1974 Story Book - Message from Enid?

[pete9012S]

I won the book below for 25p!
It's just arrived. It's large, is in great condition and has a great variety of stories in it.
I can't find this book in the cave - is it in there?

It has an intro that sounds like it was written by Enid Blyton herself.
Obviously that was not possible in 1974.
Is the into taken from another earlier book, or have the publishers put together an intro on Enid's behalf???

The seller's description:

ITEM : BOOK / ANNUAL = ENID BLYTON'S STORY BOOK - 1974 EDITION HARDBACK - VERY RARE
PUBLISHER : WORLD DISTRIBUTORS

SIZE : 11" INCHES x 8" INCHES

YEAR : 1974

COVER TYPE : HARDBACK

NUMBER OF PAGES : 158

[Debbie]

I had a couple of similar looking books given to me in late 1970s.

What i do notice is the signature in the introduction is actually "Enid Blyton's", which may be their way of acknowledging that she didn't actually write it?

[pete9012S]

Yes, good point Debbie - thank you.

[Lenoir]

It looks like it is a collection of stories that Enid Blyton wrote. For example, "Brer Rabbit sells his family" sounded familiar to me and I see it is one of the stories in "Brer Rabbit Again".
Some of the older years could be the years the stories were written.

[Courtenay]

It just occurred to me — Enid herself, in her Teachers World magazine columns, continued writing letters from Bobs the Dog for several years after her real dog's death, so young readers would have had no idea that Bobs was "writing" from beyond the grave.

Now it seems that 6 years after Enid's own death, her publishers, likewise not wanting young readers to know the sad truth, had Enid "write" an introduction from beyond the grave...

The mind boggles

[Anita Bensoussane]

A real bargain, Pete!

That letter appears to be an adapted version of a letter from an earlier compilation of stories (or it might even be made up of pieces from several letters). Enid Blyton's Bedtime Annual 1968, published in 1967, has a letter with a similar text (though only certain parts of it are exactly the same). At a quick glance, the contents of your book look much the same as the contents of that annual, Pete, but with some additions from other annuals:

https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/boo ... %281968%29

[Splodj]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Distributors

Some information about the publishers World Distributors (Manchester) Limited.

[Katharine]

Well done on your latest purchase Pete.

[pete9012S]

Thanks Anita, that explanation sounds most plausible.
Fascinating info Splodj - thanks.

Yes, 25p is a great price Katharine - don't know if I will ever better that!!!

Frustratingly, Vintage Enid Blyton‘s Bedtime Annual 1967 on ebay for sale has the intro, but I can't hover or zoom to make it larger and more legible!

Vintage Enid Blyton‘s Bedtime Annual 1967
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/143940297428 ... R6bv-_HYYA

[Anita Bensoussane]

I can't post images, Pete, but the letter in Enid Blyton's Bedtime Annual 1967 says:

Dear Children,

Here is my very own annual, written specially for you. It is a happy book, full of fun and laughter, so I am sure it will give you many joy-filled hours.

You may already know some of the people in these stories: there's Mr. Goofy and Brer Rabbit and, of course, sly old Brer Fox. Their new adventures are more exciting than any you've read. You'll meet too the Swallow Fairy and the Silver Merman, and Twinkles, who made for herself the most wonderful fur coat in the whole world. And, of course, you'll laugh at Impy's tricks and feel sorry for Teddy, who's always in trouble in the nursery.

But this is only a small part of what's in store for you. This big book is full of wonderful things: games and puzzles, pictures to colour, and poems to read. There are pictures in colour too, on every page. Look for yourself: it's like a glimpse into fairyland.

Here's wishing you many happy hours reading!

Enid Blyton

Both letters have "Twinkles" by mistake, instead of "Twinkle".

[Anita Bensoussane]

Looking again at the letter in your book, Pete, the parts about Derek and about the nature notebook are taken from the letter in Enid Blyton's Bedtime Annual 1970 (published in 1969), with slight rewording. Enid Blyton died on 28th November 1968, though it's just about feasible that the stories were chosen in 1968 and Enid wrote an introduction then (some of the introduction is the same as introductions for previous Bedtime Annuals anyway). As we've speculated, it's still possible that the introductions were written by someone else. Or maybe they were based on introductions written by Enid for earlier short story compilations?

Incidentally, the illustration (of boy, girl, teddy bear, bird and plants) is taken from Enid Blyton's Bedtime Annual 1970, as are the endpapers. The artist is Jo Berriman.

[pete9012S]

Many thanks indeed for all that extra information Anita - most interesting.

I can imagine a child reading my 25p book in 1974 thinking Enid was alive and well!

[Anita Bensoussane]

Yes, they probably would think that! And ironically, they (or their relatives) would no doubt have paid rather more than 25p for the book!