The Enid Blyton Society

Rob Houghton wrote:"Hardly ever buys a modern book!
So give three cheers and one cheer more
For Peter never bought a modern book before
Yes give three cheers and one cheer more...etc etc

I knew at least some here would get it (sorry, Pete).

Back on topic, even I'm getting a bit tempted to buy some of these, but I have enough books (including plenty I haven't read) as it is! I agree, it's lovely to see collections of Blyton stories with similar themes.

They are great for people like me, who usually only reads one chapter or story a night. I read these anthologies in bed, one story a night, so they usually last a month each - great value for money!

Whoever is responsible for the overall content deserves high praise. My one sadness is that I don't think the books contain illustrations?

I thought you had a Christmas one, Pete? They sort of contain illustrations - but they are more like title-pages than illustrations - and after about six designs, they usually repeat, so not 'illustrations' in the traditional sense. Mind you, I'm not sure I would like a book illustrated with too many illustrations of this cartoony style! They are fine for covers, but some stories are more serious than others, and in a way the illustrations wouldn't suit them.

I have the first Christmas book that came out and Christmas Treats and the other Christmas book on kindle Rob.
I presume that as these three don't really contain illustrations the rest of the series doesn't either - which is my only real gripe with these rather excellent modern books!

Thanks for the information, Tony. I usually steer well clear of modern issues but these look tempting and, as others say, a great opportunity to obtain previously hard to find stories.

pete9012S wrote:I have the first Christmas book that came out and Christmas Treats and the other Christmas book on kindle Rob.
I presume that as these three don't really contain illustrations the rest of the series doesn't either - which is my only real gripe with these rather excellent modern books!

they are nicely presented though - each story has a separate 'title page' and these are illustrated - though the illustration is just generic and has nothing to do with the story to come (except roughly by theme - summer, spring, Christmas etc), which is a shame. Christmas Treats has five different illustrations which are repeated as title pages for all the stories.

A thorough review by Terry of The Enid Blyton Pennant Series No. 24:

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/book ... Readers+24" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I've never read 'The Big Boy' but I've read similar Enid Blyton tales so I've got an idea how it might end.

I do have 'The Forgotten Pets' and I think it's a brilliant story, really thought-provoking. By the time I came across it I was an adult but I'm sure it would make a lasting impact on young readers. 'The Sneezing Dog', which has a similar theme, was one of my favourite stories when I was a child.

By the way, my copy of 'The Forgotten Pets' is in Benny and the Giants and Other Stories (Award, 2003). Annoyingly and unnecessarily, Eileen and Fred have had their names changed to Helen and Nick.

I always enjoy reading Terry's reviews.

Another comprehensive review by Terry - this time of Enid Blyton's Daffodil Story Book:

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

I've come across a lot of the stories in other collections, though not all of them. Of the ones I haven't read, 'A Very Queer Thing' sounds particularly interesting. There are shades of A Very Big Secret and of the doll Peronel from The Enchanted Wood.

Thanks for alerting us to this new addition, Anita!

I think the Daffodil Story Book is one of my favourite of the flower books - though they are all wonderful. The printing quality always seems particularly fine in these books as well! They contain good selections of stories, both textual and comic strip etc, and some lovely colour-plates.

I saw a Latimer House edition of this book recently when I was at York although I didn't buy it because the wrapper was very tatty. Certainly a very good mix of stories and plenty of them!

I would always advise people to go for the Gifford versions if they possibly can. The Latimer House versions are much, much thinner and only contain about half the contents of the Gifford books!

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

The review of The Strange Tales of Mr. Wumble has been added.

A very good review by Terry of a book I've never heard of. I love Mr Wumble's expression, "Snorting Pigs".