The Adventures of Wonk: Strawberries and Cream, series 417

Auntie Muriel, real name Muriel Levy, was a well-known children’s entertainer, author and radio broadcaster with the BBC.  It is unlikely that she really penned these stories – but she is named as the writer of all  6 of the Adventures of Wonk books.  The very distinctive, stylish illustrations are by  Joan Kiddell-Monroe – an artist better known then than she is today. 

This was Ladybird’s first proper experiment in original fiction; Wonk is a loveable koala bear with a human friend called Peter and was presumably inspired by the bear stories abot Mary Plain.  I’d like to think that Wonk, in turn, had an influence on Michael Bond when he later created the character of Paddington.    In each of the Wonk books, there are two independent stories.  This book, in addition to the story Strawberries and Cream, also includes the story Adventure in the Night.

All 6 books in series 417 (the adventures of Wonk) were originally issued with a dustwrapper made from a particularly thin and delicate paper, which rarely survives in good shape.  The 6 book were published between 1941 and 1948, when paper rationing was in place and there were many shortages.   The materials used to create the boards of these books varies hugely from book to book and edition to edition – it is clear that the company made the boards out of whatever materials they could access at any particular time.

This copy

This copy is a second edition from 1942.  As so often with books in this series, it has lots its original dustwrapper.  The pages too have the shiny paper that you find on some books from series 417 and 413.   For its age it’s in very good condition inside and out.  The spine is complete, the pages are unmarked and the binding is good.