Mr Galliano's Circus Story Collection (Bumper Short Story Collections)

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The book draws slowly to a close with a pilgrimage by none other than the Wonder-Girl - but she's not off to Mecca. The staunch Lotta, together with a lovely doll that Jimmy has given her, is off on her fiery horse to experience an adventure which we all hope will have a happy ending. Finale! notes: The first dustwrapper had a plain white spine with just the price in blue on it. A new edition in November 1939 @ 2/- had a picture onlay on blue cloth boards and came in a glassine wrapper, 8 X 5¾ It was reprinted in February 1940 @ 3/- with the dustwrapper changed so that the area outside the onlay was in white with blue writing and with a blue line drawing on the spine. It was reprinted with a newly designed wrapper in March 1942 @ 5/- in a slightly larger edition, 8¼ X 5¾ with a plain white spine. This was replaced by a pictorial coloured spine in February 1952 @ 7/-)

I strongly suspect that Peter Archer was responsible for the five Armada covers of the Secret series from the early 1970s, and also for the six Barney series covers from the late 1970s: Even as a child, I knew Blyton was writing fantasy. Even when, or especially when, the story seemed rooted in everyday life.There are beautiful times and memories to be retained by Jimmy in his new surroundings. Fires are lit in the evening whilst the horses graze nearby. Jumbo rests and feasts on his supper. It's nice to relax after a day of jolting and jerking along the road on the way to the next venue. Jimmy's first night is typical of many — E. H. Davie, the illustrator, has supplied a nice little picture of him and Lotta sitting around a fire near the caravans. Their day is not finished though because whilst all other children in the village are sleeping peacefully in their beds, the two circus kids get up to take the dogs for a walk. "Isn't it lovely, Lotta!" said Jimmy, sniffing at the white may as they passed it. "And look at the moon!" The moon was coming slowly up over the hill in front of them. The countryside was bathed in light, pale and cold and silvery. They did not meet anyone, for the countryside was quite deserted. Only a lonely farmhouse shone in the moonlight not far off.They return to the camp singing loudly. Lotta knows old circus ditties and Jimmy sings songs he'd learnt at school. The dogs are returned to their cage and the children speed off to their caravans. Jimmy cuddles down on the little mattress placed by his parents' bed. The windows are opened to let in the sweet air of the May night and the boy listens to the call of an owl in the wood. A big white star shines through the window. "I'm one of the circus folk now" he thinks sleepily. "I'm one of the circus-f-f-f ... " He sleeps. There are some positive moral lessons interwoven in the book - about being kind, and not letting obstacles get in the way, and so on. All good stuff, and in my view one of the better-written of Enid Blyton's books. There are two sequels in the same vein. Excuse the multi-quotes, but that was what was going through my mind, Anita. An extremely interesting thread, Ian (BTW, yor avatar always makes me think of Dr Who). It also made me think that as purists, we go on and on about how superior the original books are (which of course they are), however, as you say Ian, some illustrations from later reprints are much better. For instance, the illustrations by J Abbey in the earliest Find-Outer series are pretty horrendous, and can only be improved. Jimmy can't understand her; the circus dogs are as happy as can be, running about all the time, playing and getting exercise, while the grumpy woman's dog is fat, lazy and spoilt. In another scene, when a chimpanzee escapes, the public reaction is horror and fright; the police trap poor Sammy in a shed and are prepared to go in and shoot him, not realizing how harmless and friendly the chimpanzee is.

Much to Jimmy's disappointment, Lotta is right into playing dolls with Jeanne and Lisa and the boy seems very much left out but life must go on and it does with the new performers settling in and being accepted by the rest of the circus folk although Google the clown and Pierre's daughters are on the fringes as is Britomart but he's not generally around in between shows.

Non-Series Books

The days go by and we are not left without the various descriptions of everyday life which the author was so good at passing on — the interesting asides which teach us a little more about the day-to-day existence of Galliano's employees. One problem arises — the seal-owner's daughters have it in for Jimmy and are not averse to telling fibs about him which means that difficulty could be brewing for the young lad. Jeanne and Lisa are out to cause trouble it seems! Blyton was a prolific author of children's books, who penned an estimated 800 books over about 40 years. Her stories were often either children's adventure and mystery stories, or fantasies involving magic. Notable series include: The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, The Five Find-Outers, Noddy, The Wishing Chair, Mallory Towers, and St. Clare's. Some people here have said it’s all a bit sudden – the family joining the circus. I disagree slightly, as we see Mr Brown working with the circus for a whole week and then being asked to stay with them, without his family. He goes home, presumably to talk to his wife about it. It’s quite easy to imagine her saying “if only Jimmy and I could go with you. There’s nothing keeping us here.” So when that’s offered, they jump at it. Saying that, like many Blyton books there are a huge number of coincidences and omissions which facilitate the story. As a child you take them for granted, but as an adult you say “oh, how convenient!”. For example we have: Most of the things I'm about to mention, I've never really thought about before. Certainly not when I read it as a child, and not in any great depth, if at all as an adult. Reading for a readathon makes me think a lot more about what I am reading! I was reading the 7th impression from 1952.