A couple of weeks ago the Observer had an article on 10 best illustrated children’s books.
Number one? “The Lonely Doll” by Dare Wright, first published in 1957, the book full of “glamour, mystery and melancholy.”
Oh, and spanking.
Edith and Little Bear had been very naughty, you see. This is what happens when little dolls and bears are naughty.
I’m delighted that the Observer has picked up on my old favourite, and placed it so high on the list, noting: “The book has recently been republished, which is amazing, if only because Mr Bear, I am sorry to report, believes in smacking his charges”.
You’d have thought the PC crowd would have edited the naughty bits out – after all they did it with the Faraway Tree series.
OK, I had to check on Amazon to make sure it still had the word spanking in it before I ordered it. Only once, apparently, so it’s not exactly Heinlein!
I was probably more excited than I should have been to see this photo come up in my Reader. I bought this book for a scene friend many years ago and haven’t had the chance to see it since. It’s one of the most adorable books ever – IMHO.
-Beth
I loved this book as a child because of the spanking.
Interestingly, the official ebook version, offered at Barnes & Noble has been edited making the book totally ‘safe’.