to want to re-read the whole Malory Towers and St Claires series?

[SlightlyJaded]

Oh the twins. And drippy Gwendoline Mary, and Darrell Rivers... although I can't quite remember who went to which school.

Loved MT and SC and CS.
Also loved the Lone Piners (Malcolm Saville)

But does anyone remember Mr Pinkwhistle? Or is that just me?

Oh I loved the Gemma and Sisters books,with them singing all those funked up folk tunes and nursery rhymes that their little brother Robin had 'swirled'. (at least I sort of assumed it meant that)and his bext friend Nigs on drums. And Uncle Phillip, who had been a top violinist with 'The Steen'.

I loved MT and StC too but not half as much as I loved the Sue Barton books. I wanted to be a nurse for years after reading the escapades of Sue, Kit and Connie, and of course the handsome Dr Bill Barry...(he of the lantern jaw, black hair and clear blue eyes...)

i was once in a local theatre group version of daisy pulls it off , it was so much fun we had the audience in hysterics because our cliff rescue scene was so bad it was good
i also sniggered every time i heard daisy pulls it off like the immature person i am
love this thread i have read every enid blyton book going and am very sad they have all dissapeared over the years , i loved the faraway tree ones i desperately wanted to visit the land of wishes and have tea with moonface

off to amazon to rekindle my eb obbsession

I still have my Sue Barton books, not sure if DD will read them. Someone once said to me they had read them several times and never realised they were set in the US, but it seemed fairly obvious to me.

Also remember Mr Pinkwhistle Clam.

Ah yes, the medical practice that they set up in Springfield, New England and Veazie Ann their housekeeper with her broad New England accent. I don't know if I would have realised in Student Nurse and Senior Nurse though, except for a few odd references to Connie's family. But when they went to New York to the Henry Street Nurses, it was pretty obvious (Marianna & the haunted house!)

I also loved the Wishing Chair with Chinky the Pixie

Iloved all of those books (although I never read the Chalet School ones - was I missing out there?), and wanted to be those characters, especially Darrell Rivers when she write the play; and I'm sure reading the Sue Barton books made me want to go into nursing.(didn't, though, in the end!)

Can't wait to revisit the Magic Faraway Tree series with DS2, although the changes that other posters have referred to sound a bit pants, to be honest. Does Silky the fairy still make honey biscuits, or have they been deleted because they're to blame for childhood obesity?

YADNBU. I re-read the whole Trebizon series earlier in the year when I had some time spare - tracked them down second hand on Amazon. I still own my St Clare's and MT collections, though they're at my parents' house. Now thinking about digging them out for a reading treat over Christmas.

I started with St Clare's, which was good as MT seemed similar but with more exciting characters. Although it did seem odd, even when I was younger, that what was effectively bullying of the wimpier/snobby girls like Gwendoline was allowed, but having a 'bad temper' like Darrell was an inexcusable crime. Being a girl and getting angry was obviously the worst thing EVER for Enid Blyton. But I'm prepared for them being really, REALLY out of date now and can cope.

For the first time in ages I haven't read the whole thread so sorry if this has been done to death in the middle.

LOL Clam - Wasn't Mr Pinkwhistle half person and half pixie, so he didn't gain acceptance from either community, and spent his time doing good deeds? Another classic from Enid Blyton.

I have read my Malory Towers and St Clares quite recently I'm afraid they are pretty rubbish. St Clares in particular - by the time the twins are in the third form they are so perfect they just drop out of the story. As someone said up thread, as an adult it reads very differently. The stereotypically dishonest, weaselly yet chic French characters...poor old Alma Pudden who has "trouble with her glands". I remember a sentence something like "Doris started to imitate Alma at a meal and the girls screamed with laughter. But there was no malice in the laughter now..." That's alright then

There are better characters in Malory Towers but there's also a hell of a lot of sneering at people if not bullying them when they don't "fit in" ie they are not identical to the core clique. Poor old Gwen. It's hard to see with some of them exactly why they are "baddies". Remember June, aged 14, who everyone hated because she was "domineering"?

Even Darrell is a bit nasty, particularly in the first book, she's ever so mean to Mary-Lou.

The Chalet School....now that is something else!! Can we have a thread for people who are re-reading? I've read all mine too often, would love to discuss them with like-minded people! My dad binned all mine when I went to uni but I have gradually bought them back, got a fantastic motley crew of new "retro" paperbacks, nasty 80s ones, one from the 60s, and some spanking new GGB ones that include literary analysis. I've got about 30, only 20 or so more to find....

If you haven't read them, do read all the books by L.M Montgomery (who wrote the 'Anne of Green Gables' series. her 'Emily of New Moon' etc etc are fab!

And for some really old boarding school stories (pre Enid Blyton)) check out Angela Brazil. I inherited a load from my own grandma and they are great:)

I love this thread...nice to see I'm not the only one who wanted to go to boarding school on the back of MT :)

If I had a girl, I would be making efforts to source Chalet School books; but I don't (so far?), I only have a DS and I can't see him being over-keen to read them.

