Show & Tell

What Chalet School books have you acquired recently? Which ones are you searching for?

I recently bought the Girls Gone By reprint of Jane and the Chalet School, which I had never managed to read as an Armada paperback. I'm looking forward to their next CS publications, Head girl and Triplets, both of which I own in tatty abridged Armada editions. I always enjoy the introductions and other supplementary material that GGB include in their books.

I finished my Armada collection this spring, and thought I was finished acquiring the series. They while browsing AwesomeBooks.com, I happened upon a 1988 Chambers hardcover of The Head Girl of the Chalet School for $7.08 CDN. Well obviously I couldn't ignore that. The book is beautiful, complete with dust jacket. the only flaw is that the endpapers are damaged, but I can certainly live with that. I haven't read through it yet, but I noticed one really obvious difference is that there are three more chapters than the Armada edition.

Then, a day or two later, MDGentleReader offered me a Girls Gone By copy of The Chalet Girls in Camp. It's the first GGB book I've seen, and I'm impressed. And so a new round of collection begins.

It never ends ... next you will want the connector books - the La Rochelle series, which tell of the Willoughby, Ozanne, Lucy and Chester family backgrounds, as well as Monica turns up trumps and The lost staircase!

I've read Maids of La Rochelle, but I have to admit that at the time I read it, I'm not convinced that I had the Willoughby, Ozanne, Lucy and Chester family members sorted out in my mind when I read it to link a passing mention of a particular person to a specific incident in a CS book. I think that I know that characters better now and hope to get better acquainted with them in time. Not sure how often I'll re-read Maids of La Rochelle, parts of it were upsetting. I have firmly limited myself to CS books and fill-ins for now. Actually I've had a lot of expenses lately and anticipate more in the future, so I'm trying to limit my book buying for the time being.

Have other folks read the connector books? What do you think of them?

I didn't acquire a book today. I went to a really lovely used bookstore in an old church. There was a smallish hardcover copy of Prefects of the Chalet School. I looked at the price, and placed it very gently back on the shelf. $175.00!!

>6 SylviaC:: Ouch!

>5 MDGentleReader:: Of the La Rochelle books, my favourites are Gerry goes to school, A head girl's difficulties and Heather leaves school. I do like the others, but the emphasis on the sisters' physical beauty, and the implied ignorance and superstition of the Guernsey natives, becomes hard to take.

I do have a hardback of Gerry goes to school I enjoyed it. I think I'll skip the rest of the La Rochelle series except the other two you mentoned. The whole natives are ignorant and superstitious stuff bugged me in Maids of La Rochelle.

I am waiting for GGBP to come out with Prefects of the Chalet School.

To be fair, I can't actually remember if the stereoptyping of the natives continues in the later books; they focus on Janey and her marriage.

Hopefully GGBP will reprint Prefects in future; they published it a few years ago but it's out of print again. I've noticed that titles that are in their second printing often have an extra short story or a new introduction added, which is nice but annoying for those of us who bought the more basic version first time around!

I'm really looking forward to the forthcoming GGBP edition of Head girl, which I only have in an abridged version with horrible '70s cover. I do love the original Nina K. Brisley covers on the early books in the series.

At least for Prefects, and most of the later books, the Armada versions are uncut. So I'm really not concerned about getting GGB or hardcover versions, since the whole story is there, anyway.

I didn't know that there were Armada versions that were unabridged.

>11 MDGentleReader: Check this link: http://www.chaletschool.org.uk/ebd-books/cuts-in-the-armada-paperbacks

Darn - I didn't realise this either. I have always thought that my tatty armada Ruey/Feuds were awfully short...

I'm also now off to try and obtain the La Rochelle series - I also never realised they were connected, I guess I just figured 'not chalet', though as a Channel Islander I'm wondering if I might find commentary on the 'natives' hard to take!

You might. I've only read Maids of La Rochelle though. If you do read then, I'd be interested in your reactions.

>13 BekkaJo:: GGBP have just reprinted Seven scamps, book 4 in the series, and will be getting to the last 3 in the next couple of years, so if you are patient those will be easy to find. Not sure what the current availability is for Gerry and Head Girl - those are not set on Guernsey but they are my favourites in the series.

