Linda Lyall is sent from a Children’s Home to the wealthy Hampton family. By mistake they think she is blind and she takes advantage of this to play on their sympathy.
When Hilary Cornwell’s parents went abroad to work for a year, she was sent to stay with her Great-Aunt Jane and her great-great-grandfather. Sir Humphrey. Hilary thought that she was in for a boring time, but she couldn’t have been more wrong.
Great-Aunt Jane – Judy and Tracy: #1412 (31 Jan. 1987) – #1423 (18 Apr. 1987)
Gypsy girl Susie Lee runs away from her cruel stepfather and stepsister and hides in a school storeroom. She finds an old uniform and becomes a secret pupil at the school.
Lindsey Lowe and her widowed mother move to Melfort Manor, where Mrs Lowe is housekeeper to the Meredith family. Their daughter, Susannah, gets jealous when Lindsey outshines her at gymnastics. Susannah and Lindsey learn that in feudal times, the Lowes were serfs to the Merediths. Pretending to be friendly, Susannah gives Lindsey a ring of slavery that the Merediths forced the Lowes to wear when they were serfs to them. Her plan is that the ring will make Lindsey her slave.
Orphan Belle has been brought up by a tinker couple called Lotts. She cannot read or write, but wants to learn. Mrs Dupont offers her free training at classy Hawsbury School. Then she goes on holiday. Belle ends up in a Children’s Home, but does not like it, and is on the run while waiting for Mrs Dupont to return.
Each week Madame Marlova tells a tale from the world of ballet. Many of them are stories of inspiration and courage for aspiring ballerinas in Madame Marlova’s class, while others teach morals, such as leaving nothing to chance because it can be too risky. Some have a more unusual take, such as one story about gruelling dancing marathons in the days of the Great Depression.
In a sequel The Dancing Days of Lisa Marlova, Madame Marlova has retired and settles down to writing her memoirs. Now the story of how she became a top ballerina is told in full.
Other Appearances:
Hylda is a mystery girl. She does not know her exact age, her parents, and has no full name. She has been living with Uncle Josh and Aunt Carrie, who travel with Santor’s Fair and Circus ever since she can remember, but they and cousin Bette are not kind to her. Hylda decides to go against the circus to find her true parents and indulge her passion of becoming a top gymnast.
Other Appearances:
Complete stories from the Flower Story Series. Including:
The Lady of the Daisies
Flower: Daisy
The Queen of Belrovia is a harsh ruler and banishes a girl called Delza for making a daisy chain, which the Queen deems a form of idleness. A witch punishes the Queen with a curse that causes nothing but daisies to grow in summer, but even this does not move the Queen to change her mind about Delza. But then the daisies come in useful when enemies invade. They mistake the daisies for snow in summer and retreat, fearing the land is bewitched. The Queen finally relents and gives Delza the title of Lady of the Daisies.
Five Flowers for Fleur
Flower: Dandelion. The pansy, rose, orchid (imitation) and unknown tropical flower (possibly stinking corpse lily) that gives off a terrible stench when it opens also feature.
Four princes claim the hand of Princess Fleur. To decide her groom, she tells them to bring a flower they think is worthy of her and she will cherish. All four fail the test because their choices reflect how unsuitable they are. But then there is a surprise fifth gift of flowers for Fleur, from Hugo-of-the-Great-City. Not realising she is a princess, he offers her a bouquet of dandelions, which he says matches her hair. Fleur realises that it is not so much the flower but the thought behind it and comes to cherish the “humble dandelion as a symbol of love and compassion, and virtues of a true and noble prince and worthy lord for his princess.” Hugo and Fleur are married, much to the consternation of the four failed princes.
The Legend of the Water Lily
Flower: Water lily
In ancient China, Lily-Blossom and her family are devoted to gardening. Lily’s brother Lin is called up for war. Lily is distraught as she has no idea if Lin will return. She consults a fortune-teller, who says that if her brother will live, she will receive a sign. The sign will be a strange lily, unlike any other, that will bloom in the garden Lin made for her. As time goes by, there is no sign of the strange lily, and the family begins to doubt it will appear. Lily keeps weeping by the pool Lin constructed in the garden. But then she is surprised when something starts growing in the pool. It is the water lily, and it is the strange lily in question. Lily’s parents say the lily is an enchanted flower that grew from the tears Lily shed into the pool. Lin returns a year later and gets married beside a pool full of water lilies.
The Happiness Plant
Flower: unknown, but is dubbed “the Happiness Plant”
In the year 1900, Maggy Mayce becomes intrigued by the devotion Miss Bird gives to her plant, although she does not know its proper name. They strike a friendship, with Maggy calling in on her way to work to see Mrs Bird and her plant. But then Miss Bird’s nephew takes her away and Maggy has no address to follow up. Miss Bird has left Maggy the plant, which Maggy cherishes by the window, as Miss Bird had done. Then Maggy loses her job and cannot find another. She is just about at the end of the line when Miss Bird arrives. She had tracked Maggy down through the plant. Realising Maggy’s plight, Miss Bird offers her a job as a companion, and Maggy is happy to accept. She dubs the unknown plant “the Happiness Plant”.
December 1941 in Malaya and the Japanese invasion had forced the evacuation of many kids to Singapore. But then the train Jenny Thomas was on was bombed she found herself in charge of a handful of survivors.
Picture Stories