Nursery Stories (Fairyland Favourites, Award, n.d. [approx. 1974], written and illustrated by Rene Cloke)
This vintage picture book of original stories written and illustrated by Rene Cloke was published by Award as part of their Fairyland Favourites series, probably in 1974. My copy is undated, but see the Summary, availability and reprints section below for my reasoning about dates. For a list of the other books in Award's Fairyland Favourites series (and links to my reviews), see Fairyland Favourites Series.
Cover, front and back matter
Nursery Stories is a large hardcover book of approximately 33 by 23 cm. It is a lovely pale green colour with the front cover featuring an illustration of Ricky Rabbit standing at his front door, framed by blooming hedge bindweed, some mushrooms, and a wren and a common toad amongst some sprawling speedwell. This is not an image that appears in the illustrations within the book. The back cover contains only the Award Publications logo.
Unlike most of Cloke's picture book illustrations, the cover art and one of the "Silly Squirrels" illustrations are clearly signed, and I found myself wondering if this was among Cloke's earliest work.The front and back endpapers are plain white paper and the front loose endpaper contains a simple bookplate featuring one blue line beneath the words "This book belongs to" (also in blue), with minimal copyright information at the bottom of the page.
The title page is pale blue and features characters Dickory and Bob-a-Cat amongst bluebells and ivy:
The back loose endpaper is the final page of the stories, and has an odd publishing feature, likely an error, the print and picture appearing all in blue:
Other copies of Nursery Stories I've seen online show the text for this page in black and the illustration in full colour.
There is no title page, but each story is titled on the page it begins. The collection features three original stories by Cloke:
- The Red Umbrella
- Bob-a-Cat
- Silly Squirrels
The stories are told over 15 pages (unpaginated).
The Red Umbrella
The opening story of the collection is told over 5 pages. In this story, Ricky Rabbit decides to have a picnic by the river and to take his umbrella as there are "some big clouds in the sky" and he emphatically doesn't like to get wet.
On his way he stops at the baker's shop and Mr Harvest Mouse, the baker, asks him to keep an eye out for his "little Dan and Daisy" that went down to the river and aren't home yet. Mr Harvest Mouse doesn't think it will rain so Ricky regrets bringing his umbrella.
He meets Hopscotch, the frog, who was "feeling very cross" because he can't reach high enough to collect some blackberries. The red umbrella comes in handy to pull the branch down and Hopscotch promises Ricky some bramble jelly.
He "had rather a fright" when he saw "old Foxy taking a short cut to his den over the hill" and popped his umbrella open beside some red toadstools, which proves a lucky hiding place.
As he looks for a "comfortable place" to have his tea he hears a cry for help and finds "Dan and Daisy, the two little harvest mice" stuck on the grassy island in the middle of the river. They had rowed their boat there but it drifted away and they got stuck.
"This looks like another job for my umbrella," decided Ricky.
He floats it upside down on the water, hops in, and paddles across to rescue the mice children, then they all enjoy the picnic, and though it doesn't rain, Ricky's glad to have brought his umbrella.
This is a lovely wholesome story, with an Enid Blyton-like emphasis on the good picnic food to be enjoyed (lettuce and biscuits and currant buns and jam tarts) and is accompanied beautifully by Cloke's illustrations.
The first image is of Ricky Rabbit poking his nose out of his house windows to test the air. It's a gorgeous country cottage window, with diamond pane glass, cosy floral curtains, and blooming hedge bindweed curling about it.
We first see the important red umbrella hanging on a hook, and next in use pulling down the bramble hedge, while a happy frog picks a blackberry. Ricky Rabbit wears a black and white chequered scarf and his picnic basket sits to one side.
On the next page, Old Foxy is a vibrant orange atop a hill above the text and Ricky Rabbit's umbrella and the toadstools make a wall of red and white beneath the text, a few nodding harebells off to the side.
Over page, a river of text separates Ricky Rabbit and the two mice calling for help from the grassy island. Dan wears a yellow tam o'shanter and Daisy a blue bonnet. The final scene is of Ricky helping Daisy into the umbrella while Dan clambers behind.
Bob-a-Cat
The middle story of the collection is the longest, told over 8 pages. It begins with Bob-a-Cat and Dickory eating breakfast. Bob-a-cat announces that he is going shopping, and Dickory wonders if it might be for his birthday the next day. Dickory stays home to bake some jam tarts and buns to accompany the birthday cake Bob-a-Cat has already baked for him, and Bob-a-Cat heads out with seventy-five pence "to buy a nice birthday present".
