On Nov 11th 2018, in 'Secret Messages,' Laura requested some info on EB stories - namely one about a girl who became bald, the passing on of good deeds, and the collecting of leaves for luck.
EB short stories are numerous and it also has to be remembered that many plots have been repeated, but with slightly different scenarios and oftentimes, alternate sexes.
Tracking down items from the 'Landmark' books is not so difficult - for instance if someone enquired after a 'Lucy White there shouldn't be much of a problem locating her. Alec Grant? No doubt he'd be hunted out in the space of a few minutes, but when it comes to the short stories there are a myriad of different names and so many identical plots.
Laura's request might have brought up a few distant memories for many Blytonites, but where to find any particular item can be an exercise in patience. A bald girl? Well, that'd be a rare subject in any children's tale, and there's also a difficulty with titles because they don't necessarily represent an actual subject all that concisely. If the story was dubbed 'Girl With A Bald Head' it would simplify things, but unfortunately that's not the case.
A boy features in an excellent example of Enid Blyton reusing her plots, and this is the occasion when Gordon became bald ..... and as with girls, I don't think we'd find many hairless lads around either. The theme in this case is slightly different from Laura's recollection because the guy meets an imp or goblin in the garden who obligingly robs him of his hair with the conception that Gordon wishes he was bald. Many of the EB story titles begin with 'He' or 'She,' and this particular account is labelled 'He Wouldn't Brush His Hair.'
But ... where's the bald girl?
I'm afraid there's no 'She Wouldn't Brush Her Hair' so we have to look further. 'The Girl Who Became Bald?' 'Susan ..... Joan ..... Molly ..... Loses Her Locks?' No way! The female in question hides under the heading 'Have You Done Your Hair, Lucy?'
There's an infinite number of titles in the EB collection so perhaps the best way of locating long-lost narratives is by memory. In one story, a boy and girl (I think) gather three hundred and sixty five leaves for their mother's (I think) birthday. A pleasant present indeed and read many times in the past, but where could it be? Barney suggested searching the Fabulous Cave - and from there a hint was obtained whereupon 'Book Of The Year' revealed 'The Lovely Present.' There has to be a duplicate plot somewhere however because the particular story has only a small boy in it.
A vague memory persists about the passing on of good deeds with 'apples' involved, but this one's elusive to date. There are repeats of the general idea (naturally) such as Chapter #11 in 'Rubbalong Tales' amongst others, but as is usually the case, somebody will eventually recall the exact tale.
As far as baldies go - He's in 'Seventh Holiday Book,' and She's in 'Water-Lily Story Book.'
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