*Ignores the last 30 or so posts*

So anyway, about the Borrowers, you have all read the Borrowers short story "Poor Stainless", haven't you? It's a story from Homily's childhood, when the Mantlepiece People were still there, and the Lady of the house was out and about.

Kaz: yep loved 101 Dalmations - Archie & Mehitabel probably don't count as children's books - they were books of verse by Don Marquis - Archie's a cockroach and Mehitabel's a cat who has many fornal (thanks Skiffle!) adventures and comes back saying 'whatthehell Archie, toujours gai'. Hmm. How on earth did I get hold of them as a kid?

Also forgot the Bros. Grimm and Russian Fairytales - v. compelling - (we had books of both at home and I used to go to bed dreaming of Baba Yaga - Hades family also ran!) *gets thrown out the ffphorum for sacrilege*

Archy and Mehitabel most definitely do not count as children's books, but everybody should read them all the same (there's a link on my website).

Yes, I have read (and own) Poor Stainless, and if we're going to talk about books ruined by awful films, then The Borrowers is right up there. The BBC TV series was pretty bad, too; what was the point of making Eggletina's brothers (the older ones, not Timmus) villains?

I can understand why things have to be cut out in adaptations, but why do scriptwriters so often succumb to the urge to 'improve' the plot?



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I am very interested in the Universe. I am specialising in the Universe and everything surrounding it. - E. L. Wisty

Is Baba Yaga the old woman who flies around with a mortar and pestle?

The Borrowers movie was basically Mouse Trap 2, with small people, instead of a mouse. The Indian in the Cupboard was a bad book to movie translation, as well. The worst Movie from the Book I know would have to be the Aussie film "Looking for Alibrandi." The morals are completely different, and the funniest person is removed. Bah!

That's her. She's the witch archetype - all the rest are pale imitations. Very scary!

Borrowers move I thought shared the title and that was about it... The best thing about the 101 dalmations movie was the skunk. In England. Um, hello?

Oh! I forgot about Agatha Christie!!! I loved those growing up - still do. I also liked the Wrinkle in Time series - I was a sci-fi junkie early on.

Wasn't Baba Yaga also the witch whose house had chicken's legs? I used to love the old fairy tales, as long as they were the *proper* ones, which ended with blood and gore, and not the ones that had been prettied up for the Victorian audience.



I drink to drown my sorrows. Unfortunately they've learnt how to swim.

Way, way, WAY too many to remember :) My mom used to bribe me with books in 1st and 2nd grade. If I passed a really hard test, you know learning to count, tying my shoes, coloring on paper, taking a nap, she would buy me Bobbsey Twins.

The first book I ever bought with my own money was Trixie Belden and the Marshland Mystery. I still have it. I loved the series. Got real tired of Nancy Drew pretty quick. Loved Lloyd Alexander, Joan Aiken, Zilpha Keatly Snyder, The Three Investigators, Richard Peck, The Westing Game, Bridge To Terebethia. Black Stallion

Junior high was Anne McCaffrey, Katherine Kurtz, David Eddings, Madeline L'engle, Sweet Valley High-yes we all have skeletons in our reading closet,just move along, Watership Down, Narnia, Susan Cooper.

I didn't read them until I was an adult but I do love Where the Wild Things Are and Winnie the Pooh.

The one 'Bushism' that I do love (and scares me slightly) is when Dubbya was asked what his favourite childhood book was, and he replied "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." All well and good (I loved that story too), except that it wasn't published until he was a year out of college!



I drink to drown my sorrows. Unfortunately they've learnt how to swim.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention 'Stig of the Dump', and the works of Lloyd Alexander, and some of Madeleine L'Engle's books too, in my own list. Don't recall ever seeing 'Poor Stainless' (Alas!), though... Does anybody else here remember reading Eric Linklater's classic children's book 'The Wind On The Moon'?

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"Vjit xat ximmef xjese xjav it ximmef... dap hev savjes timmy."

