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Mr Meddle's Mischief
Mr Meddle is a pixie who can't get anything right. He's always meddling in other people's business and making dreadful muddles. He tries to be kind and mind the shop for Mr Sugarman, but he serves salt instead of sugar to Dame Flap and canary seed instead of butter to Molly Miggle.
128 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1970
About the author
Enid Blyton
5,222 books6,384 followersSee also:
Ένιντ Μπλάιτον (Greek)
Enida Blaitona (Latvian)
Энид Блайтон (Russian)
Inid Blajton (Serbian)
Інід Блайтон (Ukrainian)
Enid Mary Blyton (1897–1968) was an English author of children's books.
Born in South London, Blyton was the eldest of three children, and showed an early interest in music and reading. She was educated at St. Christopher's School, Beckenham, and - having decided not to pursue her music - at Ipswich High School, where she trained as a kindergarten teacher. She taught for five years before her 1924 marriage to editor Hugh Pollock, with whom she had two daughters. This marriage ended in divorce, and Blyton remarried in 1943, to surgeon Kenneth Fraser Darrell Waters. She died in 1968, one year after her second husband.
Blyton was a prolific author of children's books, who penned an estimated 800 books over about 40 years. Her stories were often either children's adventure and mystery stories, or fantasies involving magic. Notable series include: The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, The Five Find-Outers, Noddy, The Wishing Chair, Mallory Towers, and St. Clare's.
According to the Index Translationum, Blyton was the fifth most popular author in the world in 2007, coming after Lenin but ahead of Shakespeare.
See also her pen name Mary Pollock
Ένιντ Μπλάιτον (Greek)
Enida Blaitona (Latvian)
Энид Блайтон (Russian)
Inid Blajton (Serbian)
Інід Блайтон (Ukrainian)
Enid Mary Blyton (1897–1968) was an English author of children's books.
Born in South London, Blyton was the eldest of three children, and showed an early interest in music and reading. She was educated at St. Christopher's School, Beckenham, and - having decided not to pursue her music - at Ipswich High School, where she trained as a kindergarten teacher. She taught for five years before her 1924 marriage to editor Hugh Pollock, with whom she had two daughters. This marriage ended in divorce, and Blyton remarried in 1943, to surgeon Kenneth Fraser Darrell Waters. She died in 1968, one year after her second husband.
Blyton was a prolific author of children's books, who penned an estimated 800 books over about 40 years. Her stories were often either children's adventure and mystery stories, or fantasies involving magic. Notable series include: The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, The Five Find-Outers, Noddy, The Wishing Chair, Mallory Towers, and St. Clare's.
According to the Index Translationum, Blyton was the fifth most popular author in the world in 2007, coming after Lenin but ahead of Shakespeare.
See also her pen name Mary Pollock
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 22, 2019
Certainly not the best of Blyton's books
10 January 2014
Look, as a children's author Enid Blyton is second to none, and as an author of children's mysteries, Blyton is simply superb, but like all authors there are books that one writes that are simply rubbish, and this is one of them. Okay, it is not the worst of her books, the Braer Rabbit books earn that award, but this book is getting pretty close. Probably the only good thing about this particular book is that it is short and I can get through it pretty quickly and then move onto something that has a lot more substance (and in this case it happens to be Kit Marlowe).
Personally, there isn't much that I really want to write about this book, and I notice that I have already written about Mr Muddle in another book I read in this series. That is good because there is not much more that I really want to write about this guy. At least with Braer Rabbit and Binkle and Flip there was some intelligence in those characters, even though they only existed to simply get up to mischief. With Mr Meddle, all we have is some moron who tries to do good and makes a complete mess of everything that he does. I would hardly call this a morality tale, and in fact, like the other said books that I have mentioned, this is completely the opposite. Okay, if there is a moral to this story, that is that one should not meddle in other people's business. That is all well and good, except that Mr Meddle is trying to do good, and doing a really bad job at it and getting into trouble because of it. As such, this is one of those books that I really don't want to have anything to do with, and really, in the end, forget about it and pretend that it does not even exist.
Now I can start reading some Kit Marlowe which something good has come out of this book.
10 January 2014
Look, as a children's author Enid Blyton is second to none, and as an author of children's mysteries, Blyton is simply superb, but like all authors there are books that one writes that are simply rubbish, and this is one of them. Okay, it is not the worst of her books, the Braer Rabbit books earn that award, but this book is getting pretty close. Probably the only good thing about this particular book is that it is short and I can get through it pretty quickly and then move onto something that has a lot more substance (and in this case it happens to be Kit Marlowe).
