The Enid Blyton Society

is it true that they are out of print if so why and how have we let this happen?

Kirrin wrote:is it true that they are out of print if so why and how have we let this happen?

Anita?....................

I expect Viv knows more about it than I do but, briefly, as various TV adaptations of Noddy have been made, new Noddy books (based on specially-written stories from the TV series) have appeared in the shops. I've never checked it out for myself, but I've read somewhere (on Viv's ginger-pop site, I think) that all the Noddy books currently in print are based on the TV stories, and are not Blyton originals . Now, while I'm not a fan of Noddy (as Moonraker well knows ) I still lament the loss of the originals simply because Enid Blyton fans like to have the stories that were written by Blyton herself. Those stories should not be replaced completely by the work of other authors, though personally I have no objection to new Noddy tales being written as long as a) the originals remain in print and b) it is made clear - on the front cover and spine - which tales are the originals and which are later additions. As I never enjoyed Noddy, even as a small child, I wonder why we need more of him at all , but I accept that there's something about him that appeals to many young readers/viewers (the illustrations, perhaps? )

Anita

I spoke to Pam Ally about this at the last Blyton Day, and she was suprised that Noddy books were out-of-print, and she works for Chorion! She seemed to think that Collins were supposed to keep them in print....

Gillian Baverstock hadn't appreciated it either, and looked at my non-Blyton Noddy selection with horror 2 weeks ago when she visited Ginger Pop. In the shop, as with the website, I have a "health warning" notice up so that I am not misleading my customers.

As with Famous Five, I'm not so against new stories being written as original stories being discontinued. I regard that as asset stripping!

It is on my autumn things-to-do list to contact Pam Ally again & find out what should be the position with Collins. Noddy will be having his 60th birthday in a couple of years time. Let's hope he will be there to celebrate it!

so did the bbc adapt all the original noddy series not that terrible ,make way for noddy, series I spoke to a young fan the other year and he didnt even know they were books!

I have never ever read a Noddy book,but I am going to read the first one and see what I think.
He certainly seems to divide opinion.Has anybody else never read any Noddy books?

Anyway,will read the first one and see if it's as bad as some say -you're welcome to join me in my mini readathon as long as it doesn't make you nod - off...

If you have small children and they don't like Noddy, you are very lucky. This insipid wooden doll with its nodding head crowned with cap and bell, with its taxi and its friend Big Ears, has opened a rift between parents and children which time alone may heal.

If children enjoy Noddy, is that all that matters? Miss Blyton, of course, wouldn't think so. By writing ruthlessly down to children, she does not merely bore and antagonize grown-ups. Her Noddy books also fail to stretch the imagination of children, to enlarge their experience, to kindle wonder in them or awaken their delight in words. They contain nothing incomprehensible even to the dimmest child, nothing mysterious or stimulating. They never suggest new and exciting fields to conquer.

(Excerpt from 'A Parent's Lament' in Encounter Magazine — 1958)

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Buyer beware!

The latest edition (autumn 2016) is a beautifully produced book, but has 40 pages and not the original 60. It is written as one long story, without chapters.

Some people may consider that the replacement of the good golliwogs with monkeys is thoroughly racist.

However, read it as the story of a refugee making his way in a new land and finding out the role of work and money in society, and you have citizenship for four year olds.

I wonder what you will make of the court case at the end?

Happy reading

Viv

pete9012S wrote:I have never ever read a Noddy book,but I am going to read the first one and see what I think.
He certainly seems to divide opinion.Has anybody else never read any Noddy books?

Moi aussi, Pete!

The first Noddy book is, in my opinion, one of the strongest - detailing how Noddy ran away from the person who carved him and sets up home in Toyland, and also how he is made to feel like an outcast because he isn't a toy.

In fact, there are many Noddy books with excellent plots, in my opinion.

I've read them all, though some are fresher in my memory than others, and of course, some are better than others.

Some of the best ones, in my opinion, are -

Noddy and His Car

Here Comes Noddy Again

Well Done, Noddy!

Noddy and the Magic Rubber

Noddy Meets Father Christmas

Do Look Out, Noddy!

You're A Good Friend, Noddy!

Noddy Has An Adventure

Noddy and the Bunkey

Though I think most of the 'Noddy Classic Library' are excellent - IF you buy the pre-1980's versions!

I can confirm that Golliwog is still in the stories as late as 1992 edition. Mine are all from 1986-1992 edition published by Sampson Low and MacDonald. But none in 1996 edition.

Well on the cusp of my 49th birthday I have just read my very first Noddy book,Noddy Goes to Toyland.

He has always reminded me subliminally of Pinocchio (1883). Are there any great similarities between the two characters? I haven't read enough Noddy tales to say myself.

I wasn't expecting to enjoy this story after all the negativity/hostility/antipathy hoo hah etc etc that surrounds poor Noddy,but enjoy it I did.

I can really imagine back in time that if I was a young reader with a vivid imagination I would have really enjoyed the word imagery along with vibrant colourful depictions of Toyland that are presented.

What young child would not secretly want to go to Toyland themselves,or which child has never looked admiringly at their toys wishing fervently they could come to life?

I have to make an admission here,that although publicly I looked down upon my younger brother Mike's Bimbo annuals,when he was not around I secretly read them to see what made him chortle out loud and enjoy them so much!

Noddy starts off primarily because he is lonely.He wants company.I don't know how his relationship with Big-Ears will pan out in the future,but in this 1st adventure Big-Ears is extremely kind and generous to little Noddy.
He clothes him and arranges for him to have somewhere to live.

Noddy has fun and adventure in Toyland,but also faces the Judge who will ultimately decide if Noddy is a toy and also if he can stay in Toytown.

Excellent stuff.The detractors and those who tried to ban these early works should be made to have a spell in Toyland themselves,where they may perhaps just possibly get their joie de vivre back!

Can't wait to read the next book now - possibly hooked..

Here's my short pictorial review:

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Glad you enjoyed it, Pete! As a child I loved the illustrations - glad to see you have some golliwogs in your pictorial review! It seems a bit of an insult to Golliwogs that they have now become monkeys!

In the first book I loved the details such as how Noddy ran away from Old Man Carver because he had carved a fierce lion, how Big Ears took Noddy in and helped him, and how when building his 'House-for-One' Noddy wanted to put the roof on before building the walls!

Hope you enjoy the others. As I said earlier, some are better than others but all have something to recommend them.

I've never read Noddy either, I much preferred Rupert Bear in my young childhood and still do. I have sometimes toyed (no pun intended) with the idea of collecting them but I've never got round to it, there are so many other books I want instead. Liked your pictorial review though Pete.

The first Noddy book is one of my favourites — there's the charm of seeing how Noddy first meets Big-Ears, comes to Toyland, buys his clothes and builds his own house, and then the very real tension over whether or not he'll be allowed to stay. Even very young children can relate to the theme of fitting in, who's "in" and who's "out" of a group, and the fear of not belonging. And of course, those beautiful colourful illustrations are classics in themselves. Glad you enjoyed it, Pete.

I've never read a Noddy book either. I've nothing against the little chap but he's not a character that appeals to me. If I had been introduced to him as a child then maybe I would think differently. Whenever I see Noddy books at book fairs I totally ignore them.