Book Review: The Children of Cherry Tree Farm (1940) by Enid Blyton #1940Club

Monday the 10th of April 2023 and time for the #1940Club hosted by Karen at Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings and Simon at Stuck in a Book. For those new to club reads, twice a year Simon and Karen pick a year and anyone who wants to participate reads a book or books originally published in that year and shares their thoughts–on the blog, Goodreads, or the dedicated page Simon and Karen have on their blogs. For the first of my reviews, I’ve chosen one of my favourite writers, Enid Blyton.

No more London! No more noise of buses and trams! No more poor sooty old trees. But clean sweet bushes and woods, bright flowers, singing birds and shy little animals slipping by. Oh, what fun!

The Children of Cherry Tree Farm (1940), much like Jane’s Country Year (1953) by Malcolm Saville, which I read and reviewed last year, isn’t really a story so much as a device to take readers on an enjoyable (and painlessly informative) exploration of small and large wildlife in the English countryside. The first of a series of three books, The Children of Cherry Tree Farm was first published by Country Life in 1940 and illustrated by Harry Rountree. This was followed by The Children at Willow Farm (1942) and More Adventures on Willow Farm (1943) but more about those later.

The Children of Cherry Tree Farm opens with a set of events quite common in this genre of fiction. We have four siblings, 13-year-old Rory, 12-year-old Sheila, 10-year-old Benjy, and the youngest 7-year-old Penelope or Penny who live in grey, dreary London. The three older children are looking wistfully out of the window and lamenting having to be in London in the spring where trees aren’t even in bud yet. Benjy in particular, who loves animals and birds, wishes he could have a country cottage. And just then, little Penny who has been having an injured finger bandaged by her mother arrives with exciting news. As all the children have been ill (measles, followed the flu, and then a bout of cough) and are very weak as a result, they are to go to the country and stay for six months with their Aunt Bess and Uncle Tim for six whole months! (Talk about wishes being fulfilled instantly!) Their parents, also as is usual (and convenient), are travelling to America for that period.

And so it is that that the four children find themselves on a train and heading to Cherry Woods station and from there in a pony trap to Cherry Tree Farm. They are welcomed with a sumptuous tea and from the very next day, start exploring the farm. The children are interested in going for walks and discovering the hills and woods beyond the farm and when discussing this with Uncle Tim learn about Tammylan, a ‘wild man’ who lives in the forest, rather than in a ‘normal’ house. But Tammylan isn’t known to be good to children, having shaken one little boy and tossed two others into the river. But the children are still intrigued by Tammylan and decide to seek him out. Their attempt though turns out very different than expected, and when they do find the ‘wild man’, he isn’t ‘wild’ or fearsome but a rather kind man who almost instantly becomes their friend. And it is with Tammylan that the children begin to truly explore the woods, meeting and learning about the creatures great and small who live there. For Benjy, especially, this is a dream come true, as not only does he love birds and animals, he has an affinity with them the others don’t. But the months soon begin to pass by and it is soon time to return to London… or is it?

It was from her father Thomas Blyton that Enid acquired and developed an interest in nature (among other things), and she often accompanied him on nature walks. She had a wealth of knowledge on birds, animals, and nature and this shone through in her books, whether fiction into which she wove this in, or her nature-specific writings (on birds, animals, her seasonal-Round the Year with Enid Blyton volumes, and more). And that is the case too with this book, as through Tammylan, the children get to ‘meet’ and interact with a range of creatures from a dormouse, to a stoat, to a hare, slowworm, snakes, and even a fox—learning in the process about them and their habits—whether it is how hares can be told apart from rabbits, live in ‘forms’ and break their tracks to rid themselves of predators or how weasels can sometimes give an interesting performance to attract prey, or how red stags shed their antlers, or slow-worms their tails. There was plenty in here new to me.

In this process, Tammylan rids the children (and Blyton her readers) of several misconceptions about animals and birds which often lead to the latter suffering unnecessary harm (water-voles being mistaken for rats, for instance, or every snake being thought of as poisonous, or bats not being quite as people tend to think of them and such). The children being city children—even Benjy though he knows much more than the others—end up reacting more strongly (and in what they realise later is a rather silly way) at times, showing the disconnect that they had with all things in nature (and this despite liking it), something which has only increased over time. Such othering is to a degree also responsible for the constant conflicts, and not understanding other life forms as part of a single system with ourselves, harming us, them, and the planet as a whole.

Neither such instances of mistakenly caused harm nor the more direct (and deliberate) points of conflict that arise between man and animal (or indeed between animals themselves) are glossed over. Blyton brings up the issue of moles for instance causing annoyance to farmers and having to be rid of or even the unnecessarily cruel fox hunt. While she acknowledges the practical perspectives (in terms of harm to farms and farmers which has to be addressed) which might justify such measures, she also looks at the plight of the animals concerned themselves with compassion. There is a scene where a fox is escaping the hunt (which it manages to do) but is in bad shape having had to outrun humans and dogs. From a current-day lens, when we are supposed to be more aware (and claim to be more ‘civilised’) one does wonder why only little attempt continues to be made to reach life-preserving rather than destroying solutions.

The farm in the book, though a staple in many Blyton stories, merely serves as setting and background in this one, with their chores and some of the animals mentioned in passing (though in the initial chapters, we do ‘see’ them bottle-feeding the lambs and such). It becomes the door to the country for the children, and at the end, the place where they will permanently move to as their parents decide to get a farm of their own near by—Willow Farm.

Another Blyton staple, however, which is very much here is food. From the time the four children first arrive at the farm to a delicious tea, there is plenty of eating whether picnic lunches, birthday meals, or cake—some of it shared with Tammylan and the animals too—including a very greedy swan who claims almost their entire meal on one occasion.

Interestingly while the book was written in 1940 (and while I’m not sure of the month, around the time when children were being evacuated to the country), the book doesn’t mention or even hint at these aspects. In fact, if I remember right, Blyton wrote very few books that touched on or ever referenced the war or related events (perhaps to maintain a sense and hope of normalcy for her readers?)

The Children With Tammylan

The illustrations by Harry Rountree are pen and ink and complement the story. I also enjoyed the period detail standing out in their clothes, hair etc.

The Children of Cherry Tree Farm is a wonderful exploration of nature and wildlife in the country, which anyone interested in nature will enjoy, irrespective of their age. This was not a book I was familiar with as a child but it’s made me excited to explore the sequels soon.

All illustrations via the Blyton Society Page