Another classic that I bypassed in childhood, but unlike some, it stands the test of time for an adult reader.

Millicent Margaret Amanda, known to her friends and family as Milly-Molly-Mandy, lived in a nice white cottage with a thatched roof, in a small, close-knit village in the south of England (probably the author's native East Sussex), sometime in the 1920s. Her adventures at home and abroad, with her Mother and Father, Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle and Aunty, little-friend Susan and Billy Blunt, and all of the other villagers, are detailed in the twenty-one short stories contained in this anthology... Brisley, Joyce Lankester (2018-05-03). More of Milly-Molly-Mandy. Pan Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-5098-4502-6. I thought Milly-Molly-Mandy was three children, like Betsy-Tacy-Tib. But she’s just Millicent Margaret Amanda. And she lives with 6 adults (parents, grandparents, aunt & uncle) who make her life both smooth and hilarious. Little-Friend-Susan is perhaps the most adorably-named character in all of literature and I will die on this hill. The stories were originally published in the Christian Science Monitor, beginning in 1925. They were first published as a collection, Milly-Molly-Mandy Stories, in 1928. [2] Setting [ edit ] More recently, Milly-Molly-Mandy books have also been published under alternate titles, with five or six stories per book.Puffin Books has published the first four books individually and in one volume. The publications are limited to the first four books, including those titled as "complete": This charming chapter book for young children was written and illustrated with line drawings by Joyce Lankester Brisley (1928). The title character is a little girl (maybe four or five years old) who lives a century ago in a rural English village with her parents ("Muvver and Farver"), grandparents, and aunt and uncle. Life is simple there, without cars, phones, or electricity. Each chapter is a standalone story which is summarized by its title (e.g., Milly-Molly-Mandy Makes a Cosy). But for children, rereading is absolutely necessary. The act of reading is itself still new. A lot of energy is still going into (not so) simple decoding of words and the assimilation of meaning. Only then do you get to enjoy the plot – to begin to get lost in the story. The beauty of a book is that it remains the same for as long as you need it. You can’t wear out a book’s patience. a b Brisley, Joyce Lankester (1976). The Milly-Molly-Mandy Second Omnibus; (Milly-Molly-Mandy Again: Milly-Molly-Mandy has a New Dress). 1976: Harrap Limited. p.24. ISBN 0245530657. {{ cite book}}: CS1 maint: location ( link) Brisley, Joyce Lankester (1999). More Milly-Molly-Mandy. Kingfisher. pp.Table of contents. ISBN 9780753402009.

Brisley, Joyce Lankester (2017-02-23). Bunchy. Penguin Random House Children's UK. ISBN 978-0-14-137553-3.

Brisley, Joyce Lankester (2000). The Big Milly-Molly-Mandy Story Book. Kingfisher. ISBN 978-0753404836.

Mother's first name is Mary but she is called Polly in everyday use. Mother makes all the meals for the family and does all the washing. ETA Sept 2020: I requested this via ILL so I could share it with my own children now that they are old enough to appreciate the stories. The stories are even more dear to my heart now and both my boys (ages 7 and almost-5) enjoyed them, too. The book that arrived is titled "The BIG Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook" and was published in May 2000 by Kingfisher. The illustrations are by Clara Vulliamy. (Funny coincidence, I don't think I had ever encountered her work before and then we quite serendipitously ended up with three of her books from the library at the same time!) On one hand, I was miffed that the original illustrations were replaced. Why, oh, why? The originals are delightful. That said, perhaps some children today would be happier with the full color illustrations and I must say Vulliamy's do a fairly good job of capturing the spirit of the originals.Brisley, Joyce Lankester (2012-05-01). Prices for MILLY MOLLY MANDY THE COMPLETE ADVENTURES 4 BOOK SET by Lankester Brisley, Joyce. ISBN 978-0-14-134514-7. Bunchy's name is Violet Rosemary May, called "Bunchy for short" by her Granny who makes her dresses from floral fabric. [3] In the story Milly-Molly-Mandy has a New Dress, Bunchy and Milly-Molly-Mandy engage over buying dress fabric. Though both girls like the floral fabric, Milly-Molly-Mandy decides Bunchy should have it because of her name and the two become friends. [4]

Numerous variations of the original Milly-Molly-Mandy books have been published. Most include Joyce Lankester Brisley's original line drawings. These are a few pertinent editions: During the shopping trip, the shop owner emphatically tries to force sweets on her. In the amusingly named ‘Milly Molly Mandy spends a penny’, she doesn’t go to the loo but awakens the dark capitalist inside her, using money to make money. What’s more, all the illustrations show the adults to be gaunt, with prominent cheek bones and lifeless little eyes. She isn’t in her signature short dress because it’s cute, she’s in it because a longer dress costs more money. The importance of food and small treats in the book seem to highlight the fact that every adult in the book is starving, crammed together in "the nice white cottage with the thatched roof" because they can’t afford places of their own. Their crippling poverty and hunger is hidden at all costs from the little girl, who goes on pleasant little adventures, blind to the pain around her - most of those men were in World War One, they saw things.Frequently charming and really rather beautifully done, this 90th anniversary edition of the Milly-Molly-Mandy stories is a lovely thing. It's been a long time since I read Milly-Molly-Mandy and if you're the same, here's a brief refresher. Written in the 1920s, MMM is a little girl who lives with her sprawling family in a pleasant little village, and she gets into several very small and rather adorable adventures. They were written and illustrated by Joyce Lankester Brisley who was the sister of Nina K. Brisley who illustrated the Chalet School stories - and this is something that, in a nicely worded afterword, this edition told me and I made a proper 'I did not know that' face. The edition includes several of the short stories collected together and as mentioned has a lovely afterword that does something quite remarkable - it speaks to the child. It's not often you see an afterword that remembers the child audience as much as the adult, and Macmillan are to be commended for this. There is a recipe for lid potatoes and a technique to make sailor girls which I am planning to try. Most of the fun the children have is in playing outside or in assisting grown ups.