The simple rhythm of the writing and Milly-Molly-Mandy’s village goings-on makes me nostalgic for a life I was never a part of. Instead you have Milly-Molly-Mandy in charge of a shop for one afternoon (and feeling very proud) or climbing up a tree (and getting stuck there) or you have her writing letters (because she wants some letters of her own) or dealing with a village gang (who knock hats and lunches to the ground). The plot of each story is simple – no evil wizards, no fate-of-the-world at stake, not even a foiled kidnapping plot. They belong to an era and culture that is wholly alien to me, precisely why they are such a pleasure to read.

The stories are gentle and contained in the village and the lives of its people. With nothing else to compare them to, to me the stories are reminiscent of Enid Blyton without all the magic and criminals. Each book contains about thirteen stories, each of which doesn’t go over more than a few pages.

For example, The Blackberry Patch (where M-M-M and little-friend Susan did not go blackberrying, and The Tree (which M-M-M climbed). The map depicts Milly-Molly-Mandy’s village with key landmarks that make an appearance in the stories in that book. I can just imagine myself recreating Milly-Molly-Mandy’s life in the village in my small corner of the city.Įach of the four books in the series has a line-drawing of a map in the beginning.

These stories come straight out of the 1920s, and I wish I had discovered them as a child. The Adventures of Milly-Molly-Mandy contains a series of four books, published together in a single volume – Milly-Molly-Mandy Stories, More of Milly-Molly-Mandy, Further Doings of Milly-Molly-Mandy, and Milly-Molly-Mandy Again. But Father and Mother and Grandpa and Grandma and Uncle and Aunty couldn’t very well call out ‘Millicent Margaret Amanda!’ every time they wanted her, so they shortened it to ‘Milly-Molly-Mandy,’ which is quite easy to say.Īnd thus starts the book starring the immensely likable Milly-Molly-Mandy who had so many stories written about her. This little girl had short hair, and short legs, and short frocks (pink-and-white-striped cotton in summer, and red serge in winter). She had a Father, and a Mother, and a Grandpa, and a Grandma, and an Uncle, and an Aunty and they all lived together in a nice white cottage with a thatched roof. Once upon a time there was a little girl. Price: I picked up my copy at a secondhand book sale

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