Milly-Molly-Mandy is a set of six children's books written and illustrated by English writer Joyce Lankester Brisley published over the period 1928 to 1967. The books follow a little girl, Milly-Molly-Mandy, who wears a pink-and-white striped dress. The illustrations show the character growing from about age four through to age eight. Translations have been published in at least nine languages, including Finnish, Polish and Icelandic.
Milly-Molly-Mandy's real name is Millicent Margaret Amanda, but she was given the nickname because of the length of her full name. Her adventures are the everyday events of village life: running errands, going to school, making presents, fishing, picnicking, and so on. She lives in "the nice white cottage with the thatched roof" on the edge of a small village. Her parents, grandparents, aunt and uncle also live in the cottage. Her friends are Billy Blunt, a slightly older boy whose parents run a corn shop and Little-Friend-Susan, who lives in the cottage down the road. Occasionally, the stories include other friends such as Miss Muggin's niece Jilly; Bunchy, a slightly younger girl who first appears in the story Milly-Molly-Mandy gets a New Dress, and Jessamine, a wealthy girl whose family often holidays at The House with the Iron Railings.
Origin The stories were originally published in the Christian Science Monitor, beginning in 1925. They were first published as a collection, Milly-Molly-Mandy Stories, in 1928.
Setting The stories take place in south east England, and because of the proximity to the sea and the downs, and the chalk roads in the village, they would appear to take place near to the south coast. There are map illustrations inside the front covers of each book. Each differs slightly to indicate the different events in the stories. When they take a trip to the seaside by train, another illustration has white cliffs which would suggest Kent or Sussex, and is visually rather akin to Eastbourne. The author was born in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, which is the next town east of Eastbourne. Both Bexhill and Eastbourne have railway stations. Milly-Molly-Mandy's village (possibly based on picturesque Alfriston or similar in East Sussex) does not have a railway station but she goes to a nearby town via pony and trap to take the train, these could be akin to Polegate, Berwick or Glynde which are close to Alfriston (if the author did base the stories on her own nearby area). They are set in the late 1920s, given the state of inventions; cars are just spreading into general use but there are no telephones, household electricity or aeroplanes as a rule.
Characters Family Milly-Molly-Mandy's real name is Millicent Margaret Amanda, but her family thought it too long a name to call every time they wanted her. She always wears a pink and white striped frock and sometimes a yellow hat. Milly-Molly-Mandy helps by running errands for the family. Milly-Molly-Mandy lives in a nice white cottage with a thatched roof with her large extended family.
Father's first name is John. Father does all the gardening and grows vegetables for the whole family to eat and sell. It is implied in the story that he married into Grandpa and Grandma's family by marrying Mother.
Mother's first name is Mary but she is called Polly in everyday use. Mother makes all the meals for the family and does all the washing. Polly is Grandpa and Grandma's daughter.
Grandpa takes the vegetables to market using his pony (Twinkletoes) and cart. He is Milly Molly Mandy's mother's father.
Grandma knits socks, mittens and nice warm woolies for them all. In Milly-Molly-Mandy Spends A Penny, Grandma teaches her to knit a tea cosy. Grandma is Mother (Polly)'s mother. Brisley, Joyce Lankester : Milly Molly Mandy stories, Harrap, 1938, chapter 3
Uncle's first name is Joe. Uncle keeps cows (to give them all milk) and chickens (to give them all eggs). Joe is Mother (Polly)'s brother and Grandpa and Grandma's son.
Aunty sews frocks and shirts for them all and does the sweeping and dusting. Aunty's first name is Alice. Alice is married to Uncle (Joe), therefore is Milly Molly Mandy's aunt by marriage.
Great Aunt Margaret is Grandma's sister and came to stay for a few days. She is Mother's and Uncle's aunt and Father's and Aunty's aunt-in-law.
Topsy is Milly-Molly-Mandy's black and white cat.
