I found them genuinely funny as well, although that is partly thanks to my gf who is an excellent reader. (In one of my fave stories Milly-Molly-Mandy finds out that there's A MEAN GANG in her village so she and her friends start A KIND GANG, and soon the members of the other gang start to get bored of doing mean things and even join MMM's gang of kindness.) The stories are just endlessly nice and cosy, without any huge conflicts or drama. The most important message of Milly-Molly-Mandy is that one should be kind to others, which, I think, is what everyone should aspire to. None of the stories are moralising, and very few of them present an overtly normative idea of gender. The stories are about stuff any child could potentially be interested in finding an abandoned train, getting a pet hedgehog, having your teacher spend a few nights at your home, and going to the coast for the first time. The series turned 90 years old this year so it's not the most current one, but imo it has aged very well. We finished today, and saying goodbye to Milly-Molly-Mandy was v sad. First Louisa read me some of the stories in a random order, a story or two every day, but we soon figured out that we should just start from the beginning and read the whole thing. Louisa's reply: 'Would you like me to read you a Milly-Molly-Mandy story?' I'd never read the book and didn't really know anything about it, but it sounded nice. Some weeks ago I was chatting to my girlfriend, complaining about being stressed and tired. I imagined a hint of coolness between MMM and Susan over Billy Blunt.This is it: the most wholesome children's book I've ever run into. Her absent father lost in the previous war? Jessamine who was sent to boarding school went on to become a WRN and did something very brave in WW2. I picture Miss Muggins Jilly, who came across as rather self centred, taking a job in town and getting into rather a fast set, a hint of scandal. Puzzling.Īs for what happened next, I like the idea of MMM being a land girl rather than having to go away. The illustrations suggest early 1900s but MMM's mother daringly bobs her hair so it must have been the twenties? And in the picture of the Blacksmiths wedding the bride is wearing a more 1930s dress.

I was always a little confused as to exactly when these were set. I think the girl at the big house was Jessamine, and Jilly was the girl at Miss Muggins shop. There is a lovely book called Cherry cake and Ginger beer by Jane Brocket, with lots of recipies based on childrens books, and they are in there.

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