Milly-Molly-Mandy’s Adventures

Milly-Molly-Mandy's Adventures by Joyce Lankester Brisley is a gentle collection of six village stories for 5 year olds, full of little adventures that feel ENORMOUS when you're small.

What happens

Milly-Molly-Mandy lives in the nice white cottage with the thatched roof (you'll hear that phrase a LOT) with Father and Mother, Grandpa and Grandma, Uncle and Aunty. Her best friends are little-friend-Susan and Billy Blunt from the corn-shop.

In this book she takes the bus to the cinema with Susan, all on their own. She camps out in the meadow in a tent made from an old counterpane and two kitchen chairs. She sees the sea for the very first time and rides Grandpa's pony, Twinkletoes. She goes fishing with Billy and looks after a tiny baby hedgehog called Horace.

The adventures are small ones, and that's the joy of it. Who doesn't remember the thrill of being allowed to sleep outside, just for once? Running about the meadow in pyjamas before bed is exactly the kind of thing little ones dream about.

Billy Blunt steals the show. He thinks he's far too old for hoppity-skipping (he isn't really). When they finally try swimming in the sea his arms swim but his legs only walk!

Every story opens with "Once upon a time" and is done in one sitting, so it's lovely at bedtime. Nothing carries over from the story before, so you can dip in anywhere. There's a map of the village at the front for finding the corn-shop, the meadow and Susan's cottage.

The pace is slow and cosy. The family list comes round again and again (Father and Mother and Grandpa and Grandma and Uncle and Aunty, every time!), which is great fun to join in with if your reader likes a repeated line.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

In the first story a woman at the bus stop is called "a gypsy woman", an old label you may not want your reader picking up. She's kind and offers the girls money for the fare. They politely say no because Mother told them not to talk to strangers. It's an easy one to read together and chat about.

What to read next

If your reader loves the brook and the meadow as much as Milly-Molly-Mandy does, try Milly-Molly-Mandy's Summer next. It's more long days outdoors with Billy and Susan. There's mushroom hunting before breakfast and a nest high up in an old oak tree.