Snugglepot and Cuddlepie

Anne here, and no, you can relax — I'm not talking about a particularly mushy romance.  While a lot of readers are recovering from Thanksgiving celebrations, I'm thinking about beloved children's books — specifically books set in nature.

When I was a child growing up in Australia, most of the children's stories I knew came from other countries — from England and Europe and other lands — particularly English classics. I've blogged before about my love of AA Milne's tales of Winne the Pooh. And I loved Enid Blyton's tales of Cherry Tree Farm (and others) where I learned about red squirrels and Brock the badger and slow worms and many more wild animals — none of which I'd ever seen.

This was another favorite story book, a fat volume called Once Long Ago, containing seventy wonderful stories from almost as many lands. I still own it, but the dust jacket is in tatters. I thrilled to the story of Baba Yaga, loved the Native American tale of the Boy and the Wolves, the Chinese tale of the Fairy Wife -- and many more.

But while I loved all those stories, and happily travelled far and wide in my imagination, there were few stories that connected as strongly with my immediate environment as May Gibbs's tales of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, the gum-nut babies, and all the other bush babies.

And here are the gumnuts they live in. (Australians call all eucalyptus trees "gum" trees) We also use the word "bush" in a general sense to mean the wilderness -- the untouched natural environment. So we talk of going bushwalking, or we battle bushfires, or we "go bush" to escape the rat race — so bush babies are babies that live in the bush..

May Gibbs's stories — and particularly her beautifully evocative paintings and drawings— brought the native plants of Australia to fairytale life. May Gibbs was one of the first authors and illustrators to create an Australian fairy-tale world, and you can see for yourself how perfectly —and magically— she wove her tales around the local flora and fauna.

Here are her flannel flower babies, dressed in the soft, velvety flannel flowers that grew wild down the hill from my house.

 

 

 

And at the top of this post are the golden clad wattle babies (wattle is the Australian general name for what people in the US call mimosa.) 

 There were babies for almost every kind of plant — even mushrooms. Or are those toadstools?

And what would any good adventure story be without scary villains -- in this case the big bad banksia men, who would run off with unwary bush babies. Here's the May Gibbs illustration.

And here is a photo of a banksia pod after a fire — the heat causes them to scatter their seeds — fire is a prerequisite for germination. But even now I still see sinister-looking faces in banksia pods. This one is a particularly good example. Those eyes are watching, aren't they?

There were boronia babies — the dull-looking brown and yellow boronia has the sweetest smell.

 There were water babies, and various creatures — some dangerous and some benign — and they brought the world around me to fairy-tale life.And they still do. I still see little dancing legs dangling out of gum blossoms, and tiny faces peeping shyly from gumnuts and from heath flowers and from behind gum leaves and— well, they're everywhere. You just have to be very, very quiet and very, very patient and look very, very carefully . . . 

I hope you've enjoyed this brief glimpse of a classic and beloved Australian children's story.
What about you? Can you remember any childhood books that brought your world to magical life?

Comments

[Oana-Maria Uliu]

Your post reminded me of a Romanian book about two blue twin dolls, Luna Betiluna and Dora Minodora, and their adventures in the worlds of flowers, insects, birds, and fish.

https://apartamentsunshinemamaia.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/luna-betiluna-si-dora-minodora.jpg

https://douafetecucuiete.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/p4090018.jpg

http://www.anticariat-unu.ro/uploads/products/luna-betiluna-si-dora-minodora-intr-un-giz-album-cu-pasarele-de-anamaria-smigelschi-1975-p67301-01.JPG

[Sonya Heaney]

Oh, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie! I remember books, and videos, and school excursions based on the story, and I still have a few childhood items covered in Snugglepot and Cuddlepie stickers!

I have a distinct memory of doing a school bushwalk based on the books.

I had heaps of books that influenced me, but one series I think of immediately is the Tomorrow, When the War Began series, which came out just in time for me to study it at school.
For those who don’t know: it’s a book series about a group of teenagers who go camping in the Australian bush, only to return home and realise their country has been invaded, and everybody else is in internment camps.
Not exactly a cute or romantic series, but it certainly made an impact on us!

By the time they got around to making a movie of the first book they had to modernise the story and give the characters mobile phones and the internet! It wasn’t quite the same as when it was first written!

[Anne Gracie]

They look lovely, Oana-Maria. May Gibbs also had some underwater babies, too. A magical imaginary world.

[Anne Gracie]

Yes, Sonya, it's almost impossible to grow up in Australia and not be touched by Snugglepot and Cuddlepie. I also remember that John Marsden book -- Tomorrow When the World Began -- grim stuff, but thought provoking. I never did see the movie

[Annette Naish]

What a wonderful post. Thank you for the stories and the pictures. I know that Australia must be a wonderful and magical place. It has pink cockatoos flying free, and kangaroos hopping about. And now I know what terrific stories children have to keep them company.

Thank you Ann,this was terrific.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Annette. I do love our pink cockatoos -- they're called galahs, and they are funny as well as lovely. Natural clowns. In summer I often see them grazing the ovals where I walk my dog.