That was the one where these two girls were changed into ... kangaroos, was it? and, er, (struggling here) there was an octopus that held the lines of lat. and long. together ... or was that another one by Linklater?

I thnk 'vaguely' sums it up. ISTR I liked it, though.



- - -
I am very interested in the Universe. I am specialising in the Universe and everything surrounding it. - E. L. Wisty

Alison, I promised you some details on Penguin books with different graphics on the covers. Sorry honey, this is the very first chance I've had!

A quick scan through the bookshelves upstairs here revealed the following anomalies - there's loads more but these'll hopefully serve as an illustration (as it were!)

1st edition (green) 'Requiem for Robert' by Mary Fitt (Penguin #657, 1942) features a dancing penguin, facing to the right with his/her feet wiggling
1st edition (blue) 'Eminent Victorians' by Lytton Strachey (Penguin biography series #649, 1948) features two dancing penguins, facing away from each other and holding "hands" (paws? wings? Oh, whatever...)

Just in case anyone's wondering what we're on about, here's a "standard" (orange) Penguin book, 1st edition from 1936, featuring the early left-facing penguin with the white collar (it was blacked in on later editions)

(careful Ptols, almost "on topic" with this one!)



PS all this mention of "first editions" sounds very pretentious, but I swear I've never paid more than £1 / $2 for a Penguin book in my life!

You star Ptols! Thanks loads, much appreciated... now I'm really going to have to look for them myself. <Puts more books on shelves, groaning of timbers, roof falls in, and amid clouds of dust there emerges - yes, it's Thursday Next. Surely the books are indestructible?>

*coughs* just been investigating the shelves, and (apart from discovering I've forgotten to dust lately) found I've lost Eminent Victorians - me for the bookshops tomorrow, armed with my list!

What about the Hobbyahs,in the Victorian Readers?



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Those who forget the pasta are doomed to reheat it.

Should be getting a new list of pony stories from my Norwich source soon. It took a good couple of weeks to send the cheque for the last books she sent me, and that went missing in the post. Took me at least another couple of weeks to get around to sending another one. Elaine had dropped the price of 2 books plus p&p from £11 to £10, as I'm a regular, but when I sent the second cheque, I paid the full amount by way of apology. After all, I've had far more than that from her in discounts and freebies so far.

Elaine phoned today to let me know that the second cheque had arrived, and was very understanding about the delay in payment. She was pleased about the little gesture of making the full payment, and insisted that it hadn't been necessary. It's nice to find a friendly bookshop owner who shares my particular passion for pony stories, (no doubt Elaine is pleased to find a customer like me !).

Anyone got any bookshelves they don't need ?

On the fforum ? Fat chance, I know.

My hubby told me that when we Build OUr Own House (in our dreams) he will design a whole wall just for my books. He said: 'How does that sound?' I answered: 'Great! then I'll have two big bookshelves to fill up with new books!'

He walked away shaking his head.....

*sigh* only just begun catching up with this thread; seeing Ginger (from the Biggles books) get a namecheck in TWOLP t'other day got me ploughing through my own back pages and one thing and another led me to this topic. Hello again....

Jon - add me to your list of people who read Worrals of the WAAF (aka Joan Worralson). I too collected WE Johns books and still have a couple of those to my name; they weren't easy to come by though. I never really took to the Gimlet stories - the best one ironically was published in "Comrades in Arms", the collection of short stories that featured all 3 heroes (Biggles, Worrals and Gimlet). I think I'm right in saying that the Biggles story in that one was unique to that collection too; wasn't it the only one to feature "Tug" Carrington in addition to Flight Lieutenants Algy Lacy and Bertie Lissie and the aforementioned Flying Officer Ginger Hebblethwaite? Dunno... lot of water under the bridge since then....

ALERT, ALERT!
THREAD APPROACHING CRITICAL MASS!
BEGIN NEW THREAD IMMEDIATELY!

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++THREAD CLOSED++



Post Edited (07-11-03 23:50)

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There's a hole in my creativity bucket and it's all leaked out.