Toby is Milly-Molly-Mandy's small black and white terrier.
Duckling: In the story Milly-Molly-Mandy spends a penny she saves up three pennies and buys a duckling.
Friends Little Friend Susan (Susan Moggs) is Milly-Molly-Mandy's best friend. She lives with her mother and father and little sister Doris in a cottage near Milly-Molly-Mandy's.
Billy Blunt is another friend of Milly-Molly-Mandy's. Milly-Molly-Mandy, Susan and Billy often go around playing together. He lives with his mother and father, who own a corn shop in the village.
Jessamine is a little girl whose wealthy family often vacations at The House with the Iron Railings. In one story, she and her mother take Milly-Molly-Mandy, Billy and Susan on a drive to the Downs.
Jilly Muggins is another friend to Milly-Molly-Mandy. She lives with her Aunty, Miss Muggins, who owns a shop that sells sweets, material and other useful things that everybody in the village needs.
Adults in the village Mr Rudge is a blacksmith who Milly-Molly-Mandy invited to their party. He plays cricket. In the last book he gets married and Milly-Molly-Mandy and Little Friend Susan are the bridesmaids.
Miss Edwards is a teacher at Milly-Molly-Mandy's school. In one of the stories, Miss Sheppard the headmistress went away and Miss Edwards became the headteacher. She moves into the school cottage. Because she was moving from the town into the cottage, Miss Edwards writes to Milly-Molly-Mandy's mother to ask if she might stay for a few days while she gets the cottage sorted out. Mother agrees to this so Milly-Molly-Mandy is worried that she will have to be on her best behavior. In fact, teacher turns out to be a completely different person away from school; Billy Blunt and Little Friend Susan wish that she had come to their houses.
Other Children
Doris Moggs is Little Friend Susan's baby sister. Milly-Molly-Mandy helps look for a name for her and decides on Primrose but Mrs Moggs had already named her Doris. When she gets locked in her own bedroom by accident, Milly-Molly-Mandy crochets Doris a bonnet.
Bunchy's name is Violet Rosemary May, called "Bunchy for short" by her Granny who makes her dresses from floral fabric. In the story Milly-Molly-Mandy has a New Dress, Bunchy and Milly-Molly-Mandy engage over buying dress fabric. Though both girls like the floral fabric, Milly-Molly-Mandy decides Bunchy should have it because of her name and the two become friends. Brisley went on to write two spin-off books about Bunchy.
Book series, stories and editions
Original six books Milly-Molly-Mandy Stories (1928) More of Milly-Molly-Mandy (1929) Further Doings of Milly-Molly-Mandy (1932) Milly-Molly-Mandy Again (1948) Milly-Molly-Mandy & Co (1955) Milly-Molly-Mandy and Billy Blunt (1967) Many printings of the original Milly-Molly-Mandy books have been made available over the decades by various publishers.