Are there similar series for boys? I have a few very old boys' school story books, but I can't think of any series. Do boys like the Famous Five stuff? My bro and my DH never read books so I can't ask them; my Dad was a voracious reader but is Old so doesn't have any knowledge of more current stuff. Of course I have the Richmal Crompton "Just William" set but what about for older boys? (disclaimer - DS is not quite 3 so it really doesn't matter just yet!!)

AlarmBells

like minded people

The boys equivalent would be Jennings I guess, which I remember with immense fondness, but I don't think would go down well with the average 9 year old boy nowadays. Biggles is probably the most nostalgic option for men.

I loved Sue Barton as well: interesting proto-feminism in some of them (Sue insists on a year in Henry St before she gets married, and is narked that her friend Connie is dropping out of nursing to marry 'all that training, wasted'). Am gradually re-collecting those.

YANBU. I love St Clares and would happily re-read them all again.

But most of all I'd love to re-read the "Jill and her Ponies" books by Ruby Ferguson.

This thread has drawn me back into nostalgia! I desperately wanted to go to the Chalet School, even though my lack of any linguistic talent would have rendered me mute there 2/3 of the time. At about 13 I was a member of the Chalet School fan clubs and fascinated by the splitting and infighting (and the lesbian relationships of the key fans which prompted one of the splits!)

I was a bit of a boarding school junkie-still have crates of them, and last year tracked down all the Dimsie books again. My Antonia Forest books fell to bits, and are now sadly missed. I was horrified to find out how much it would cost to replace them.

Yes, horrible bullying of Alma Pudden being called Pudding...'If only Alma had laughed and said "yes, I am rather puddingy, aren't I!" the girls would have loved her for it...' yeah, right on Enid...

Yes in BLyton there is this simultaneous disapproval of bullying and regarding it as OK if the targets are 'misfits' in some way, which is a bit dodgy really. You don't get much of that in Brent-Dyer even when the 'misfit' girls are clearly driving their little playmates nuts, someone always shows up to bollock them about what a bad thing bullying is.

I'd completely forgotten about the Trebizon books until this thread. I remember thinking that they seemed very glamourous at the time.

Also read St Clare's, MT and the Chalet school. I think I liked the Chalet school better at the time.

I also read two books about a girl from Cornwall who goes to a boarding school for music students, she plays the violin. Does anyone remember what they were called?

Clam this picture always gets posted when anyone mentions Mr PinkWhistle so I thought I'd do it this time.

(arf at the customer review)

Marvellous, balloon! Hadn't seen this before. I have forwarded it directly to my sister, who used to read these stories to me in a whole host of silly voices. We would wet ourselves laughing.
I'm guessing the series has been withdrawn from sale a long time?

Sue Barton books are fabulous, I have them all. Also Anne and Emily books. Swish of the curtian should not be re read as an adult, it doesn't hold up well imo.

The chalet books are also hilarious but strangely compelling. People are always falling off cliffs. It in invariably a result of disobedience, not gross negligence from the staff and the girl always learns her lesson from it. Agree with whoever said that the babies are being trained by Truby King. But never mind, if you are at death's door then the Robin will sing to you and you will miraculously recover in seconds. Joey Bettany has no problems concieving twins if she fancies it.

or even conceiving

Oh at last a like minded thread - just been on one speculating on sleb twaddle (why oh why i ask myself).

Malory Towers, St Clare's and Trebizon were the best books EVER imo but i'm almost a bit scared to get them out again in case my illusions are busted . Have just bought my DD The Naughtisest girl in the school" series for Xmas, anyone remember those with Elizabeth Allen?

Have just finished the Faraway Tree series which she loved and are about to start "Little house on The Prairie" which i also loved as a child.

I also remember the Jill series as I was mad about horses as a kid and the Jemma series and well all the Noel Stretfield books really - wow a nostalgic trip down memery lane

Oh the little house books are just fab and still readable as an adult. I have the whole set - took me a while to track down a couple but managed in the end!

LadyinPink - I have the full Naughtiest Girl set (3, I believe) - they got adapted too for the different times. I saw an old one, and it was about wearing stockings or not; which adapted into the new one for coloured socks rather than white. There were a few other differences as well, iirc.

I have a couple of the Jill books too - again not the full series. I missed out!
Never had the Faraway Tree books, but I did have the Wishing Chair.

I have just been unpacking my children's books and have found some old treasures - I knew I had them but it's good to see them again!
Two I am very pleased to have - Bottersnikes and Gumbles, and Snugglepot & Cuddlepie, both Australian stories (oddly!) and both have been out of print for some time and are pretty expensive to buy now. I was looking at them several months ago, with a view to seeing whether or not there were more books in the series and was horrifed at the sort of price I'd have to end up paying! Anyone else remember Bottersnikes & GUmbles? the edition I have is UK Puffin, so it was published and available in the UK (not so the Snugglepot & Cuddlepie, that book actually came from Australia).

Never read the Little House on the Prairie, but I did love watching the tv series.