[Teresa Broderick]

I grew up with Enid Blyton. I lived out in the countryside and all the kids in the area my age were boys and I also have three brothers. So I used to escape into my books for hours on end. I loved all her books but I particularly loved The Folk of the Faraway Tree. Oh the joy of the characters in that book. Moonface and What's His Name were two favourites. I remember the chapter where What's His Name found out his real name and by the time he got back to the tree he'd forgotten it again. So we never got to know it.
You've brought back so many memories to me with this post. I'm feeling unwell at the moment and this has really perked me up. Thank you so much.

[Anne Gracie]

Teresa, I loved Enid Blytons stories -- they were a godsend for a bookworm like me who was always running out of books to read. The faraway Tree series was a favourite -- I loved the saucepan-man who kept mistaking things, and Dame Washalot whose suds soaked everyone, and the worlds that came and went at the top of the tree. And I yearned to go on the slippery side inside the tree. My older sister owns a lot of my beloved childhood books, but i bought a set of the Faraway Tree (and others) for myself as an adult.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Anne,it's so delightful to read more about May Gibbs' books and wonderful illustrations! They're magical anywhere, but so much enhanced because they spoke to Australian children about their own wonderful land. I love stories that take me to new places, but I also love stories that are rooted in my own home territory.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Mary Jo. Yes it was pretty special recognizing my own environment and knowing there was/could be tiny beings living among the most ordinary plants and flowers. Not just insects and other bugs, but little people. *g*

[Teresa Broderick]

So glad you liked them too Anne. I bought myself a hardback edition of the Faraway Tree stories that I found in a local bookshop last year (my originals fell to pieces). I think I'll read it today. I'm laid up at the moment and it would make me feel good without being too taxing to lift my spirits!! This post had been brilliant.

[Anne Gracie]

Im so glad, Teresa. I hope you get well soon. In the meantime, watch out for that sudsy water coming your way and treat yourself to a pop-toffee.

[Barbara Monajem]

I loved A.A. Milne, too -- the poetry as much as the novels. Also I remember getting absorbed in animal stories once I could read on my own -- first the books by Thornton W. Burgess, and then other animal stories whose titles I've forgotten, alas. Also Finn Family Moomintroll and the other Moomintroll stories by Tove Jansson, which are becoming available again. They aren't really stories about nature as such, but they certainly caught my imagination. :)

[Faith Freewoman]

This was so fun and cozy! And a fascinating look at the Ozzie faerie kingdom. Enjoyed it thoroughly.

Cheers, Faith

[Sue McCormick]

I love the opportunity to examine Aussie children's stories.

When I was in kindergarten our teacher read the Thornton Burgess stories to us. My own early childhood books were the sanitized fairy/folk tales, an illustrated Twice-told tales, and a Peter Pan Picture book.

The earliest connected-to-home book was found in the middle grades. Called Becky (??) of Arrow Rock, about a girl growing up along the Missouri wagon train trail (the town is now just off I70). And the next taste of fiction with my own experience was Winston Churchill's (The AMERICAN Churchill) "The Crisis" set in the 1850s and 1860s in my own city of St. Louis.

Of course, I enjoyed all the books and all the places they sent me. But those two books taught me that fiction can be set at home.

[Kathy K]

"Hank the Cowdog" is favorite in Texas where I live. We used to listen to audio books of the series while traveling with the children. They were those rare books that are funny both to adults and children.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Faith — glad you enjoyed it.

[Anne Gracie]

Sue, I know theres a school of thought that says scary/gory fairytales are good for children, but give me the sanitized ones every time. I *still* fret about why nobody helped the poor little match girl, and I hated the story of the red shoes, where a little girl was subjected to a dreadful punishment, simply for wanting pretty shoes. That Arrow Rock story rings a slight bell with me -- the occasional American (and canadian) story crossed the Pacific. And I didnt know there was an American Winston Churchill. Thanks.

[Anne Gracie]

Kathy, I just googled Hank the Cowdog and I think Id better grab a copy, just to know. I do like dog stories and my nephew has a baby boy who is growing up with dogs and I could pass it on to him afterwards. Thank you.

[Anne Gracie]

Barbara, it sounds like we have quite a few early books in common. I can quote chunks of AAM Milne poetry — particularly from When We Were Very Young -- no doubt dating from when my parents and older siblings (they were a lot older) read it aloud to me. And I adored the Finn Family Moomintroll — still have a couple of those books on my shelves. But I havent read them for ages, so might pull them down and have a catch up. Thanks.

[Kareni]

I have good memories of Hank the Cowdog, Kathy, as my husband read aloud the first thirty five books or so to our daughter from about ages five to ten.

I lived in Australia from about age five to ten, and I likely read or heard about Snugglepot but my sieve like memory is not certain. I do recall Enid Blyton's Five stories however. I also recall with fondness a collection of Russian fairytales. It had both beautiful and sinister art.