Raymond Sheppard and Enid Blyton (Part One)

Raymond Sheppard and Enid Blyton 

Part One: Fourth Holiday Book

(All the illustrations below are from the Fourth Holiday Book)

Fourth Holiday Book page 38

I'll keep Sheppard's fantastic illustrations for Enid Blyton's books "The Adventures of Pip" and "More Adventures of Pip" for another day, but mention here some unusual illustrations by Raymond Sheppard.

Fourth Holiday Book page39

There were 12 "Enid Blyton Holiday Books" published between 1946 and 1957 according to the fantastic Enid Blyton Society website. Why Sheppard wasn't in the first three I have no idea but he had work appear in 5 of the 12 - see the list below.

His artwork in these books leave me feeling uncertain. For example, in these first two pictures, Tiny appears like a Mabel Lucie Attwell type cute figure and the Pixie's head in the first picture is so distorted with Tiny looking at his pot, not him.

There are some redeeming features in this artwork, such as the hedgehog and tree on page 120, the hullabaloo on page 135, the big oak tree on page 136 but here for your reading pleasure are all Sheppard's illustrations in the Fourth Holiday Book

Fourth Holiday Book page40

Fourth Holiday Book page41

Fourth Holiday Book page42

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Below are listed all the book in the series that featured Sheppard artwork. I do not have a single copy with a dustjacket so have borrowed the images - again - from the Enid Blyton Society

The Fourth Holiday Book (Published 1949)

The Balloon-Pipe - Illustrated by Raymond Sheppard

Silly-One and The Jewels - Illustrated by Raymond Sheppard

Billy And The Brownie - Illustrated by Raymond Sheppard

The Fifth Holiday Book (Published 1950) 

The Sneezing Dog - Illustrated by Raymond Sheppard

Tippy's Trick - Illustrated by Raymond Sheppard

The Whispering Pool - Illustrated by Raymond Sheppard

The Sixth Holiday Book (Published 1951)

The Cuckoo In The Clock- Illustrated by Raymond Sheppard

The Wrong Bus - Illustrated by Raymond Sheppard

The Eighth Holiday Book (Published 1953)

Wagger Goes To The Show - Illustrated by Raymond Sheppard

The Spanking Umbrella - Illustrated by Raymond Sheppard

The Ninth Holiday Book (Published 1954)

A Visitor To Dinner - Illustrated by Raymond Sheppard

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Fourth Holiday Book page117

Fourth Holiday Book page118

Fourth Holiday Book page119

The position we see of the potagonist above shows a figure with weight and anticipation in the face. Lovely!

Fourth Holiday Book page120

The tree above is shown in two colours much like railway posters in the early 20th century.

Fourth Holiday Book page121

Fourth Holiday Book page122

It's obvious above that the pixie has an elongated head, so perhaps I'm being too hasty in my comments above!

Fourth Holiday Book page130

Fourth Holiday Book page131

Fourth Holiday Book page132

In the pictures above I think Sheppard draws the proportions of a child in a child's car brilliantly.

Fourth Holiday Book page133

Fourth Holiday Book page134

Fourth Holiday Book page135

Fourth Holiday Book page136

I love trees and this one is a grand old fellow

Fourth Holiday Book page137

Have a great time browsing the contents listings of the books at the EB site with their typically Blyton titles here (and scroll down their pages for some pictures from them too!)