The Enid Blyton Society

Daisy wrote:

sixret wrote:I think which illustration we prefer is down to which one we first saw when we were young.

I agree.. it is the same with the Eileen Soper v. Betty Maxey illustrations for the Fives books. For me it is Eileen Soper every time!


To me, looking at the development of illustrating, Moonface with a 'real' moon for a face was the start of the caricaturing of other characters in subsequent years.

Hmmm - I can't agree with that! As you know, I hate the caricaturing of human characters - but then Moonface is a fantasy character and magical, so I don't object to him having a moon head. However, many years went by before child characters were drawn in such a way - since 1971 when Moonface first appeared like that, there were numerous editions of Famous Five and Secret Seven etc with human looking illustrations. That type of caricaturing has only been happening for the last 10 years.

I've never been a big fan of Betty Maxey - but I agree that it tends to be the illustrator we first came across that we like best - for me, with The Famous Five, it was the annuals of 1979 and 1980 that informed my own impression of The Five. I never encountered any other Famous Five stories until I was in my 20's, so I tend to like Eileen Soper's depictions just as much.

Rob Houghton wrote:

Daisy wrote: To me, looking at the development of illustrating, Moonface with a 'real' moon for a face was the start of the caricaturing of other characters in subsequent years.

Hmmm - I can't agree with that! As you know, I hate the caricaturing of human characters - but then Moonface is a fantasy character and magical, so I don't object to him having a moon head. However, many years went by before child characters were drawn in such a way - since 1971 when Moonface first appeared like that, there were numerous editions of Famous Five and Secret Seven etc with human looking illustrations. That type of caricaturing has only been happening for the last 10 years.

I see your point Rob - it was just a thought which occurred to me as I was responding to Sixret's comment.
I agree the much later stick figures etc. are a far cry from the Cloke depictions of the fantasy characters. However, I still find Moonface to be alien to me when I see him thus drawn.

I quite like Moon-Face either way — having grown up with the Rene Cloke illustrations too, I'd always imagined him with a literal "moon head" and was quite surprised to see him in the original version, but I figured it stands to reason. I don't have a copy of The Enchanted Wood with me, but I'm pretty sure Enid describes him as simply having a "big, round face like the moon" or words to that effect — which could easily be interpreted either way! Logically, Dorothy Wheeler's idea of him does make more sense (why on earth would an otherwise pixie/elf-like character have a head that was literally spherical, hairless and silvery or golden?), but the Rene Cloke version was obviously the one that sparked future illustrators' imaginations more, as well as children's.



I know it's easy to say the illustrations we first encountered as children are always the ones that feel the most "real" or "correct" to us, but I don't always find that. I grew up loving Disney's version of Winnie-the-Pooh when I was really little and only encountered the original Ernest Shepard illustrations when I was perhaps 6 or 7, at which time I thought they were sort of old-fashioned and a bit weird and I just couldn't quite conceive of them as the characters I already knew from the cartoons. Now that I'm a little older, I absolutely love the originals and don't think much of the Disney versions. Maybe people's tastes do change over time — or maybe I'm just not particularly nostalgic for my childhood!

Anyway, the final countdown has begun for this copy of The Magic Faraway Tree and there's no competition yet, so we'll see what happens...

I think it's true that the illustrations we first become familiar with are often 'The' definitive illustrations for us. As I've said, I do like the Dorothy Wheeler ones, and I love the Eileen Soper ones, and also the original Secret Seven ones, but as a child, and therefore ever since, those I can identify the characters best from are the illustrations by Rene Cloke, the Famous Five annual artist (who is sadly not credited) and Derek Lucas who illustrated The Secret Seven paperbacks in the early 1970's.

I can see why the big-headed Moonface would be alien to you, Daisy, as it wasn't what you were used to. And I agree that Enid's description is simply of a man with a 'moon-like face' or words to that effect. Obviously Enid approved of Wheeler's interpretation, or else she wouldn't have passed the illustration, presumably, as I think she usually checked illustrations.

I really hope you win the book Courtenay!

Talking of Moon-Face having an otherwise "normal" head that just happens to be very rounded, long-standing Aussie TV personality Bert Newton has been popularly known as "Moonface" since early in his career, and you can see why...



Not sure who first coined the nickname and whether it was a deliberate reference to the Faraway Tree character, but Enid Blyton has always been very popular in Australia, so I wouldn't be surprised!

I won! I won!

Mildly annoyingly, a couple of other bidders bumped it up to £49.00, but that's still very respectable for a book that is very often sold at insanely high prices in far worse condition than this copy.

Unfortunately I'm about to leave for Australia and won't see the book until after I get back later this month, but it'll give me something to look forward to...

Congrats!

Annoying when the price gets bumped up - but when that happens I generally miss out - so I'm pleased you still won!

Well done, Courtenay!

Congrats Courtenay, I'm glad you got the book! I was umming and ahhing over it myself but I haven't got that much to spare for one book at the moment. Walking away from something you want knowing it's actually quite a bargain though, takes a lot of willpower! Even more than the sort needed to resist opening and eating all the chocolates in a box in one sitting

I should mention yesterday I got pipped at the last minute (or thereabouts) on eBay for a copy of The Folk of the Faraway Tree, 1965 edition, with dust jacket in good condition. A bit annoying, but I was relieved, really, as the price genuinely had got to the absolute limit of what I was willing to pay and I'd already decided not to push it further once it got beyond that. I'd love to have that book, but I don't want it THAT badly.

I know how you feel! I've sometimes bid on a book until quite a way over what I'd like to pay and then been secretly glad that I lost out - even though I feel frustrated at the same time!

Well, the seller actually sent me a message at one stage, puzzled over how high I was bidding — he'd originally wanted to give the book to a charity shop and wasn't expecting it to fetch more than a few pounds, especially as it wasn't a first edition.

I explained to him how hard it is to get these older editions with dust jackets in good condition and that they often go for much higher prices than I'd bid — my maximum was £75, but I've seen them go for well over £100. (I decided not to mention the nutters who'll flog off just about any kind of Blyton book for over £1,000. ) The seller understood and said he'd decided to donate half the winning amount to the RNLI. So even though I didn't get it, I'm glad to know the proceeds went to a good cause and the seller wasn't just out to make money — and I now have a little more to spare this week than I would have if I'd won!