Enid Blyton - Mason Willey's Collectors' and Enthusiasts' Guide to First Editions
Appendix III: Little strip books

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In the austere wartime years, there was a severe shortage of paper and card, as book collectors will know from the Wartime Economy Standard logo found in many publications from that time, printed on inferior quality paper. Little strip books were a triumph of British inventiveness, in that they were thought up by the managing editor of Brockhampton Press as a way of using up offcuts from Picture Post magazine. Enid Blyton chose Mary Mouse as the character and the first book appeared in 1942. They were highly successful, and the series eventually sold well over a million copies.

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Many Blyton collectors specialise in Mary Mouse and other little strip books, but because they were loved to death by their original owners, and read and re-read, copies in any kind of reasonable condition are often quite difficult to come by. Later titles in the series, from the mid 1950s onwards are particularly elusive, probably because of dwindling print runs as a result of the availability of more sophisticated reading matter. 

Mary Mouse is perhaps the most popular of the little strip book series', but Bom, Clicky, Gobo, Mandy Mops and Cubby and Noddy all appear in little strip book form (see pages 11 & 12).

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A Mary Mouse little strip book from 1948

 
Mary Mouse
 
Published by Brockhampton, illustrated by Olive F. Openshaw to 1955, Frederick White from 1956 to 1961 and R. Paul-Hoye thereafter. All the books are little strip books.
 
Mary Mouse and the Doll's House                        1942
More Adventures of Mary Mouse                          1943
Little Mary Mouse Again                                1944
Hallo, Little Mary Mouse                               1945
Mary Mouse and Her Family                              1946
Here Comes Mary Mouse Again                            1947
How Do You Do, Mary Mouse                              1948
We Do Love Mary Mouse                                  1950
Welcome, Mary Mouse                                    1950
Hurrah for Mary Mouse                                  1951
A Prize for Mary Mouse                                 1951
Mary Mouse and Her Bicycle                             1952
Mary Mouse and the Noah's Ark                          1953
Mary Mouse to the Rescue                               1954
Mary Mouse in Nursery Rhyme Land                       1955
A Day With Mary Mouse                                  1956
Mary Mouse and the Garden Party                        1957
Mary Mouse Goes to the Fair                            1958
Mary Mouse Has a Wonderful Idea                        1959
Mary Mouse Goes to Sea                                 1960
Mary Mouse Goes Out for the Day                        1961
Fun With Mary Mouse                                    1962
Mary Mouse and the Little Donkey                       1964
 
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