Nod Your Head And Make Your Bell Ring (Favourite Stories - Enid Blyton)

Member Name: belfin

Product:	Favourite Stories - Enid Blyton
Date:	23/02/07 (223 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Goes well with the show

Disadvantages: Not the same appeal for me as the old Noddy books

***Background***

Noddy was originally created by Enid Blyton, who also gave us classics like The Famous Five, The Secret Seven and all those Tales Before Bedtime. She created a variety of books for children of all ages and I must admit to being a bit of an addict of her books when I was growing up.

These days Noddy has become a bit more politically correct and certain characters have had a bit of a makeover and change of name. In the old days it was the golliwogs who caused trouble in Toytown - nowadays it is the Goblins. I understand the need for the change in today's society, although I have to say that I didn't grow up associating this toy with people of a different ethnic background.

Make Way For Noddy has become a household name with his adventures being shown daily on Channel 5's Milkshake program for younger children.

***The Book***

This book has 5 stories in it. Each one has a moral in the tale and usually shows how Noddy learns the importance of being good and doing good deeds, despite Sly and Gobbo Goblin's attempts to get him to be naughty or to spoil everyone's fun.

*Noddy's Perfect Gift*

Noddy is concerned that the song he has written for Tessie Bear, will not be enough to give her as a present and goes off to ask Big Ears for advice. Big Ears thinks it is lovely but on the way to her house he meets Martha Monkey who convinces him that he needs to give her something special to go with it and suggest flowers. He races off to get some but then Mr Wobbly Man tells him that he should have given her a cake too.

Poor Noddy then makes a big cake mixture only to have Mr Wobbly Man eat it all. He only has enough mixture left for a tiny cake, which he decides to take to Tessie right away. Unfortunately Sly and Gobbo decide to trick Noddy and trap him in a box while they steal his car with the presents in it.

Luckily Mr Plod saves the day by rescuing Noddy and catching the thieves but not before they crush the flowers and cake. He is disappointed but Big Ears reminds him that he still has the song to sing and when he does, Tessie decides that it's the most perfect present she's ever had.

*A Bike For Big Ears*

When Noddy accidently damages Big Ears' bike he takes it to Mr Sparks to have it fixed and wants him to make it better than before. They agree that adding a motor to it would be a good idea.

The only problem is that Big Ears can't get it to stop again and Noddy has to attempt a daring rescue. The bike crashes again and this time Big Ears asks for it to be fixed back to the way it originally was and shows that some things are best kept the same.

*Noddy Goes Shopping*

Noddy earns lots of money driving his taxi and goes off to ask Big Ears for advice as to what he should spend it on. Unfortunately, Big Ears can't sleep and asks Noddy to help him gets some things to make a spell to help him drop off. He tells him everything he needs and Noddy sets off.

When he doesn't return for a long time Big Ears gets worried. When he does get back they find that Noddy has bought lots of different items from the list that he was told to remember. Noddy is upset and Big Ears writes him out a list this time so he can get the correct things. While he is away however, Big Ears falls over one of the golf balls that Noddy wrongly bought the first time and knocks himself out. When Noddy gets back he gently covers him up and says goodnight.

*The Magic Powder*

Sly and Gobbo mix up some powder to make everyone start dancing when they play music. While this is happening they get up to lots of bad things, like stealing from Dinah's stall and taking Noddy's car.

Bumpy Dog knocks the powder onto the Goblins so they start dancing too until he knocks the music box over and it smashes in pieces. With the spell broken Mr Plod can catch the naughty Goblins and put them in jail and Noddy is happy to have a jumpy pup as a friend.

*Noddy The Rainbow Chaser*

Toytown has a beautiful rainbow over it and Sly and Gobbo tell Noddy that there is meant to be a pot of gold at the end of it. He decides to look for this pot with Master Tubby Bear and they fly off in his plane to find it.

They find the pot of gold in the Dark Wood but as soon as they take the gold away, the rainbow disappears and Big Ears explains that it is the gold that makes the rainbow sparkle. Despite the offers to buy everyone ice creams to cheer them up, the people in Toytown all agree they would rather see the rainbow back. Noddy agrees that he will put the gold back and everyone is happy to see the rainbow appear again.

***The Illustrations***

The pictures in the book are taken straight from the television show and they are all computer generated.

***My Thoughts***

There are lots of Noddy books out there, but this is the only one I've seen with a collection of them in. I have to say that the Noddy episodes on Milkshake do tend to grate on me with Noddy's annoying voice and with him singing silly little songs that all have the same tune, every day. My son, on the other hand loves him, and when he saw this book in the local library he jumped at the chance to take it home.

He seems to love the way that the illustrations and stories follow the show to the letter and recognised them instantly. More than can be said for myself, as I rush into another room in the morning when I hear the music start. He likes listening to the stories at bedtime and each one is just the right length for us to read to him.

The stories for me are a bit silly and although they have a way of showing the difference between right and wrong, they just don't have the same hold for me as some of the books that we own. I suppose this is due to the fact that it is one of the more modern versions and Noddy doesn't seem to be so lovable in this book as the old ones that I grew up reading.

However, much as I find myself trying to escape the show and the merchandise to go with it, my son loves it and watches it every morning to see what the gang are up to. This has to be said for the books too. He already owns a couple of the newer storybooks and this one gets a big thumbs up from him. I only hope the phase passes soon.

***Price and Availability***

This very large and heavy hardback is priced at £12.99. Tesco have it at the much cheaper price of £8.44, which I think is pretty good value if your child is a big fan.

ISBN No. 000723399X

Summary: Not bad for a very old wooden toy