Milly-Molly-Mandy’s Spring

Milly-Molly-Mandy's Spring by Joyce Lankester Brisley is a sunny set of village stories for 5 year olds, from a motor-car rescue to a clean frock that doesn't stay clean for long.

What happens

First, Milly-Molly-Mandy is invited out in Mrs Green's car with Jessamine from the Big House. On the way they find a group of schoolchildren stuck by a broken-down bus, dressed in their best for a garden-party. So Mrs Green squeezes every one of them in (and the two smallest ride up in the folded hood).

Then, on a bright Monday morning, Milly-Molly-Mandy goes tadpole hunting with Billy Blunt. Toby the dog slips into the cow-pond. She reaches down for him and falls in too. Then Billy Blunt steps back from Toby's shake and lands in it as well!

Mother's answer is two tin baths full of bubbles out on the grass, among the washing. Who wouldn't want a telling-off like that? (Toby is the only one who doesn't enjoy his bath.)

The other stories are just as small and lovely. She writes to cousins in America she's never met, then waits weeks for the post. She gets stuck in her little bedroom and spends the morning crocheting a bonnet for Baby Moggs. A torn frock means a trip to Miss Muggins's shop, and a shy new friend called Bunchy.

Then there's the party. Milly-Molly-Mandy and little-friend-Susan want to give one in the barn for the grown-ups. So they start a firm (Billy Blunt agrees to be the "and Co.") to earn the money for it. They sell flowers, clean brass and run errands.

The refreshments are aniseed balls, sherbet and a jelly that has to be eaten like soup. It's SO sweet.

Every story begins "Once upon a time" and ends happily in one sitting. Grown-ups are busy but patient, even about the mud.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

It's very much of its time. The car ride has children piled on each other's laps, and the two in the hood are tied in with a coat belt and string. Uncle jokes about giving her "a good spanking" for the torn frock (she knows he's teasing). Mother threatens the cow-trough and the pump if they come home muddy again.

If any of that doesn't sit well in your house, it's easy to chat about. Otherwise the old-fashioned bits are part of the charm. Pennies, ha'pennies and farthings, a pony called Twinkletoes and a letter that takes a month to come.

What to read next

If this one goes down well, Milly-Molly-Mandy's Summer has more muddy feet, with paddling in the brook and a proper picnic.