The reason as to why Enid Blyton's authorship is so popular is always worthy of speculation and recently after looking at a couple of books, a few salient points were picked out for comment. Also, as it's coming up to almost twenty years since Noddy's name-origin was investigated in the now defunct GH Mag, perhaps a modern Blytoneer or dedicated researcher can throw some light on the subject.
First - there's a selection of tales with the odd poem for younger ones, entitled: 'The Little Folks' Bumper Book' and one or two stories were selected for comment. First up is 'Tim the Tortoise,' a title that aligns with the Blyton mould. The plot is almost nil ..... Peter's tortoise is discovered upside down in one of Daddy's garden trenches, so the lad turns his pet the right way up. There's not much else and the question is: How would Enid Blyton have written it? Personally, I think there'd probably have been an altercation somewhere and a more satisfying ending such as Peter discovering something the tortoise has picked up. A five-pound note perhaps, or a jewel lost from Mummy's ring the week before. Blyton stories are rarely mundane.
The other tale by Agnes Grozier Herbertson could at first glance be mistaken for an EB narrative because it begins: 'The Raggedy Man lived by Too-Tiny Hill' and included in the story, is a 'Turn-Over Tree' plus an elf called 'So-Sad.' There's more of a plot to this one because the Raggedy Man and the So-Sad Elf have to perform a task that involves turning a wheel to raise the Too-Tiny-Hill for some reason or other. When this is achieved, the story ends. It can boast a few short verses - a factor relating to other Enid Blyton tales such as the 'Faraway Tree,' which contains a few odd rhymes courtesy of the Saucepan Man; however, I couldn't detect any of the little 'quirks' that EB adds to her novels, although Herbertson created some quite Blytonish names.
In another book entitled 'Short Stories For Children,' she penned 'The Run-Along Man Sells Spoons' and in it one can find 'Dimply Common,' 'Shy Elf,' 'Bounce the gnome,' and the 'Shoo-Shoo Wizard' ...... shades of Blyton's Ho-Ho Wizard (Wishing Chair). There's a degree of repetitiveness in it though and the plot isn't all that intricate - the Run-Along Man simply meets up with a little girl who accompanies him to his abode. She ends up moving in and the story concludes with her mending the Run-Along Man's Sunday coat. A happy arrangement, but without the Enid Blyton twist or philosophical ending.
Possibly some of the rather old-fashioned prose (by today's standards) in slightly more ancient tales may have initiated the massive migration to EB's all-pervading realm. The following excerpt is from 'Uncle Jack's Story' (Bumper Book):
"And do you forgive me, sir?" I said.
"Freely my boy," he said, "as I hope to be forgiven; and let this be a lesson to you. From today, never dabble with wrongdoing however small it may appear; abstain from all appearances of evil. And always remember that the second wrong step is easier than the first, therefore beware of the first. Go back to bed now, my boy, and resolve that, by God's help, you will endeavour to live an upright and honourable life."
I can't envisage Enid Blyton writing that way. Perhaps youngsters of the late 1800's and early 1900's had more command of English than we did. Would very young children know what 'abstain' means? Or -
"Thank you sir, you have shown me the baseness of my action ...." 'baseness?'
Enid Blyton has often been accused of using 'easy language' but as inferred above, this tendency may form part of her appeal.
One of the most famous little men in the world appears to have been invented before Noddy was a twinkle in the Blyton eye. Herbertson's tale previous to 'The Run-Along Man Sells Spoons' is all about Noddy and it begins with "Noddy was quite a little boy." It goes on to relate how he lost his ball - one with a teapot painted on it - and then found it again (The Teapot Ball). Noddy, the one and only, appeared in 1949 although 'Tom Noddy' featured in a Teacher's World contribution and in a few other publications which include 'Sunny Stories' (of course), and a 1944 compilation of naughty children (EB specialises in recalcitrant kiddies). Noddy's name was also bestowed on a Blyton gnome.
As postulated back in 2000 - might EB have helped herself to the Herbertson character's name?
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