Short stories - Caterpillar Fur Coat - Help needed !

[Topsy-Turvy]

Hi all...new to the forum here and I'm looking for a particular compilation of stories by Enid Blyton. However it's not quite as thin as the annuals. It's perhaps 3 times the thickness (so I don't know what it is!). It is A4 in size, with a pink(ish) cover. I can only remember 2 stories in it!

One is about a pixie wanting a furcoat but not having enough money and later he/she gets it from the furry caterpillars. (Could be the Twinkly's New Fur Coat but I might be wrong as I know there are a few similar sounding stories...). Then, there is also another story about a youth who has to get through a forest or something to rescue a princess which no one could do and he used a silver cord to guide him to and back.

If the above 2 stories ring a bell let me know. I've seen a similar caterpillar coat story but it's not quite the same.

TT

[Raci]

Hi TT!

I've found a story about caterpillars fur coats but it doesn't sound the same as the way you describe so its possibly a different story:

It's called Caterpillars Party.
Some moths give a party for the caterpillars and a pixie called Tippy offers to make their furry coats clean and tidy for the party if in return the caterpillars give him there furry coats when they don't want them anymore. Tippy then opens a shop to sell them as warm furry rugs to keep the little pixies and elves warm during the winter months.

It is in a book from 1995 called The Smugglers Caves and other stories.
Inside it says originaly published as part of Enid Blyton's Holiday Book series.

[Topsy-Turvy]

Hi there Raci!! =) It's been a while since I've logged in, hence my silence...during which I see you've acquired the 1980 Annual I love the pictures inside as well as the stories....how do you find the Anenomes story? And boo hoo meanwhile I've just lost another bid on an EB story on eBay!

Spot on, this isn't the story I was looking for: it's the one which I mentioned was similar though...I read this story you did in one of the Purnell Sunshine Library books I think.

In the one I was thinking of, I think the pixie wanted a new coat and didn't expect to get it and in the end got it from the caterpillars. In fact I'm almost certain the title is T*** (whoever the pixie was!)'s New Coat. As for story number 2 however I'm clueless as to what the title might be!

Thanks so much for trying and letting me know though!

TT

[Raci]

Hi TT!

I really liked the story!
My favourite part of the annual though was one of the poems - see my post under poetry.
Very glad I bought the annual though!

If I come across any other stories that sound like the ones you describe I'll let you know.

[Topsy-Turvy]

Hi Raci,
Glad to know you liked the story. I also think it's a lovely story and quite a bit different from her usual style, though distinctively hers! I love her poetry as well though they are a bit hard to find (as well as exobitantly priced!!). Ah well I shall make do with "Fatty's portry"

Thanks for that...I'm especially keen on that silver cord story actually! I'm sure it was about a lad getting a princess and that's not a story you see EB writing often!

[Anita Bensoussane]

Hi Topsy-Turvy,

I think I might be able to help you to some extent with the two stories you're looking for. "Twinkle's Fur Coat" appears in Bedtime Annual 1968 (dated 1967 inside) and is indeed about an elf (female) who can't afford to buy a fur coat, so she makes one for herself out of the furry skins shed by the caterpillars.

The story about the silver cord is called "The Lost Princess" and it appears in Bedtime Annual 1970 (dated 1969 inside). It's about a page-boy named Gladsome who searches for a lost princess. A silver cord guides him through the forest, and he also makes use of a golden scarf which makes the wearer invisible.

Several of the Bedtime Annuals - or perhaps all of them, for all I know - were later republished as compilations and it's possible that the book you want is one of these. I have one called Enid Blyton's Big Story Book, which contains two Bedtime Annuals (though not the ones described above), with all the original illustrations. It's a thick, annual-sized book with 157 pages. I've seen other similar compilations and, just to complicate matters, I think they were called Enid Blyton's Big Story Book as well. However, you may be able to locate the exact book you want over the Internet if you email sellers first to ask about the contents. It's worth asking about the contents even if you decide to go for the Bedtime Annuals, as some of these do not have a date on the cover and sellers sometimes describe a 1970 annual as a 1969 one, going by the date inside.

Hope this helps!

Anita

[Topsy-Turvy]

Argh...I can't log in for long!

Anita thank you thank you thank you very much you are spot on for both stories exactly (the memories are coming back - cord, scarf and all - did Gladsome get together with the princess??). I could kiss you! Or in true Enid Blyton style dance around you in delight. I shall have to look out for those annuals (they seem very rare!!). I only have some of those in the late 70s/80s.

Raci doesn't the 2nd story sound enticing? Don't contest with me on eBay ok? heheh Sigh and yet again I've lost out on another bid. I suppose I should be happy really. I'm saving money

[Anita Bensoussane]

Hi Topsy-Turvy,

I can just picture you doing a little jig of delight! Hope you find the book/books you want. The Bedtime Annuals come up reasonably regularly on eBay, though I expect some are harder to find than others.

[Topsy-Turvy:] "The memories are coming back - cord, scarf and all - did Gladsome get together with the princess??"

That would be telling! I didn't want to give away too many details because hopefully you will soon have the joy of rediscovering the stories for yourself. Good luck with your search!

Anita

[Topsy-Turvy]

I can just picture you doing a little jig of delight!

Oh yes indeed, see me dancing all around the room, strumming my imaginary banjo and yelling at the top of my voice "Hurrah!!" I just HOPE I can find such old annuals that's all! It's nice to at least get the name of the story.

That would be telling! I didn't want to give away too many details because hopefully you will soon have the joy of rediscovering the stories for yourself.

Awww you are very sweet...I really hope that it won't be too long before I find it. I suppose it's additionally difficult since I want it in its old form, not the modern versions in the reprints you get these days! The stories don't seem quite the same somehow! But I somehow doubt these 2 stories have made it to the modern versions.

[Raci]

Raci doesn't the 2nd story sound enticing? Don't contest with me on eBay ok? heheh Sigh and yet again I've lost out on another bid. I suppose I should be happy really. I'm saving money

Hi TT!



As if I would outbid you

Let me know when you've got copies and I wont even look til then - LOL
No problem at all!

[Topsy-Turvy]

As if I would outbid you

Let me know when you've got copies and I wont even look til then - LOL
No problem at all!

Raci I was just pulling your leg!! No offence meant honestly just admiration at your poweress in eBay hehe *hands Raci a bunch of anenomes as a peace offering*

I must say though in all my extensive, ahem, eBay research, I haven't stumbled across many 1960s+ Annuals.

[Raci]

No problem

What beautiful anemones!
*takes a breath of beautifully scented air and then explodes into a round of hayfever induced sneezing* LOL!

I haven't really been looking at the annuals - so don't know which have been listed.
The only one I've bought is the one mentioned in earlier posts - Trying to buy all the books at the moment (I think I've only got 9 of the full length stories to track down) but then I'm buying anything that sounds good too.

I think my wallet wishes I'd never got internet connection!

[Topsy-Turvy]

Hi Anita/Raci,
Just thought I would post this to say I'm so pleased as I've (finally!) found The Lost Princess (excuse the pun) I managed to buy a copy of the 1969 bedtime annual (they seemed so much thicker in those days) and it had that story and also The Birthday Spell which I had forgotten about. I love that story and the pictures that go with it...give it a very different feel.

I think with The Lost Princess it's one of the few "romances" I've known EB to write

[Moonraker]

I am amazed by Anita's knowledge of all things Blyton. You really do "come up with the goods", Anita.

The downside (for me, financially. that is) is that I now want to add these titles to my collection. I only ever used to collect the "mystery" genre books, but thanks to you I now have Wishing Chair, Faraway Tree, Girls' school stories to boot.

When funds allow (doesn't your money run away from you, trailing eBay)I must start collecting some "pixie" type books!

Will I ever grow up?

[Anita Bensoussane]

Cheers, Moonraker . No special "knowledge" required - I just enjoy reading the books .

Yes, collecting Enid Blyton can be an expensive hobby but luckily I kept all my childhood books and, although most of them are paperbacks, they have stood up to many a re-reading.

As you liked the Faraway Tree and Wishing-Chair books, I'm sure you'd enjoy The Enid Blyton Book of Brownies, if you haven't already read it. More magical lands and strange characters, this time in a story that is less episodic - the book is a full length novel, dealing with a journey and a quest. Marvellous stuff!

[Moonraker:] "Will I ever grow up? "

I certainly hope not!

So glad you found the annual, Topsy-Turvy . As a child, my own favourite stories in that book were "A Tale of the Blue Eyed Cat" and "Tale of a Tail." I also liked the poem "The Mary Jane," even if it might not be by Blyton!

Anita