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Hi, Rusty!
Yes, calling someone a "toad" - as in "You obnoxious little toad!" - is hardly a term of endearment....
But I have no particular objection to toads.
Or frogs!
I once had a cat who used to bring me live presents of frogs.
He got them from a neighbour's garden , where there is a pond.....
He never hurt the frog , he would carry it gently by a leg and lay it at my feet!
I then had the task of returning said frog to its home environment!
Which I would do by cupping it in my hands.....
It was as well I quite liked the creatures!
I drew the line at the stag beetles that another of my cats used to offer me though!

Good evening, Elle!
I don't mind frogs and toads.
Just creatures living their life, the same as us.
My grandson has just left.
He is going to his Mum's for tea.
Was fine seeing him.
It is a lovely evening here!

Good evening, Rusty!
We never saw the sun today.....it has been dull and cloudy all the day,
And now it is nearly dark.
That was nice to have a visit from your grandson!
Did you know that he was coming or was it a surprise?
I had my usual chat with my daughter this afternoon , on her way home from work.
And my son texted me to say that he has next Wednesday off and would come over with his daughter to see us.
That will be great, as we seldom see father and daughter together.
More often we see our granddaughter with her mother and half -brother.
Complicated families, eh?
Right, I shall watch my recording of "Eggheads" now.....

Hello, Elle!
Yes, I knew my grandson was coming to see me.
He came straight from work.
Families can be complicated, certainly!
I am having a quiet evening.
I have a book of Times Jumbo Cryptics and may have a go at one.

Hi, Rusty!
I myself used to read books by Enid Blyton when I was a child..."The Famous Five"; "The Secret Seven"; "Noddy"; "The Faraway Tree" etc.... as did my children and as now do my grandchildren......
So I was amazed to come across this, in an article by the Independent printed in August this year.

"Plans to give Enid Blyton a commemorative coin were stopped because the author is known to have had “racist, sexist and homophobic” views.
The Royal Mint revealed that plans to put the face of the beloved children’s writer on a 50p coin were blocked over fears it would provoke a backlash.
According to the Mail Online, members of the group said that the creator of The Famous Five, Noddy and The Secret Seven was “a racist, sexist, homophobe and not a very well-regarded writer”.

"The coin was would have been released in November 2018 to commemorate 50 years since the best-selling author’s death.
The decision to stop its release has been debated on Good Morning Britain, which saw Richard Madeley criticise the action....."
.
I had never thought of Enid Blyton as being any of those things?
I enjoyed her books without being aware of any "political" undercurrents......as did my own children....

Seemingly this must have been well broadcast, and I must simply have missed it, as it was apparently in the press and discussed on television.
I am gobsmacked!
Do you know anything about this?
Did you, also, read Enid Blyton when you were little?

Hello, Elle!
I read the "Famous Five" books (or some of them) and liked them.
They are a distant memory now.
But not the others you mention.
I have not heard about the proposed coin.
Her books were popular, but if she was racist, sexist, homophobe, or not, I have no idea.
For the standards of the time she lived, many years ago, she may have been judged to have fairly normal views.
I don't think it right to take today's standards and judge folk in the past, by them.
Things are constantly evolving with the passage of time.
I think we should have Miss Peckwitt on a coin!

Hi, Rusty!
Yes, I agree with you that one cannot necessarily judge someone of almost another era by the current standards...... we live in a much more enlightened age now.
I cannot recall anything "amiss" in any of Enid Blyton's many books....
But then I was not reading them with a critical eye, but rather with a child's delight!
When I first started to read the article in the Independent, I was concerned that her books might be going to be banned!
That would be a pity.....
My grandkids love them!
Miss Peckwitt on a coin ?....
That might bring forth accusations of fabrication and untruths!
She did seem rather to spin a yarn ,...in more than one sense!

Hello, Elle!
I looked up Blyton on Wikipedia and she seemed to me to be an odd character.
I know I liked the books I read, but being a small boy then, I would not have known if they were racist or whatever.
I remember very little about them, now, anyway.
Is there not a saying about never meeting your heroes, for you will be disappointed?

Hi rusty and elle
I saw a TV biography of Enid Blyton some time ago. I don't know about all the alleged "isms", but she seemed to be a rather peculiar person, virtually ignoring her children in favour of her writing.
I only read the "adventure" series - I remember Lucy always saying "food always tastes much better when you eat it out or doors".
As an aficianada of children's literature, elle, I'm slightly surprised that you hadn't come across Beatrix Potter's The tale of Mr Tod (who was a fox).

I have seen Enid Blyton criticised for many things, including "bad writing". meaning poor grammar etc. I doubt very much there is any homophobia in her books- in any case, we know what the law was at the time. I don't remember any racism, either. The word has gone mad- Thomas the Tank engine now has to have sister tank and other engines (I think the books should have been left as they were and not added to at all), no Fireman Sam.

I belonged to Enid Blyton's Sunny Stories Club, and wrote to her. She replied in the magazine. I remember not liking Noddy (presumably Big Ears is now a definite no-no), but then I thought the Brownies were naff, too. I enjoyed The Famous Five and Secret Seven books enormously and I believe they got children reading.

"They" will start on Arthur Ransome next.