The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Samuel L. Clemens (Masterpiece Library, 1967)

Found in the Green Shed:

A Bright, Fresh, Summertime World of Boyhood

When "Mark Twain"--as Samuel L. Clemens signed his books--was writing TOM SAWYER, published in 1876, he was already in his 40s.  The carefree days of boyhood in a small Missouri town were already far behind him.  He remembered them sharply, but the years brought a humorous perspective.  He could appreciate all the fun of being a boy.

What did small boys do in a small town so long ago, when there was no television, no telephone, no movie houses?

They went swimming, they whitewashed fences, traded marbles and other prized possessions, they formed secret societies and had adventures filling up every minute of the time.  Tom Sawyer even managed to attend his own funeral, though he was very much alive!

Samuel L. Clemens was born in 1835 and spent his youth in a small town not much different from the one depicted in the book.  Before he died in 1910 at the age of 75, he adventured across the country and around the world, and wrote many books.

 The ghost of Mark Twain looms over an oblivious Tom Sawyer—who incidentally, looks more like a teenager in this picture than a "small boy".   Still, it's a bright cheerful cover that successfully conveys the mood of the classic boys' adventure story.  The really puzzling thing about this edition of Tom Sawyer, is why the editor insists on calling the author by his birth name of "Samuel L. Clemens", rather than his better known nom de plume "Mark Twain"! 

Five Go Down to the Sea by Enid Blyton (Hodder & Stoughton, 1955)

 

The

Famous Five

Julian, Dick, George, Anne and Timmy the Dog

in their
twelfth exciting adventure

Summer at Tremannon Farm, the mystery of the deserted tower by the sea, the forgotten secret of the Wreckers' Way

Now here's a book I really did love as a child--in fact I pinched and saved to buy all twenty-one books in the Famous Five series!  In Five Go Down to the Sea Julian, Dick, George, Anne and Timmy the dog explore secret tunnels and thwart a gang of drug smugglers between consuming mountains of buns and sandwiches and drinking lashings of ginger beer.  What more could a child want in an adventure?

(This copy predates me by several years.  My own copy as a child was one of the paperback Knight editions published in the 1970s.  The Famous Five adventure stories are still in print, though when I flicked through one in my local library recently it saddened me to see that an editor had "updated" the text to make it more accessible.  There are also now some very tongue-in-cheek Famous Five adventures available for "grown-ups" with titles like Five on Brexit Island and Five Go Gluten Free.  Clearly I'm not the only adult who remembers the series with affection!)

Kay of Kingfishers by Constance M. White (Hutchinson, 1954)

I found this in the Green Shed, and bought it a) because the dust jacket was intact and b) because it looked like something I might have enjoyed when I was a child!

To begin with, Kay missed half a term by being ill.  Then, when she did return, it was to find that dear old Miss Benson--surely the nicest headmistress anyone could wish for--had been replaced by young and efficient Miss Oliver.  And Judy, her dearest friend, seemed to have forsaken Kay for a fresh interest--the new Head's Girl Guide Company.

Kay, rebellious and stubborn, turned to Stella Jason, and together they stumbled upon a discovery which involved not only Miss Oliver, but also an archaeological student, the local vicar, and a strange little girl called Bella.

 All right, get your mind out of the gutter.  (Yes, you.  You know who I'm talking about!)  The "discovery" Kay stumbles upon is neither a drug smuggling ring nor a swingers' party, and absolutely nothing naughty is going on between the headmistress, the vicar and the archaeological student.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (Scholastic, 1971)

 

The desperate men cling to the giant hulk in the water.  Suddenly its iron body begins to move - to sink!  They'll all be drowned!  But a panel slides open and the terrified men are drawn inside - inside Captain Nemo's incredible underwater ship.

Have you seen the exciting film based on this book?  (Walt Disney Productions)

Another version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea--this time abridged for young readers, and with the adventure aspects of the story played up.

(The "exciting film"  mentioned on the back cover of this book is the same film James Mason starred in in 1954.  It leads me to wonder how the children of 1971 were expected to watch it, long after the film's initial release but years before the advent of home videos.  Did Disney re-release at some stage?  Was it shown regularly on television?  I guess I'll never know for sure.)

The Abbey Girls Win Through by Elsie J. Oxenham (Collins, 1949)

I found this book for girls at a church fundraiser last weekend:

 

First published in 1923, this edition dates to 1949.  It must have been someone's prized possession, because unlike most children's books more than sixty years old it still retains its dust jacket!  Opening it up, my eyes fell on this passage:

Norah and Connie were different.  They were a recognised couple.  Con, who sold gloves in a big West-End establishment, was the wife and homemaker; Norah, the typist, was the husband, who planned little pleasure trips and kept the accounts and took Con to the pictures.

Well, OK.  It was a more innocent age!

(I'm told that because of the shortage of men after World War I, many women banded together for mutual support.  However Norah and Connie are referred to as "husband" and "wife" throughout the book, which is a bit ... disconcerting to a modern person, especially when you consider the intended audience for The Abbey Girls Win Through.)