I found a copy of The School at the Chalet which is a 1994 Armada facsimile of the original complete Chambers version. It is in really good shape and very affordable ($4.00), so I am very pleased. I also got a 1998 Chambers hardcover of Jo of the Chalet School which is in excellent condition, for only a couple of dollars more. When I was opening my package today, my husband said to me, "Stop being so excited!"

I have some others on order, and will report on them when they arrive.

Just received two brand new GGB books: The Chalet School in the Oberland and Mary-Lou of the Chalet School. I'm in acquisition mode! Two more to come, then I'm done until I can afford more.

You've ordered some of the best ones! Mary-Lou had a lot cut out in the armada version.

I'm mainly just going for the ones with big cuts, and Mary-Lou was always a favourite of mine. Of course, if anything else just falls into my hands like Jo of the Chalet School did, I'll take it.

And the last of my buying spree have arrived:

The Chalet School in Exile - Chambers hardcover - I'm delighted to have the unabridged version of this, which is probably my favourite book in the series.

The Chalet School Encyclopedia, Volume One - mind-boggling detail!

Trouble is, now that I have a few hardcovers and GGB versions, the series doesn't fit neatly on one shelf anymore.

Some more seem to be appearing, despite the best laid plans. The Princess of the Chalet School (1980 Chambers reprint) has arrived. The New House at the Chalet School and Lavender Laughs in the Chalet School (both GGB) are on the way.

Excellent purchases! You have to grab copies when you see them, as we all know how scarce they can be.

I'm umming over getting The Chalet School Encyclopedia, Volume One, is it worth the price?? I've got some of the other reference books, so I'm wondering if I'll be duplicating my efforts. Not that it's bothering me with "replacing" the Armadas with the GGBP versions when the come out.

My most recent purchase though, is the GGBP version of Jane of the Chalet School, and I've pre-ordered Head Girl at the Chalet School and The Chalet School Triplets

It depends on the level of detail about the characters you want. Every character who is even mentioned is listed, with page numbers and context. Jo's entry is 13 large, double-columned pages long. There are only a few pages dedicated to other aspects of the series. Since this volume only goes from A to D, there must be a few more volumes to come. I expect that I will go on buying them as they come out, because I would hate to just leave things hanging there at the letter D. I don't know how much I will actually refer to it, though.

>23 EJAYS17:, 24: According to the latest GGBP catalogue, there will be 4 volumes in total.

Reading Summer Term at the Chalet School for the very first time, GGBP edition. I suppose a squeal would not be in the Chalet School tradition? In any case, I'm very excited and it is exactly the right kind of book for me right now.

Oooh, must catalog it here and emboss it as mine!

>26 MDGentleReader:
I'm glad you've found something suitable to read now. Chalet School books make very good escapist literature! Especially a brand new one.

My GGBP copy of Head girl arrived last night. Of course I have dived straight into it! In the back of this edition they have reproduced the little chapter head illustrations that appeared in the 1988 hardback reprint, as well as a new short story by Helen Barber.

In the newsletter that came with the book is the announcement of a collection of CS short stories by Barber, to be published later this year. I'm not usually a short story reader but I think I will have to get this to feed my CS addiction! Barber is one of the best of those writing fill-ins, IMO.

What do you think of those illustrations, Sakerfalcon? I have the Chamber reprints of three of the first four books, and I don't care much for the illustrations. The dust jackets have lovely Nina K. Brisley paintings, but the chapter heading pictures are all clunky.

I found it an odd decision to reprint the first four, apparently as facsimile versions - from the outside - and then include such modern illustrations. The original books had only four monochrome plates, which would have been more expensive to include, so I suppose this was a cheaper way of including more illustrations. Having just looked at some there is a sameness about all the faces, and, although I called them modern, the period details seem to be correct.

>30 CDVicarage:
I thought the same thing: that period details like dresses and hairstyles seem accurate, but the faces are very poorly rendered.

I agree that the faces look rather odd in those chapter head illustrations. It is interesting to see them, but I'm glad that GGB didn't insert them into the body of the book. Nina Brisley is by far my favourite of the CS illustrators.

The November issue of the Friends of the Chalet School magazine arrived this week, so I plan to spend some of this weekend curled up with it. I always enjoy the ongoing discussions of the books and of things mentioned in them such as handcrafts, grammar, TB, hairwashing and games (love them or loathe them?!). I see that there is a long short story in this issue which should be fun to read.

