Last week on Meet Me at Mikes Pip posted this trailer…

Wonderful isn’t it! Helena Bonham Carter plays nasty so well.

Although Enid is said to have been a dragon and pretty shocking to her own children she still created one of the first ever publishing franchises with her many different series. Of course the most popular are/were the Wishing Chair, Faraway Tree, Secret Seven and Famous Five. I adored them all but the Faraway Tree series and the Famous Five were my favourites and stay with me vividly in adulthood.

Recently Hodder Children’s Books, who publish the Famous Five, announced that they are giving the Five a facelift. Changing some of the language in the books to make them more “timeless”. Read an article about the move here.

Not as harsh as the changes to Noddy but I think still probably unnecessary. What do you think?

Of course the books are all pretty twee and Enid was the first Barbara Cartland of children’s publishing – following formulaic storylines to publish title after title but I do really remember enjoying them.

I also remember all the words to the Famous Five TV show theme song…

One of my all-time favourites. How I wished to be Anne riding my pony across the Moors!

So what do you think of the Enid Blyton books in 2010? Do you think they still have a place? Do you think the language should be updated?

Leave a comment sharing your view and we’ll have a little competition to (randomly) win a copy of a wonderful intermediate reader novel called Drizzle by Kathleen Van Cleve.

This whimsical fantasy about a rhubarb farm where it always rains on Monday at 1pm is a gorgeous hardcover from the US.

More Charley Harper pretties available in our little store.

I love gingerbread. Especially a gingerbread man, that’s soft and chewy with yummy sweet icing – but not too much.

So sitting here on a cold afternoon dreaming of gingerbread I found this gorgeous clip on Youtube of an old Peter Pan Records book and record set. I adore the illustrations…

And more gingerbread men….

Very cute little singlet by aptly named Gingerbread…

And Cookie Cutie cards by draw pilgrim…

And Tall Tales gift cards from eight sparrows…

‘The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
    In a beautiful pea green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
    Wrapped up in a five pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
    And sang to a small guitar,
‘O lovely Pussy! O Pussy my love,
      What a beautiful Pussy you are,
          You are,
          You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!’

Printspace have teamed up with the Wall Sticker Company and so you can now get their gorgeous illustration of the Owl and the Pussycat from the Edward Lear poem to now transfer onto your wall. I think this photo of it is just stunning, what would be more perfect for the nursery or bedroom of a lit lover?

Printspace will be at Mathilda’s Market with us this weekend at Malvern Town Hall.

One of the most important and popular picture books of all time now comes in a pop up version to celebrate it’s 20th Anniversary. This is so exciting!

This pop up looks amazing because it has been created by one of the best paper engineers in the world, David A. Carter. We will have some stock in our store in a little over a week.

If you would like a copy reserved please let us know via email – info@weheartbooks.com

Aren’t these Jonathan Adler book ends gorgeous. Nothing like a long dog to hold up your books. 

Comical and cute; Dachshunds are great little characters for children’s literature. The quintessential Dachshund character being Pretzel by H. A. and Margaret Rey the creators of that other quintessential little animal character Curious George.

Pretzel is a love story that begins and ends with puppies (if you know what I mean!).  First published in 1944, the story is by no means out of date but still has that lovely innocence of books from that era. 

Ned’s dad and I were watching At the Movies the other night when Margaret and David reviewed the new animated – Performance Capture animation - film version of A Christmas Carol. We both agreed that we thought the story was very dark and not really appropriate for little kids, although maybe many people will be drawn in by the fact that it is animated – so beautifully. I guess it is the same question about audience that has been debated with the Spike Jonze film version of Where the Wild Things Are.

A Christmas Carol is a dark and grim story that I have never really related to Christmas even though that is the theme of the novel. There have been countless film adaptations of Scrooge and his redemption and my main memory is of the Disney charcter version with Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.

Today I saw this book trailer for a version of A Christmas Carol illustrated by the amazing Brett Helquist.

I cannot think of a more appropriate illustrator for this classic story, his Scrooge reminds me a bit of Count Olaf! Having not ever owned a copy of the Dickens story (although this one is an adaptation) I think this will be the version I lash out and buy this Christmas because although it’s grim I think it’s one I should have.