her older sister. Her coat's too big and her headgear is a simple scarf. Seeing how stunning Kitty looks makes Janet feeling so poor and ugly that she actually apologises for wearing such an old dress. However, she's not short of praise for her host,

"How lovely you look Kitty," she says with feeling.

Kitty commences to boast about her frock and necklace telling Janet how costly they were. She also shows off her new coat and hat and tells Janet that Mother says she looks like a princess in them. She puts both on and parades round the nursery in front of her visitor.

A stentorian voice is suddenly heard.

"Kitty, take off your clothes, and you too Janet. Quickly!"

Kitty's father has suddenly come in and observed his daughter showing off in such a blatant manner. What's about to happen can be summed up, more-or-less, in two words —

'Reverse Psychology!'

What A Silly thing To Do

When he comes home from school Jock removes his cap, coat, gloves and scarf but instead of hanging them up he simply chucks them on the floor for somebody else to pick up. At bed-time the same thing happens and if you looked into his chest of drawers you'd see one great muddle even if his mother had previously tidied the contents. Jock's also careless because he forgets to close gates when entering a field and if he happens to shut a door, it's usually with a 'bang.'

His mother's concerned about Jock's behaviour as is his Aunt Sarah because when Jock visits her he leaves the front gate open and also the larder door which means the cat gets in and creates havoc. Jock's mother tells Aunt Sarah she's done her best to alter his attitude but it hasn't worked, and Aunt Sarah tells her she's got some children coming to tea next week. Jock can come if he likes, but he'll have to behave himself.

Jock's pleased when he hears about the invitation because his aunt always produces lovely teas, and he's even more eager to attend when told that Aunt Sarah has three dear little puppies which she's sure he'd love to play with. When the day arrives, Jock dons his new coat, cap, bright red scarf and gloves which his mother has knitted for him and just before leaving he's handed a basket containing homemade shortbread and a pound of sausages for Aunt Sarah. He departs and soon arrives at his aunt's place, but prior to going in he opens the field gate to visit Nell the collie dog and her puppies. He lingers awhile and then hears his aunt calling for him because the other children have been there a while and are about to have tea. Jock runs out of the field, forgetting to shut the gate of course, and he enters Aunt Sarah's house to remove his cap, scarf, coat and gloves. Does he hang them up or place the clothes on a shelf? Not likely! Adopting his usual practice he just throws them down. The smell of hot toast is so alluring that he can't even be bothered to deposit the shortbread and sausages in Aunt Sarah's larder; he simply drops his basket and runs to join the others.

As mentioned earlier, Jock hadn't closed the gate and this oversight allows Nell's inquisitive puppies to make their way out of the field followed by seven hens no less. As the back door is open they enter to explore and to forage. The hungry puppies make an exciting discovery and next moment they're getting stuck into sausages and shortbread whilst the hens peck up crumbs and cluck with joy at their unexpected treat. Even worse is to follow because food is not all the puppies are interested in and when one of the visitors hears sounds coming from the next room Aunt Sarah tells Jock to go and see what's happening. A little violence then comes into the tale and there are recriminations.

Jock is also forced to think about the future when he returns home and has a conversation with his mother.

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#1:

Janet feels 'poor and ugly' when she sees Kitty in her grand blue frock, but I've yet to see an instance when Eileen Soper drew an ugly child.

Enid Blyton wrote so many stories that she often doubled up with her titles, whilst others sounded similar. 'The Rich Little Dog' is about a pampered Pekingese that considered himself a cut above the other pooches (Poppy S.B).

#2:

Aunt Sarah's husband is Jock's Uncle Fred.

The visitor who became aware of puppy and hen noises in the other room was Gladys.

The booklet's final illustration kind of sums everything up.