Sunday, June 7

A Mysterious Invitation

On Friday, something rather curious happened. I was browsing children's books in a charity shop (I'm looking to find some nice chapter books to read to Nelly now she's moving on from picture books) and I happened upon one by Allan Ahlberg - "The Better Brown Stories". The title caught my imagination and as I am a big fan of his stories for younger children, I picked it off the shelf to have a flick through. As the pages fluttered through my fingers, something slipped out and fell to the floor. A bookmark left by the previous owner perhaps? I picked it up and turned it over. This is what I saw:


In case you are struggling to turn your PC around to read it, it says "Bumped your head and in a spin? Lost and all at sea? Just find the party in the woods and have a cup of tea" Can you imagine my excitement at finding such a deliciously mysterious offer? There was nothing on the back of the card to suggest where these woods might be, so alas I was unable to join the party. There is a suggestion of Alice in Wonderland about it, isn't there - especially when you look closely and see the little tiny tea-cup in the middle:


So if anybody out there can shed any light on the provenance of this rather charming yet elusive invitation, I would be most grateful!

Tea Party Update!
I think I've solved the mystery - the previous owner of the book was also a big Ahlberg fan...I think it came from here!....one of the few books of his we haven't read yet...but I'm off to Amazon right now!

6 comments:

  1. Flora, I just adore the way you write! Captivating, just as I'm sure this book is that you have discovered! I clicked the link you put in and I have to say if my children were younger I'd be tempted to visit Amazon myself. Thanks for sharing your mystery with us!

    ReplyDelete
  2. how cute is that?! I love alan ahlberg muchly and what good inspiration for a party invite.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a great post Flora! I love AA too but I haven't seen the invitation - what a tease!

    ReplyDelete
  4. that's so sweet.

    i have two in the Jolly Postman series, and some of the contents of the envelopes are missing, i've been planning to make some little replacements for some time now (when?! how? - sigh). they're truly wonderful books.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yes they're super books aren't they? I had never even heard of the Jolly Pocket Postman (although I've read the other two) I have rectified the situation and ordered one from Ebay...it wasn't available from Amazon.

    It saddens me a little to think there is a copy out there missing its Tea Party invitation, but it is now pinned up on my noticeboard as I would never be able to track down the owner anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  6. How lovely and so beautifully designed too. What a great and unexpected treat. I have occasionally found things in old books in charity shops too. Nice bookmarks, interesting letters etc.

    ReplyDelete