Personally, there isn't much that I really want to write about this book, and I notice that I have already written about Mr Muddle in another book I read in this series. That is good because there is not much more that I really want to write about this guy. At least with Braer Rabbit and Binkle and Flip there was some intelligence in those characters, even though they only existed to simply get up to mischief. With Mr Meddle, all we have is some moron who tries to do good and makes a complete mess of everything that he does. I would hardly call this a morality tale, and in fact, like the other said books that I have mentioned, this is completely the opposite. Okay, if there is a moral to this story, that is that one should not meddle in other people's business. That is all well and good, except that Mr Meddle is trying to do good, and doing a really bad job at it and getting into trouble because of it. As such, this is one of those books that I really don't want to have anything to do with, and really, in the end, forget about it and pretend that it does not even exist.
Now I can start reading some Kit Marlowe which something good has come out of this book.
November 27, 2023
Aww this was great. I'm reading my own old copy of this book which still sits on my shelf even after all these years. The inscription inside reads that I got it as a present from the girls next door at Christmas 1976. I was 6 years old. We spent that Christmas with my granny as my new baby sister had just been born and I remember so clearly being tucked up in bed with this book, reading away long after I was supposed to be asleep. I'm a bit surprised now that I was able to read this myself at just 6 years old but I was quite advanced with my reading as I just loved books. The pages of the book are well yellowed and its beginning to show its age. It was a favourite of mine and was read many many times when I was young. This is the first time I've gone back to it in what must be over 30 years but I enjoyed it every bit as much as I did back then. Not just the stories, which still raised a smile at Mr Meddles antics, but the whole experience, the memories. I almost felt like that little 6 year old tucked up in bed in granny's spare room. Priceless.
April 23, 2015
When I was a child I LOVED Enid Blyton and I wanted to love this book too but I just couldn't. Read this next to Mr Pinkwhistle (same author). Why is one such a hero and the other a horrid "meddler" when both are motivated by wanting to help. As an adult I can see an irony in the discontinuity and wonder if it's deliberate and humorous. As a child it seemed unjust and cruel and made me upset.
I just didn't enjoy reading these but I read them anyway because Blyton was that much of a favourite. Not that I tend to be a hero-worshipper or anything...
I just didn't enjoy reading these but I read them anyway because Blyton was that much of a favourite. Not that I tend to be a hero-worshipper or anything...
January 21, 2019
This book was completely pointless and... SAD! Poor Mr. meddle was only trying to help, the problem was he just couldn't do it right and it was everybody just doubting him and calling him a 'meddlesome creature' that pretty much drove him into trying so hard to be involved. The only reason he was being so annoying was everybody in the village telling him he couldn't do anything and denying his help.
What would have made this book fun was if Meddle was like Binkle and Flip (other character from Enid Blyton's collection.) If he was doing the things he did on purpose (being a pixie and all) it would have been a much more enjoyable read. But because all he is, is a sympathetic pixie who wanted to help, him being mistreated in every story is just saddening. Not one of Enid Blyton's best books I'm afraid.
What would have made this book fun was if Meddle was like Binkle and Flip (other character from Enid Blyton's collection.) If he was doing the things he did on purpose (being a pixie and all) it would have been a much more enjoyable read. But because all he is, is a sympathetic pixie who wanted to help, him being mistreated in every story is just saddening. Not one of Enid Blyton's best books I'm afraid.
August 29, 2018
Mr. Meddle was a really funny book.I remember reading it when I was a kid.It was amazing.It is a book full of short stories,the very funny and hilarious misadventures of Mr Meddle.Enid Blyton has very beautifully written these stories,at times you will burst out laughing at the hilarious events that Meddle partakes in,and sometimes you will actually feel sorry for him.It is an amazing book and I highly recommend it for children.
January 10, 2020
A childhood favourite I reread every now and then.
April 22, 2019
Why I wasn't aware of these books as a child, god only knows. I can only thank my mother who, shortly before her death, suggested that i read them to my youngest daughter. They soon became favourites.
May 4, 2010
My all time childhood favorite! :))
August 5, 2011
As with many Blyton books the launguage is set in it's time, but it's still funny and a quick jolly old read LOL
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews