Stories in six periodicals that publish children's stories

Periodicals are listed in alphabetical order. The stories from each publisher are chronological.

A Doll and an Engine. London: FAIRYLAND TALES, No. 767, John Leng & Co., 186 Fleet Street, London E.C.4. Apr. 24, 1937, pp 33-38.

From Savery's work diary, I believe this story was submitted with the title "Pat's Birthday Present." Stories and illustrations in FAIRYLAND TALES are not signed.

When the largest birthday present that Pat receives turns out to be a doll from his Aunt Alice, he rushes to his cousin Peggy's house to see what Aunt Alice has sent her and finds Peggy delighted with a model engine. She refuses to correct the obvious mistake, tells him to keep the doll, and taunts him as he walks home by calling him 'Patty.'

The doll stays in Pat's closet until he finds that neighbor Judy has been ill, and he has the bright idea of bringing the doll to her. Returning to Judy's doorstep, he meets Peggy, who is carrying the engine and now insists he take it and return 'her' doll.

Savery sees to it that all three children get what they deserve and satisfies the reader in the process. This is one of four Savery stories in which two unrelated children are are born the same day. The others are The Quicksilver Chronicle, The Silver Whistle, and Violet Jacket.

Sandy, the Burglar. London: FAIRYLAND TALES, No. 790, John Leng & Co., 186 Fleet Street, London E.C.4. Oct. 2, 1937, pp 35-39.

According to the work diaries, this story was accepted on Nov. 12, 1936. Issue No. 789 advertised it as coming in the next issue, and based upon this information, the British Library was able to make me a photocopy. Subsequently I found the magazine.

Jim wants to buy Sandy, a puppy; however, Jim's parents are in India, Aunt Anne does not like dogs, and Jim must content himself with visiting Sandy at the shop. The story ends happily after a prowler thumps Aunt Anne's doors, persuading her she needs a dog for protection.

Ah! Did You Once --? Illus. by Rosetta Milpen. London: GIRL'S OWN PAPER, 60 (3?), R.T.S., 4, Bouverie St., London E.C.4. Dec. 1938. Reprinted, 1946, London: R. T. S.--Lutterworth Press, 4, Bouverie St., London E.C.4, in "Girl's Own Annual," Vol. 60, pp 151-155, 172.

I have both the annual and the magazine. The same illustrations accompany both. It is surprising, after this excellent beginning, that Savery did not write any other stories for the GIRL'S OWN PAPER.

Miss Spenser, the English Mistress for Upper Vb, tells her girls that they are to prepare a five-minute lecture on any man or woman of letters known to themselves or their friends and relations. Alice Partridge's father is a bank manager from a long line of bankers, none of whom are acquainted, or wish to be acquainted, with any literary great. Uncle Fred tells her about a man who made a living by his writing, but as the person in question specialized in writing other person's signatures, that possibility falls through. Alice's grandmother suggests an elderly clergyman who visited her when she was a child and used to write books about algebra and geometry. He also made her some presents: copies of Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass with code writings on the flyleaf. While the code baffled her grandmother, Alice soon solves it. The sentences are in English, but with Greek letters rather than Roman letters. By the time that the Partridges are pondering why C.L. Dodson would write 'from the author' in books by Lewis Carroll, we are way ahead of them and very pleased with the whole story!

The Fairy Godbrother by 'Frith Xavery.' Illus. by N.F. London: THE GUIDE, 4(16-17), Girl Guides Assn., 25, Buckingham Palace Road, London, S.W.1. Aug. 2 and 9, 1924, pp 258-261, 291-292. Printed by Broadway Press, Dartford, Kent.

We were a poverty-stricken family--mother, Jack, me, Mick and Mite--with a rich grown-up stepbrother who disregarded our existence completely because he disapproved of his father marrying our mother. And after our stepfather had lost all his money and our own tiny income in a speculation, and had died of heart-failure from the shock of it all, we had a desperate struggle for a living.

So opens Savery's second paid work for which, according to her work diaries, she received three guineas. The story is notable principally for the number of character types and plot devices, some common for the time and others to become Savery trademarks. These include the presence of twins, an estranged brother, a steely-eyed 'dragon,' an irresponsible aunt, selfish cousins, and a resolution through reconciliation rather than through retribution.

The disagreeable stepbrother has a summer cottage by the sea that is taken over, without his knowledge, by Jack, me, Mick and Mite, who, with the selfish cousins, enjoy a three-week holiday eating little but bread and helping a grouchy landlady and her grouchier boarder. At the end, the cousins flee, leaving behind Jack, me, Mick and Mite to face the stepbrother.

Black Pansies, unsigned. Illus. by McWhor. London: THE GUIDE, XIII(3), Girl Guides Association, 17/19 Buckingham Palace Road, London, S.W.1. May 6, 1933, pp 70-74. Printed by The Broadway Press Limited, London.

In 1933 and 1934 Savery wrote two Guide stories, two Brownie stories, and a probably unpublished poem for her sister Doreen's Girl Guides. The other three stories are pleasant reading, but Black Pansies is too much like a school story with madcap girls who aren't that interesting.

A Guide patrol that refuses to share its storage cupboard with the rest of its company has earned the nickname Black Pansies. Undeterred, the girls prepare an evening of music and recitations to raise money for Christmas Cheer, a charity that provides a poor parish in London with buns and tea. When things go awry, good fortune, or providence, pulls them through.

Betty's Button Bag. Illus. J. Gale Thomas. London: THE KIDDIE'S MAGAZINE, Miss K.L. Birch (ed.), The Epworth Press (Edgar C. Barton), 25-35 City Road, London E.C.1. May, 1937. Reprinted, 1937, London: The Epworth Press, 25-35 City Road, London, E.C.1 in "The Tip-Top Annual," pp 90-91. Printed by Rush & Warwick (Bedford) Ltd., Bedford.

I am indebted to the work diary for the name of the editor. I have seen the annual, but not the magazine, which the annual does not mention.

Betty, who "had had her sixth birthday quite a long time," joins in the search for four and five-year-old Derry and Cherry. From a look-out tower at the top of her house, Betty spots tiny splashes of blue and scarlet far across the water meadows: the runaways headed for the river. There is no adult help, only "Cook, who was old and grumbly and always had a bone in her leg." So Betty runs across the meadows, dropping buttons from her precious collection so she can find her way home. To get the little ones away from the river, Betty bribes them by promising they may keep every button they find on the return trip. She is the day's heroine, but her button bag is empty.

The Magic Pebble. Illus. by Bay Robinson. London: THE KIDDIE'S MAGAZINE, The Epworth Press (Edgar C. Barton), 25-35 City Road, London E.C.1. July, 1941. Reprinted, 1941, London: The Epworth Press, 25-35 City Road, London E.C.1 in "The Tip-Top Annual," pp 144-146.

Children are supposed to like anthropomorphic stories better than adults. Let us hope so, for the protagonist in this tale is a pretty pebble. When Molly picks it up on the beach, she thinks it is magic, but the pebble knows better. Still, Molly and her skeptical twin, Maurice, get three wishes from it and expect more, so the pebble rolls from under Molly's pillow and across the floor to hide in a crack in the skirting board. That's as much as even an anthropomorphic pebble can do on its own, but when Mother finds it, all is well.

Great-Grandmother's Pansy Spoons. Islip: THE MERRY-GO-ROUND, IX (4), Hugh Chesterman (ed.), The Green Gate, Islip, Oxon. Feb. 1932. Printed by Oxonian Press, Queen Street, Oxford.

I have not seen this printing. The publisher's data are from the Dec. 1931 issue. For a synopsis of the story, see CHILD LIFE, 1940. The editor's name is frequently spelled incorrectly as Chesterton. His letter to Savery asking for the story explained that the magazine was published privately, having difficulty, and could not pay its authors.

The Orange. New York: STORY PARADE, XVI(?), 200 Fifth Avenue, New York City 10, New York. 1952? Printed by Story Parade, Inc., Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

For a plot synopsis, see ALLIED NEWSPAPERS. The title and publication are from the work diary and confirmed by correspondence. The acceptance came from STORY PARADE on Sep. 21,1949, but The Orange was not published by STORY PARADE in that year, 1950, or 1951. The volume number is based upon the Dec. 1949 issue of STORY PARADE. It is possible that the story was printed in an unidentified anthology, especially if it were retitled.

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