Last spring I thought I had finished collecting Chalet School books, after acquiring the last of the Armada editions. Since then I have accumulated 11 GGB paperbacks, 5 hardcovers, and 1 Armada facsimile paperback. Will it never end???

No. No it won't. I see that next year GGBP are republishing The feud in the Fifth Remove, one of her hard-to-find non-Chalet titles, which is of course on my wish list ...

Never ever, I agree. I thought I'd finished a few years ago when I got the final book I had never read ( The Chalet School Does it Again ), but since then I've been steadily replacing the Armadas I have with the GGBP versions. And the various connectors too.

One I would love to get is Gerry Goes to School with the Nina K. Brisley cover so it matches with the other La Rochelles I have. But I was too late for that, and now its in the horribly expensive end of the scale, and as I have a HB of it anyway, I can't justify the cost.

Funny, The Chalet School Does It Again was the last one I found, too. I wonder if it is particularly scarce?

The February issue of the Friends of the Chalet School magazine arrived today, so I have that to look forward to reading over the next few days. A GGBP catalogue is always included, and I see that as well as reprinting Mystery at the Chalet School (with a newly-written novella about Robin), they will be publishing Chalet School and Barbara for the first time.

I'd like to get Barbara, but I don't think I'll worry about getting Mystery. The Armada version that is included in The Chalet School and Rosalie is complete, isn't it?

I think so. Not sure how much they could cut without it turning into a short story! The novella is tempting, but I must be good ...

I was at an antique market yesterday, and found four books by authors that I've been wanting to try out. They were very reasonably priced, too.

The New House Captain by Dorita Fairlie Bruce;
Cherry Tree Perch by Josephine Elder;
Strangers at the Farm School by Josephine Elder;
The New Abbey Girls by Elsie J. Oxenham - I'm wondering how complete this one is, as it only has 124 pages, which seems rather short. It's a 1970 impression by The Children's Press.

I won't be reading them for a while, because I would like to get through all the Chalet School books first.

That's quite a find. I'm afraid I don't even look for those authors in the places I go, it just seems so incredibly unlikely that I'll find any.

Josephine Elder & Elsie J. Oxenham are two authors that are on my TBR list.

Dorita Fairlie Bruce - I loved The Serendipity Shop, it's a hug close and re-read book for me. Wild Goose Quest was alright, but nothing all that special. I am having trouble finishing The Debatable Mound, but I just may not be in the right mood... Triffeny was quite good, I thought, but not quite in the same league as The Serendipity Shop. Dimsie and the Jane Willard Foundation suffered a bit by being short stories and, well, by not being Chalet School :-). Toby at Tibbs Cross and The bees on Drumwhinnie are on my to purchase list. I'm on the fence about the Dimsie and the Nancy books right now. Looks like The New House Captain is the first in the Springdale series.

>41 SylviaC:: The Children's Press editions of the Abbey books are abridged. Still, I guess it will give you an idea of whether you want to read more in future.

>42 MDGentleReader:: I highly recommend the Nancy series by DFB; they were my introduction to her and I love them. Note that Nancy is not actually in the first book! The Toby trilogy is also very good, though there is a bit of anti-German stereotyping in the third one as it is set during WWII (of the "you can always tell a German, they just look evil" sort of thing).

I just acquired The first fifth form by Evelyn Smith which I am currently reading and enjoying greatly.

>43 Sakerfalcon: Hmm. Another author to look out for. And now I need to start looking for Nancy books, too. I suspect GGBP will get to any that are not readily available on the secondhand market.

>41 SylviaC: Remember to report back once you get to them.

I just acquired Kindle book FIRST TERM AT TREBIZON by Anne Digby. I got it because it was cheap, fairly well reviewed and I wanted a school book in my ebook collection for when I am out about with an ereader. Don't knwo when I'll get around to reading it. Anyone read Anne Digby?

>44 MDGentleReader: I read the the Trebizon books back in the 80s? 90s? when they were published originally. They have a more modern feel than our old favourites, with the characters becoming interested in boys and taking GCSEs (the examinations that replaced O levels, which in turn replaced School Cert). I enjoyed them at the time, but haven't reread them.

