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The Enid Blyton Society Badge has nothing to do with us, it was produced by another Society that folded over twenty years ago. Up to that point we were The Enid Blyton Literary Society so that people didn't get confused between the two, but when the other Society disappeared we dropped the word 'Literary'.
I have here a companion to 'A Day With Noddy' entitled "Noddy and the Tubby Bears." Another exciting and absorbing tale in the true Blyton tradition, although it took only ten seconds to peruse.
It entails the little wooden man greeting Mrs. Tubby his next-door neighbour and then we see her and Noddy in a greengrocer's shop. Later they're ensconced in a room with some groceries.
Following that is a picture of them both in Noddy's famous car driving down the village street past one of those little men with a rounded base; I'm sure everyone remembers Mr. To and Fro from 'Tales of Toyland.' There's also a yellow dog watching them.
On the next page things become even more exciting when Noddy's painting a ceiling with Mrs. Tubby's son holding the ladder whilst paint drips down onto his head. Then we see Mrs. Tubby preparing a bath (for her son presumably) and on the final page all three are enjoying a slap-up meal.
A fitting end to one of Miss Blyton's more eclectic works.
This Dean Rag Book is published by 'Noddy Subsidiary Rights' in nineteen sixty-something and it's washable, plus 'Baby Safe.'
I had never heard of them before - there's a much older one for sale on ebay. Not by Enid, but the illustrations remind me of her work from the 1920's/30's..
Rag Books
The "Rag Books" made by Deans were simple printed cloth books with edges cut with a zig-zag "clothmaking shears" pattern.
Rag books were ideal for very small children, they were cheap, pages couldn't be torn out and eaten, they were difficult to deface, it didn't matter if the child fell asleep with one (as they were soft and comfortable), and ... ultimately ... if they ended up saturated with drool or mud (or worse), they could easily be washed and sterilised.
That's a lovely book too. I have a 'rag' book from my childhood. I think it was by Dean, has features an baby elephant. I shall have to dig it out and have a look and check. I think they were a very sensible idea for young children.
I remember there were "cloth books" (as we called them) for babies even when I was little in the 1980s — I wonder if you can still get something like that nowadays? (Not having any babies in my own family, I have no idea what's available for them.) I agree, it's a very sensible idea for very young children. I'm sure my mum (who particularly loves Noddy) would have got her babies a Noddy rag book if there'd been one available then!
Society Member
It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
I'm not sure that cloth books exist in the format they used to. My children had a couple a fabric 'touch and feel' style books, which although lovely, weren't really very practical as they were sponge clean only. However I felt the only way to really clean them properly (and hygienically) was to quickly wash them in soapy water, it didn't do the books any harm, but as they were padded they took days to dry.
