The Enid Blyton Society

How can I tell which Enid Blyton Brer Rabbit stories are direct translations of Joel Chandler Harris' Brer Rabbit stories and which are Blyton originals? For the translations, is there a listing showing the Blyton Brer Rabbit story title and the corresponding Harris story title?

Hi Biffdowney — welcome to the forums!

I haven't heard of anyone doing a complete comparison of the two authors' Brer Rabbit stories, though that doesn't mean it hasn't been done before. Those with the same or similar titles would most likely be the same story (I know "Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby" is definitely one that Harris wrote and Blyton retold), but one would have to read them all to be sure. Both Harris and Blyton were quite prolific with their Brer Rabbit tales, so a full study would be a pretty big undertaking. I'd be interested to know if anyone has done one too!

Just to give you an idea at least, you can see all the titles of Harris's Brer Rabbit stories by clicking "Look inside" and choosing "Table of Contents" here: The Complete Tales of Uncle Remus

And in this website's Cave of Books, you can see the contents of all the (many!) collections of Brer Rabbit stories by Enid Blyton. Many of the titles will be repeated in later compilations, though. Perhaps someone else here will know the actual number of Brer Rabbit stories she wrote in total?

Hope this is at least some help to you.

Welcome, Biffdowney!

Unfortunately my copy of The Enid Blyton Society Journal Number 49 isn't accessible at the moment, but it contains an in-depth study (by David Chambers) of Brer Rabbit. David states how many Brer Rabbit stories Enid Blyton wrote/retold and mentions that some tales are more Enid Blyton than Joel Chandler Harris. I don't think he gives a complete listing, but no doubt the article would be of some help.

Thanks for the responses...how can I obtain a copy of The Enid Blyton Society Journal Number 49?

Welcome Biffdowney. Journal 49 is still available in the online shop where all the Society booklets etc. are listed. http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/shop.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks for the link...I have ordered a copy...

I only knew the Uncle Remus versions as a child - and loved them. I have never read Enid's versions.

biffdowney wrote:Thanks for the link...I have ordered a copy...

I'm afraid I have just refunded you as you paid the UK price and that doesn't even cover the postage to America. The Brer Rabbit contribution is only a brief seven line letter from Sunny Stories, but if you still want the Journal you will need to order it again with Worldwide postage.

Sorry about that...I'll reorder with the correct postage...Thanks for making this item available..

Tony Summerfield wrote:The Brer Rabbit contribution is only a brief seven line letter from Sunny Stories...

I was pointing Biffdowney in the direction of David Chambers' article on the Brer Rabbit stories.

Moonraker wrote:I only knew the Uncle Remus versions as a child - and loved them. I have never read Enid's versions.

tut, tut, tut!



Do you own any? The three 'Dean' volumes are well worth having!

No, I haven't. They're not high on my priority list.

I find them interesting because Enid's style is so different - more slangy and American. She writes in a style similar to the originals (but easier to read!) and it's interesting to see how versatile she was.

Just reviving this thread because I was wanting to ask this question after seeing Anita's recent contribution to the Hangman game — a reference to a story in which Brer Rabbit meets Enid Blyton's dog Bobs! — and decided I'd better not drag Hangman off topic...

Out of interest, does anyone know when and how Enid came to start writing Brer Rabbit stories? Obviously she was familiar with Joel Chandler Harris's originals, but what got her started writing her own versions? It would be tempting to think maybe she was looking for something to appeal to an American audience, but she's never really been popular in America. Or was she just wanting to offer her British and Commonwealth readers something a bit "different"?

I read somewhere — in the Cave, I think — that Enid in fact wrote more stories about Brer Rabbit than about any other character, which intrigues me further. He must really have sparked her imagination, especially as I can't think of any other cases where she takes an existing character from folklore (even English folklore, let alone African-American) and writes story after story about him. She certainly did retell stories of Robin Hood and King Arthur and other legendary characters, but nowhere near as prolifically as she did with Brer Rabbit!

So how did that all come about... or is this the topic for a lot of research and a Journal article?

I've often wondered the same thing! I'm also still not entirely sure which were original stories and which invented by Enid - although I know stories such as the tar-baby story were originals.

Enid also rewrote the Babar stories by Jean Brunhoff, in 1941...but these were never extended beyond the one book, of course.