Wayne Pyer wrote:There are quite a few good ones to choose from, but as a child I loved the feel of Rat-a-Tat.
I'll second The Rat-a-Tat Mystery. The whole atmosphere of being trapped by the snow in a wonderful big old house with a not too terrifying mystery going on outside always enthralled me. Other than those already mentioned I always feel that The Secret Seven (the first book) had a great wintry atmosphere as well. I always remember the boys dressed up in sheets pretending to be snowmen and Janet bringing in her homemade Blackcurrant tea and explaining that if anyone was about to get a cold they should drink it and then they wouldn't. Brilliant stuff.
"What a lot of trouble one avoids if one refuses to have anything to do with the common herd. To have no job, to devote ones life to literature, is the most wonderful thing in the world. - Cicero
There are great recommendations coming in here some which I had forgotten and am now going to read asap!
Forum Members recommended Wintery Reads....,just remembered another good one for 7th place!
1.The Mystery of Tally Ho Cottage
2.Five Get into a fix
3.Mystery of the Strange Bundle
4.Six Bad Boys
5.The Rat-a-tat-Mystery
6.The Secret Seven (1st book)
7.The Mystery of the Secret Room
8.......
" A kind heart always brings its own reward," said Mrs. Lee.
- The Christmas Tree Aeroplane - Society Member
Lucky Star wrote:I always remember the boys dressed up in sheets pretending to be snowmen and Janet bringing in her homemade Blackcurrant tea and explaining that if anyone was about to get a cold they should drink it and then they wouldn't.
I've always liked the detail about the blackcurrant tea too, and the idea of the boys posing as snowmen strikes me as ingenious - like Peter dressing up as a Guy in Good Work Secret Seven or Fatty disguising as a waxwork in The Mystery of the Missing Necklace. It's bitterly cold as I type this, and the idea of going outside draped in a sheet (albeit with overcoat, scarf, etc. underneath) and standing in a garden keeping watch for an hour or so doesn't appeal at all, even if the most mysterious events were going on at a house in my neighbourhood! Much more fun to read about than to do!
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.
"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.
I vote for Rat-a-Tat, too. It's my normal pain relieve book when I'm down with my usual once-a-winter cold. Apart from that, I love to read the FF books set in the spring, as an eager longing for better weather if you will.
Not Blyton, but a wonderful winter read all the same is Kenneth Graham's "The Wind in the Willows".
Cheers from a snowed under
Dick Kirrin
"You just never knew what would happen. It made life exciting, of course - but it did spoil a cycling tour!"
Anita Bensoussane wrote:The Mystery of the Strange Bundle for me - it has cosy winter scenes, plenty of humour, things to puzzle over and hot chocolate and peppermint bull's-eyes galore.
And those red-hot braziers that the night-watchmen sit by!
Anita Bensoussane wrote:The Mystery of the Strange Bundle for me - it has cosy winter scenes, plenty of humour, things to puzzle over and hot chocolate and peppermint bull's-eyes galore.
And those red-hot braziers that the night-watchmen sit by!
Anita Bensoussane wrote:The Mystery of the Strange Bundle for me - it has cosy winter scenes, plenty of humour, things to puzzle over and hot chocolate and peppermint bull's-eyes galore.
And those red-hot braziers that the night-watchmen sit by!
Seconded (or thirded!). It's a wonderful story.
I agree with all of you, The Mystery of the Strange Bundle is a great winter read and so is The Mystery of Tally-Ho Cottage.
'Go down to the side-shows by the river this afternoon. I'll meet you somewhere in disguise. Bet you won't know me!' wrote Fatty.
Five Go Adventuring Again is set at Christmas and has plenty of snow so would seem appropriate. I've noticed that FGAG doesnt seem to rate highly when people do lists of favourite FF books, but I have always enjoyed it. I like the bit where they have to mystery of the writing on the parchment, and Mr Rolland is a first rate baddie too, maybe second only to Rooky in vileness....
That's a lot of wonderful books! Everything sounds lovely. I can't think of any other Christmas reads. I'd better go through my book collection and try to think of some more.
"How funny grown-ups are!"said Anne, puzzled."I'm quite certain I shall be thrilled to see a sliding panel or a trap-door even when I'm a hundred".
Five Get into A Fix would have been almost at par with Five Go Adventuring Again but for the fact that George had laid sick in bed on Christmas day.
Stephen I.
Enikyoga wrote:Five Get into A Fix would have been almost at par with Five Go Adventuring Again but for the fact that George had laid sick in bed on Christmas day.
Stephen I.
Maybe that was prophesised in the New Testament. Mary and George? Second thoughts, maybe not.
'The Christmas Book', of course, although not strictly a novel, and another vote for 'The strange Bundle'. also 'The mystery of the Secret Room' and a few chapters of 'Six Cousins Again'.
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'
I would add the other Christmas hol Find-Outer stories - The Mystery of the Hidden House, The Mystery of Tally-Ho Cottage and the Mystery of the Strange Messages. The Rat-a-Tat Mystery would also be a good one - a lovely post-Christmas tale. You might also want to add the Six Bad Boys.
Just an idea:- Wouldn't it be better if someone can organise a voting list of the Christmas reads, and then decide which book to read. I mean if we only have trouble selecting one book.
"How funny grown-ups are!"said Anne, puzzled."I'm quite certain I shall be thrilled to see a sliding panel or a trap-door even when I'm a hundred".
Enikyoga wrote:Five Get into +A Fix would have been almost at par with Five Go Adventuring Again but for the fact that George had laid sick in bed on Christmas day.
Stephen I.
Lovely to hear from you Stephen!....hope its not too cold wherever you are!!
ps.dont know if youve ever mentioned it before,but I wonder,what is your favourite Enid Blyton book of all time ,and why?
warmest regards
Pete
" A kind heart always brings its own reward," said Mrs. Lee.
- The Christmas Tree Aeroplane - Society Member
Wouldn't it be better if someone can organise a voting list of the Christmas reads, and then decide which book to read.