GGBP published the whole Nancy series but they are now out of print. I got all mine second hand without spending too much money, but prices may have gone up since then. I hope not though, for your sake, as they really are a good series.

Some of Evelyn Smith's books are being reprinted by Books to Treasure. They don't have introductions like GGBP books do, but are nice quality and contain the original illustrations where relevent.

Sylvia - what a nice little haul. I only really came across Chaletland, Blyton school stories and a very small handful of others as a child.

I picked up Strangers as an adult - mainly because the war setting reminded me of CS in Exile. Your two Elders are the second and third of the Farm School trilogy - I've got them, too. I think she's an interesting author and her Evelyn Finds Herself is much sought after. GGB reprinted it and the LT review is much better than any I could write - I think it's a fascinating read.

Apart from The Serendipity Shop, I didn't come across any Bruce or Oxenham as a child but have very much enjoyed exploring them. For the Abbey series, I like the earlier titles best, although I've enjoyed all that I've read so far.

MD - I liked First Term at Trebizon. Of those I've read, for me it's the best of the series. I've only recently come across AD's first published book - A Horse Called September, and equally recently realised that she's married to Alan Davidson, who wrote a book called Qjueen Rider.

I've acquired the last two very recently, so have only had a very quick dip into them - they both seem to include traditional-style pony- and school-story elements.. And, they both come up every so often as free e-books at Amazon, so worth keeping an eye out - I'll do my best to post if I spot them on offer again.

Yesterday I acquired The feud in the fifth remove by EBD, and another school story, Viva Vivians by Patricia Caldwell. Both are Girls Gone By reprints.

#47 I've got both of those too! Looking forward to them.

>46 patchygirl: I went ahead and picked up the next 3 in the the Trebizon series, they are only USD3.99 on Kindle. Have to admit that I stalled out on Second Term at Trebizon, though. I'll get back to eventually.

I'll keep an eye out for other Anne Digby, too. and post here:Tattered but lovely e-books

I've recently bought The Princess of the Chalet School and The Chalet School and Barbara.

I am a bit uncertain on whether I should buy "Mystery at the Chalet School" as well, which is published in a volume with "Robin Heeds the Call" by two other authors. As I'm not interested in the fill-ins, I'm not sure if it's worth it for me to buy the volume just for the novella. (I wish GGBP had published it in combination with another EBD story instead.) What do you guys think?

If you can get a copy of the Armada version combined with Rosalie - The Chalet School and Rosalie; The Mystery at the Chalet School - you might feel you have got better value. I don't think Armada abridged either story.

I agree with CDVicarage. I'm sticking with my Armada version of Rosalie/Mystery. I don't care for fill-ins, and I'm not concerned about having matching covers.

>50 littlegreycloud: I liked the fill-in story better than Mystery, actually. But I agree with Sylvia and Kerry above - no reason not to stick with the Armada in this case.

Thanks to all three of you. I think I'll look for a copy of the Armada version then -- what a good idea! Not sure why it didn't occur to me to check out how Mystery was combined before.

Oh dear, I hope it wasn't something I said that made the whole group go dormant!

Anyway, just dropped in to say that I've recently bought Eustacia goes to the Chalet School in the GGBP reissue.

Anyone else buy something new lately?

I like Eustacia goes to the Chalet School. Eustacia is an unusual character, and I wish she showed up more than she does in later books.

I have three books left to buy in unabridged editions, but my buying has stalled because they simply aren't affordable. Hopefully in another month or two I'll get back to reading through the series.

I too recently bought the Eustacia reissue. I hadn't read the unabridged version before and really enjoyed it. One thing absolutely infuriated me though - everyone blaming Eustacia for Robin's setback after she stays awake fretting for Joey. If anyone is to be blamed - and I'm not sure anyone should be - it's the person who let her stay up instead of firmly sending her to bed. Other than that though, it was a really good read.

Before the Chalet School - a prequel by Helen Barber. I have not yet read it, but I own the lovely GGBP book. Love the smooth white pages.

I got the recently republished edition of Trials for the Chalet School. I gather that the Armada version was one of the most extensively abridged of the series, so It will be interesting to see what the differences are. Now I only have two more unabridged books to buy, and they both just have minor cuts.

I also now have all four volumes of the Chalet School Encyclopaedia.