Bob-a-Cat thinks of all the possible things he might buy Dickory, the things Dickory already has, and the things he can't afford, like a new bicycle. At the market, there are so many wonderful things "he was quite bewildered". He settles on a red wheelbarrow, and luckily old Badger has one he can afford that is a bit scratched. He takes it home, touches it up, and hides it in the garden shed.
The next morning:
Bob-a-Cat looked inside the shed – he looked behind the box – the wheelbarrow – WASN'T THERE!
Bob-a-Cat is distraught and Dickory tries to help him look for the missing present, learning only that it is big and red. Then Mr Ottery the postman arrives and explains that he had so many birthday letters and parcels for Dickory that he borrowed a wheelbarrow to put them in and Dickory has a happy birthday.
The story opens with an illustration of Bob-a-Cat and Dickory eating breakfast at a table filled with modern items – a cereal box, teapot, toast rack, bowl of fruit, and jar of marmalade. Bob-a-Cat is shown to be a tabby cat with dark stripes and a white chest. Dickory is a fair-haired boy wearing a yellow long-sleeved shirt and black vest, and later shown in green stocking trousers.
The double-page spread that follows has a blue-green palette, showing Bob-a-Cat walking to the market, blue coin purse in hand and a green bycocket hat (a Robin Hood hat) with jaunty red feather on his head. He walks through greenery, including blue bells and wild primroses, and waves at Barbara Bunny on her red bicycle.
The market scene shows old Badger calling out to advertise his wares and a number of animals out shopping. We later see Bob-a-Cat wheeling the wheelbarrow home and meeting Dickory at the door, a sly smile on his face as he teases Dickory about his secret.
A dismayed Bob-a-Cat stands at the door of a tidy shed on the next page, tulips, daffodils and pink primroses typical of a domestic garden all about, and a late-rising Dickory appears still getting dressed. Bob-a-Cat is shown running on two feet, sweating, looking for the missing present.
Mr Ottery, the postman is, of course, illustrated as an otter with blue postal cap and brown postal satchel, standing on the other side of the fence as he speaks with Dickory and Bob-a-Cat. The final image is of the two friends sitting on the red wheelbarrow piled high with presents, as Dickory begins opening his gifts.
Silly Squirrels
The closing story is told over 3 pages. It begins with some moralising to set the scene (somewhat unusual for Cloke's stories):
Some squirrels are very silly; they can't see further than the end of their noses. If they could see as far as the end of their bushy tails they would be very wise indeed.
The two characters are Bilberry and Candytuft, who decide to do something special for Christmas – "we won't wash up for three days".
On Christmas Eve they hang Christmas decorations and build a snowman and let the dishes pile up. But at the end of the day they receive a letter from Uncle Fuzz and Aunt Bushy saying they are coming for Christmas the next day. They were delighted but "oh dear! there was the pile of dishes waited to be washed and nothing clean for a Christmas Day party". The pipes were frozen and they have to melt snow to do the dishes. The next day, their aunt and uncle arrive with a present.
And what do you think it was? A DISHWASHER
This is a sweet story that shows the value of keeping up with chores. The first illustration shows the two red squirrels playing in the snow, Candytuft in a bright yellow dress with a cape in Cloke's familiar blue fabric with teardrop pattern.
The second illustration shows the two squirrels greeting the postman (a bounding hare), outside their front door, which is hung with a Christmas holly wreath.
The third illustration shows them washing up a large pile of dishes ready for the arrival of their uncle and aunt.
Summary, availability and reprints
This is a wholesome collection of sweet stories suitable for young children to enjoy, with childlike characters they can relate to and delightful illustrations.
It appears to have been reprinted in multiple impressions by Award in the 1970s and early 1980s. There seem to be plenty of copies of these vintage editions still floating around for those who'd like to get a copy.
Owing to its lack of a date, lack of an ISBN, and the publishing error on the final page, I think my copy may be from the first edition of this book. Other versions I have seen online have a copyright page that features a far fancier bookplate (featuring Ricky Rabbit riding an autumn wind with his red umbrella) and provides an ISBN number (0 86163 046 7) (if still no publication date), and a final page in colour, as well as an image of Ricky Rat with umbrella on the back cover.
A 1983 US reprint by Exeter provides some clarity around the original publication date, a copyright date of 1974 suggesting that year as the first publication:
The Exeter version appears to be an identical reprint of the later Award versions of Nursery Stories, including the improved bookplate and back cover, but the Exeter "Fairyland Favorite" series includes several books Award published in their Storytime Library series:
