Uncollected Short Stories in the Cave

[Eddie Muir]

Thank you for the info, Tony. Much appreciated.

[Julie2owlsdene]

I am sure it would produce some imaginative results!

Does that mean we can use one and finish off the story!!

[Lucky Star]

Much bedtime reading there. Thanks Tony they will fill many little slots for me over the next few weeks. I really dont know where you find the time to do all that and produce a journal as well. Swunderful.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Brilliant stuff, Tony!

I've just checked out numbers 1033 containing 8 little starter stories with to be finished at the end of them.

Julie, they are deliberately unfinished in a similar manner to Tales Half Told in Nelson's Reading practice series, where Enid started stories for children (or even big children like Julie - okay scratch the word 'big' ) to finish.

There are also some unfinished tales in Volume 2 of The Teacher's Treasury. When my daughter was about six or seven, she and I had fun writing our own endings and then comparing them. It was surprising how differently we finished off some of the stories. We made wool dolls as well, based on the raffia dolls in Volume 3.

[Moonraker]

Yes, incredible content, Tony. Thanks for the tip in finding them! Has anyone tried reading them on a Kindle? It might well persuade me to buy one if that's the case!

[Anita Bensoussane]

'The Making of Merriden Major' is an unusual tale. It appears to be aimed at adults but deals with child psychology, rather like 'A Proper Knight' which was published in The Lady. The theme of auto-suggestion isn't handled with much subtlety but it's fascinating nevertheless, as is the mention of psychologist M. Coue. I get the feeling that Enid Blyton enjoyed the 'child psychology' element of her teacher-training course!

I've also just read 'The Boy Without Shoes', which seems to have been modelled on the Aesop's Fable about the fox without a tail. Quite a lot of Blyton's early stories are based on traditional fables, fairy-tales and legends, sometimes quite consciously and openly.

Edit: Have now read 'Sixty Rosebuds'. An imaginative idea to have 'fairy proverbs' which are variations of our own proverbs, and I like the way the story forms part of a competition which encourages readers to reflect and be creative.

There are some enjoyable poems in various periodicals which are amusing, contemplative and observant. Of the ones I've read so far, I particularly like 'Pupple Squeaks', 'London in October', 'Under the Greenwood Tree' and 'The Meeting'.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Just read 'Keep Your Eyes Open!' which is very similar indeed to another Enid Blyton story called 'Eyes and No-Eyes'. It's interesting to see how Blyton recycled ideas over the years.

And it's great that we hear from Mrs. Galliano in 'Tickets for the Circus'!

'The Lost Shilling' is a 'Gillian and Imogen' tale, and even has Imogen sighing that "Mummy is busy writing". I imagine the story itself is probably complete fabrication!

[Julie2owlsdene]

I've just read the story Keep Your Eyes Open. It's a lovely little story. Don't think a boy would be allowed to close the railway gates now adays. In fact, if there were more little houses by the railway as there were in those days, I don't think there would be as many near misses as there are today!!!

Loved the Lost Shilling. Maybe Enid and her daughters were on holiday in Swanage!

[Moonraker]

I must say I prefer the short stories to the poems! I like The Chamberlain's Beard, but unfortunately, this was split into two parts, and Part Two hasn't been uploaded yet!!!

Great work, Tony - what a legacy you are creating.

[Tony Summerfield]

I must say I prefer the short stories to the poems! I like The Chamberlain's Beard, but unfortunately, this was split into two parts, and Part Two hasn't been uploaded yet!!!

Great work, Tony - what a legacy you are creating.

Now I know what I have to do tomorrow!! It is already scanned but needs an hour or two of attention.

[Moonraker]

I must say I prefer the short stories to the poems! I like The Chamberlain's Beard, but unfortunately, this was split into two parts, and Part Two hasn't been uploaded yet!!!

Great work, Tony - what a legacy you are creating.

Now I know what I have to do tomorrow!! It is already scanned but needs an hour or two of attention.

Phew!

[pete9012S]

I'm afraid that there are only seven new uncollected stories today as I ran into a few problems. TW 1702 The Green Goblin was possibly the worst and it shows what effect sellotape can have on something 70 years later! I am not going to own up as to how long it took me to clean this so that it was fit for the Cave!



My advice would be never to use it on books or dustwrappers. Today's stories are:-

This is a fantastic thread and gives great links to Enid Blyton work that we would ordinarily possibly never encounter.

Naturally, I was keen to see Tony's restorative work on The Green Goblin too - most impressive!

The Teachers World
The Green Goblin

https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/bly ... perid=1342" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Katharine]

Wow, if that's the same piece of paper, it looks amazing.

[pete9012S]

More excellent repair work here too Katharine:

One of the problems that makes these cuttings more time-consuming to work on is when the 'cutting' is a bit too enthusiastic and the missing bits from the title have to be replaced pixel by pixel! Here is an example of TW 1820 before labour.

https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/bly ... perid=1602" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;