Website Additions

[Anita Bensoussane]

I hope that someone enjoys this as it took me 6 hours to do spread over two days. I have already broken my New Year's Revolution!

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/book ... y+Together" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A beautiful addition to the Cave - thanks, Tony! The story harks back to Tales of Toyland in some respects, while Tickles reminds me of Silky from the Faraway Tree series. I love the "wonderful punishment" and it's great to see Enid Blyton (as usual) demonstrating the value of those who have been rejected. I find Jeanne Farrar's illustrations very attractive.

[Rob Houghton]

I've only scanned down the text so far, mainly looking at the illustrations - which are gorgeous! It struck me, too, how like 'Tales of Toyland' some aspects were - and this time we even have an 'interracial romance' (sort of!)

[Julie2owlsdene]

Fabulous illustrations, why can't books of today have proper illustrations like those. It would make the modern books so much more appealing to the readers of today.

[Lucky Star]

That was wonderful Tony. Thanks for taking the time. A great Blyton lesson in the art of not giving up in the face of rejection and repeated disappointments. No doubt the PC brigade would faint if they read it but that doesn't matter, it's a lovely little story of it's time.

The beginning with the kids throwing out the car reminded me of another story, I can't recall the name, but the children throw out a toy car with it's driver inside because his paint his scratched and a wheel is bent. he does a favour for some fairies I think and they repair and repaint his car as a reward. Next day the children are delighted and bring him back into the playroom. Anyone remember that story?

[Courtenay]

Oh, for goodness' sake. What a beautiful little story!! Of course these days a line like "she's so ugly and black" would cause utter hysterics, but that's the whole point of the story... Enid is showing, implicitly but clearly, that Jane at the start is being completely unfair and wrong in detesting Mopsy and thinking of her as ugly and throwing her away just because she's black!!

And let's face it, wouldn't there have been children (and even more likely adults) in the 1940s who had learned to equate black skin with ugliness? Whereas Enid is doing just the opposite. Mopsy is portrayed as just as thoughtful and resourceful as her companions (and as any other toy character in Blyton books), and there's no stereotyping whatsoever in her character — no pidgin English or stupidity or laziness or any other negative caricaturing of black people. And of course, at the end, the Princess and Mr Click tell Mopsy "I love you being black" and "She's got a beautiful face." In other words, Enid is telling her young readers: if you think black dolls (and by implication, black people) are ugly and worthless, you're WRONG. And this in 1948!!!

It's interesting, I was just reading this article this morning: Where are the black dolls in High Street stores? Apparently a lot of toy companies are making few or no black dolls (or other non-white ethnicities, for that matter) on the grounds that there's "not enough demand" for them. Is this still an issue today, that dolls of different skin colours are seen as undesirable and not as popular as white dolls? And there's Enid Blyton, nearly 70 years ago, telling children straight out that a black doll is beautiful and is as much deserving of love and appreciation as any other toy. And they tell us she was racist...

Thank you so much, Tony, for taking all the time and effort to put that story in the Cave for us — one that would never be republished today, even though it deserves to be!

[Kate Mary]

Thank you Tony, it's a delightful little story. I probably wouldn't ever have been able to read it if you hadn't put it on the website.

[Anita Bensoussane]

The beginning with the kids throwing out the car reminded me of another story, I can't recall the name, but the children throw out a toy car with it's driver inside because his paint his scratched and a wheel is bent. he does a favour for some fairies I think and they repair and repaint his car as a reward. Next day the children are delighted and bring him back into the playroom. Anyone remember that story?

I remember a story a bit like that, but it might not be the same one because some details are different. The one I'm thinking of is 'The Lost Motor-Car' in the Dean & Son version of Tales of Toyland (which includes some short stories at the back of the book). George has a toy motor-car which is wound up with a key and has a tin man to drive it. One day, George accidentally leaves it out in the garden where it becomes rusty. When he looks for the car again some time later and can't find it, he wonders what has happened to it. It turns out that some pixies have done it up and are using it to deliver bread and cakes.

[sixret]

Thank you so much, Tony. Very much appreciated. It is great to know that more people can enjoy reading the story in this little book.

However I have found the exact same story in the new book being compiled together with the other two stories. The book is Tales From Toyland published by Templar in 1994. The book is available online for a mere sum. The title has been changed to The Toy's Great Adventure. The only two changes made are the title and the black doll has become rag doll(white). I have provided some photos below.

[sixret]

[Wolfgang]

That was wonderful Tony. Thanks for taking the time. A great Blyton lesson in the art of not giving up in the face of rejection and repeated disappointments. No doubt the PC brigade would faint if they read it but that doesn't matter, it's a lovely little story of it's time.

The beginning with the kids throwing out the car reminded me of another story, I can't recall the name, but the children throw out a toy car with it's driver inside because his paint his scratched and a wheel is bent. he does a favour for some fairies I think and they repair and repaint his car as a reward. Next day the children are delighted and bring him back into the playroom. Anyone remember that story?

I suppose you're referring to the story "Four little wheels", published in Award's "Three Bold Pixies", John. If it's the same story in "Enid Blyton's Sleepytime Tales" (Purnell 1970) and "The Fifth Holiday Book" (Sampson Low 1950) I can't say though.

[sixret]

I was only crushing myself, Wolfgang, as I was disappointed at how few people bother to even look at the main website and I thought that I wouldn't bother to add anything new for a while.

I do not know about others but I can assure you that I have consulted The Cave many times. Even that, I know I have not explored every nook and cranny in The Cave yet. For example, I didn't know the existence of Sunny Stories calendars in The Cave until Pete posted them here in forum!

[Tony Summerfield]

Thank you so much, Tony. Very much appreciated. It is great to know that more people can enjoy reading the story in this little book.

However I have found the exact same story in the new book being compiled together with the other two series. The book is Tales From Toyland published by Templar in 1994. The book is available online for a mere sum. The title has been changed to The Toy's Great Adventure.

Yes, I was aware of this and it is in the Cave along with two other books from that series, but with the title changed and 'updated' with two other stories, so I thought the original version was worth adding, and as far as I know 'The Toys' Great Adventure' was not published as a separate book.

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/book ... om+Toyland" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have been considering adding another book in the Nursery Series, Oh! What a Lovely Time, but that also got the Templar treatment and was published as a separate book with a changed title in 1990.

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/book ... he+Toyshop" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As with the first book, this also got another outing when it was put with two other stories in the same Templar series as Tales from Toyland.

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/book ... tmas+Tales" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[sixret]

Oh! What a Lovely Time is the book that I don't have in my collection. If you could upload the story, it would be great! I notice that you have uploaded the illustrations. The illustrations by Jeanne Farrar are marvellous! I have always categorised Farrar, Wheeler and Cloke in one group. Their illustrations are superb and have that "merry and jolly" quality synonymous with Enid Blyton stories.

[Rob Houghton]

It always interests me when Enid's stories about black dolls (or black people) have been republished and also ethnically cleansed. Interesting that its more acceptable to populate stories she wrote with 100% white characters these days.

[Moonraker]

A fab addition to the Cave, Tony. I will look forward to reading it later this afternoon.