when the posh children in Enid Blyton have an "ice", I always thought it meant "ice lolly"...

[sadpapercourtesan]

...but I was reading "Five Go To Billycock Hill" last night, and they talked about having an "ice" in a tub with a little wooden spoon...surely that's an ice cream?!

Yes, I have too much time on my hands. I should be doing stuff

@HumphreyCobblers

My children loved Mr Pinkwhistle so much.

Have really enjoyed this thread, we were discussing the ‘Adventure’ series only a few days ago, as my FIL and I adored this series even though we are a generation apart. Her appeal endures, although my kids never really liked the FF. DD was very keen on the Mistletoe Farm and the boarding school series.

One thing that always annoys me, EB forgot that Mirabel was an amazing musician! She just turns into an obnoxious head of games and never picked up her violin again. Also Gladys forgets her skills as an accomplished interpreter of Shakespeare. I am similarly annoyed by the way Jill doesn’t take up the offer of a job from Captain Cholly-Sawcut and faffs around with silly jobs in Pony Jobs for Jill.

It is annoying when authors forget stuff. But the Jill books were especially odd because the in the first book Jill gets a pony called Danny Boy who is piebald - and in all the later ones (and reprints of the first) he's a black pony called Black Boy! Or possibly the other way round - it's 40 years ago now. But I had the whole set and at the age of ten it was just incomprehensible why the details changed from book one to book two!

As for EB - I absolutely adored the FF, Mallory Towers, the Secret xx series and the xx of adventure series. But I've tried to read them now to my children throughout their later primary years and they weren't in the least engaged. I ended up having to miss out great chunks of the text as she actually writes pages of descriptive waffle where nothing happens. Maybe today's kids need more instant gratification than we did, but I have to say I was bored reading it out to them - you can summarise the actual events of an entire chapter in about one page! I was so disappointed......

😆

It is annoying when authors forget stuff. But the Jill books were especially odd because the in the first book Jill gets a pony called Danny Boy who is piebald - and in all the later ones (and reprints of the first) he's a black pony called Black Boy! Or possibly the other way round - it's 40 years ago now. But I had the whole set and at the age of ten it was just incomprehensible why the details changed from book one to book two!
Yes, I noticed that. I think he was always Black Boy, but was definitely piebald in the first book. Have you seen these books recently written, about a grown-up Jill? ponybooks.shop/jemma-sparks-jill-books/

This thread has made me want to reread all my old Enid Blyton books. I loved Malory Towers (even now I'm in my 40s I still want to swim in that pool), St Clare's and FF but my favourite was The Secret Island, where the 4 kids ran away from their evil aunt and uncle and lived on an island in a lake. They had a cow and hens I think and made their own house out of willow. I wanted to live on it too when I was small.

I agree, I think the "Secret Island" was my all time favourite too

I had two different editions of The Naughtiest Girl, with different illustrations.

One describes Elizabeth as having blonde hair (as per the cover picture). The other describes her as having black curls - as per the cover of that book. It seems that they changed the text to suit an illustration, rather than illustrating the original text, which is really odd.

I'd pronounce Enid ENNid normally but everyone seems to say Eenid so...

Glad someone mentioned The Boy Next Door. It's my favourite one, together with Shadow the Sheepdog and one which I can't remember the title of in which the characters live in a cave behind a waterfall. .

I used to call her Eni too but probably misheard my dm who always got things wrong anyway

When I joined a new school at 8 and asked about my reading preferences was swiftly told the library had no EB books

Cave behind the waterfall is the Valley of Adventure.
One of the best Adventure ones.

@FlossieTeacakesFurCoat18

I also love the five find-outers! Fatty was a much better leader than bossy Julian.

Ah. But he didn't start out as leader. That was Larry as the eldest. In fact, in the first book the others didn't like Fatty much as he was boastful and spoiled They only let him join because they liked his dog. His only saving grace was that he actually WAS as clever as he claimed and solved the mystery. He wasn't happy with his nickname either. The others called him Fatty and he accepted it with surprisingly good grace I always felt.

It was later, when he redeemed his character (and blackmailed the gang with disguises and other cool tricks) that they made him leader. As in, "I wont share unless I'm I'm leader"

I think the color of Black Boy was changed discreetly at some point in the series as Jill became more of a serious rider. I seem to recall that it used to be considered a big disadvantage to have a piebald or skewbald horse in the ring for dressage (the coat color was distracting for the judges). Not sure if that is true nowadays though.

Or it could be just a mistake. Ann (Jill's friend) went from red-headed to blonde at some point as well!

I need to get a life, don't I?

Does anyone remember River of Adventure? Now that one really was incredibly racist (and gender-rigid). Smelly black child is given a much needed bath and follows the Fab Four around like an adoring pet dog. Indian boy-prince has long hair and gets ENDLESS negativity about it from other characters and the author. Etc. etc. The usual tropes.

I just did a quick google and it's still being sold. I can only assume that a LOT of it has been expurgated to make it fit for modern human consumption---wonder how much of the original book can be left?!

@HumphreyCobblers

I also loved her Tales of Brave Adventure, a retelling of King Arthur and Robin Hood. I re-read that many times and pondered the nobility of the characters in the face of their untimely ends.

Yy to Hollow Tree House.

Yes Humphrey! I loved the Robin Hood tales especially. The final chapter, "Beneath the Old Oak Tree" I think it was called, used to make me cry!!

Unfortunately Fatty’s initials spelt FAT - Frederick Algernon Trotteville. He was a rare example in EB’s books of a fat person actually being accepted and liked.

Pip was not very pleasant. I think he was jealous that Larry and Fatty were taller than him and could pass themselves off as workmen etc.

I had an original copy of Jill’s Gymkhana and he was Black Boy. The later books played fast and loose with some of the details in the original which made me really cross.

My copy eventually desiccated and I had a ceremonial composting, I couldn’t bear to bin it. I’d read it about eleventy billion times. A girl with no money who gets a pony. The dream.

Yes I was going to say the same- Black boy in my copy that I read in the 80s. He was always piebald too.

Jill was my favourite of the pony books. Then when i got a bit older Jinny Manders took over.

I had no idea how to say gymkhana, I though it was ‘gay mak hanna.’ Remember being laughed at.

Ah yes, Jinny. Another perfect heroine for girls with dreams but no possibilities.

Am I the only girl who didn't care about ponies? I was all about the magic lands and, later, the crime-solving!

I loved the magic lands and crime-busting too!

I loved the 'The Children of Cherry Tree Farm' I think it was and then They Children of Willow Farm'. I think they had visited Cherry Tree Farm and then they were so inspired they bought one of their own..... or something

I loved Tammylan. These days he'd be seen as a potential paedo and a perve, but I thought he was unique and amazing.

Oh Tammylan! i learned so much from those books.

The Swish of the Curtain was made into a series years ago with Sarah Greene in (of Blue Peter and Going Live fame - think she was with 5 star for ‘that’ call). It’s on YouTube 😁

Ice is crystal moth. Lots of kids were on it back then.