The Enid Blyton Society

Well done, Rob. I wonder if the pixie in question was Pip — after all, he was also responsible for giving the male blackbirds their golden beaks, painting little black bibs on the male sparrows, and teaching the stickleback to build a nest!

Pixie Pip certainly got around! I wonder of the idea for him originated in this poem? It certainly sounds like it! Can anyone confirm that its the same poem in Modern Teaching? I have the geography volume but not the one with poetry in! It would be interesting to see if it appeared under a different name originally, or if it was a totally different poem!

Rob Houghton wrote: Can anyone confirm that its the same poem in Modern Teaching?

Rob the Cave says the Modern Teaching one is a story not a poem.

11.Why Ladybirds Have Spots on Their Wings
Story: Vol.4 Specially Written

cheers
Sue

Thanks Sue - I was just going by what Fiona had written, and didn't think of checking it!

Rob, I looked in the Cave to see which Modern Teaching Volume it was in as I couldn't find it in my set. And as often happens when I get into the Cave I found that there is another set of Modern Teaching that I don't have & didn't realise existed. 'Modern Teaching in the Infant Schools'.

I have the Two years in the infant School set in both book volumes and loose leaf boxed sets so I thought I had all Enid's 'school curriculums'. Can't believe there are more I need to find?

Thats the great thrill of collecting Enid Blyton.

cheers
Sue

That's about like me, I think - mine is 'Modern Teaching' and I didn't realise it was different to 'Modern Teaching In The Infant School'! I also have a couple of the Teacher's Treasury books...so, like you, I have many more to find!

Thanks again, Rob. Next time I have a poetry question I will come straight to you! Was the wording I posted actually correct? The lady who posted it learned that at age four and is seventy now!

Also, thanks Sue. I didn't think to check the Modern Teaching entry further.

Fiona1986 wrote:Thanks again, Rob. Next time I have a poetry question I will come straight to you! Was the wording I posted actually correct? The lady who posted it learned that at age four and is seventy now!

Glad to help! I enjoy this kind of 'detective work!'

The lady remembered the poem pretty well, considering it was 66 years ago! The words are very slightly different.

Here's what she remembered -

One day a pixie small,
Sat on a toadstool under a wall,
Doing his work with a cross nibbed pen,
When a ladybird walked by, and then,
Suddenly his pen gave a splutter and scratch, and sent all over his book a patch,
Of inky blots and some of them fell,
Splash on the ladybirds back as well.
Goodness me it’s beginning to rain she cried,
And scurried off down the lane.
But she never guessed that her pretty spots, came from the pixies inky blots.


Here are the original words from 'Pipers Poems' -

Long ago when a pixie small
Sat on a toadstool under a wall,
Doing his sums with a cross-nibbed pen,
A ladybird hurried by - and then
The pixie's pen gave a splutter and scratch
And sent all over his book a batch
Of inky blots - and some of them fell
Splash on the ladybird's back as well!
"Goodness me, it's beginning to rain!"
She cried, and scurried on down the lane,
And never guessed that her pretty spots
Came from the pixie's inky blots!

(But it might upset her, if she knew,
So please don't tell her, whatever you do!)

She really was very close then! I'm sure she will be glad to know that. I can hardly remember what I had for lunch yesterday, let alone a poem from when I was four.