Stories The original six books include 64 stories. Milly-Molly-Mandy Stories (1928) Milly-Molly-Mandy Goes Errands Milly-Molly-Mandy Spends a Penny Milly-Molly-Mandy Meets Her Great-Aunt Milly-Molly-Mandy Goes Blackberrying Milly-Molly-Mandy Goes to a Party Milly-Molly-Mandy Enjoys a Visit Milly-Molly-Mandy Goes Gardening Milly-Molly-Mandy Makes a Cosy Milly-Molly-Mandy Keeps Shop Milly-Molly-Mandy Gives a Party Milly-Molly-Mandy Goes Visiting Milly-Molly-Mandy Gets to Know Teacher Milly-Molly-Mandy Goes to a Fête More of Milly-Molly-Mandy (1929) Milly-Molly-Mandy Gets Up Early Milly-Molly-Mandy Has a Surprise Milly-Molly-Mandy Gets Up a Tree Milly-Molly-Mandy Goes to a Concert Milly-Molly-Mandy Has her Photo Taken Milly-Molly-Mandy Goes to the Pictures Milly-Molly-Mandy Goes for a Picnic Milly-Molly-Mandy Looks for a Name Milly-Molly-Mandy Gets Locked In Milly-Molly-Mandy's Mother Goes Away Milly-Molly-Mandy Goes to the Sea Milly-Molly-Mandy Finds a Nest Milly-Molly-Mandy Has Friends Further Doings of Milly-Molly-Mandy (1932) Milly-Molly-Mandy Has a Tea-Party Milly-Molly-Mandy Minds a Baby Milly-Molly-Mandy Goes Motoring Milly-Molly-Mandy Gets a Surprise Milly-Molly-Mandy Goes on an Expedition Milly-Molly-Mandy Helps to Thatch a Roof Milly-Molly-Mandy Writes Letters Milly-Molly-Mandy Learns to Ride Milly-Molly-Mandy Makes a Garden Milly-Molly-Mandy Camps Out Milly-Molly-Mandy Goes Carol-Singing Milly-Molly-Mandy Again (1948) Milly-Molly-Mandy has a New Dress Milly-Molly-Mandy finds a Train Milly-Molly-Mandy and the Surprise Plant Milly-Molly-Mandy and the Blacksmith's Wedding Milly-Molly-Mandy and Dum-dum 66 Milly-Molly-Mandy and the Gang 8 Milly-Molly-Mandy goes Sledging Milly-Molly-Mandy & Co (1955) Milly-Molly-Mandy Dresses Up Milly-Molly-Mandy Goes for a Picnic Milly-Molly-Mandy Has a Clean Frock Milly-Molly-Mandy and the Golden Wedding Milly-Molly-Mandy Cooks a Dinner Milly-Molly-Mandy Acts for the Pictures Milly-Molly-Mandy and Guy Fawkes Day Milly-Molly-Mandy and Billy Blunt (1967) Milly-Molly-Mandy rides a Horse Milly-Molly-Mandy does an Errand Milly-Molly-Mandy finds a Parcel Milly-Molly-Mandy goes Excavating Milly-Molly-Mandy has an Adventure Milly-Molly-Mandy on Bank Holiday Milly-Molly-Mandy has American Visitors Milly-Molly-Mandy and a Wet Day Milly-Molly-Mandy makes some Toffee In subsequent years these stories were released in varying formats by several publishers.
Collections Numerous variations of the original Milly-Molly-Mandy books have been issued by different publishers. Most include Joyce Lankester Brisley's original line drawings. This is an overview of pertinent editions:
Complete collections Individual volumes: Milly-Molly-Mandy (6 books) Pan Macmillan U.K publishes the original six books; 2018 formatting. Omnibus editions: The Adventures of Milly-Molly-Mandy, Omnibus, (1972) publisher: George G Harrap & Co, London. Includes books: #1, #2, #3. The Milly-Molly-Mandy, Second Omnibus (1976) publisher: George G Harrap & Co, London. Includes books: #4, #5, #6.
Partial collections Kingfisher Publishers released The Milly-Molly-Mandy Collection (1996), a two volume slipcase set. These books are currently sold separately by Kingfisher-Macmillian:
The Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook (2001) 21 stories from books #1-4 More Milly-Molly-Mandy (1999) 20 stories from books #2-6 75th Anniversary Edition: The Big Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook (2000); 8 stories; Clara Vulliamy illustrations, cover and throughout; 2 pg introduction by Vulliamy; 11.125 x 8.75 in; Kingfisher Publishers.
Puffin Books has published the first four books individually and in one volume. The publications are limited to the first four books, including those mistitled as "complete": The Adventures of Milly Molly Mandy, 4 books in 1 (1992) 1 volume The Complete Milly-Molly-Mandy Box Set (2010) 4 book set Milly-Molly-Mandy the Complete Adventures (2012) 4 book set
Alternative titles More recently, Milly-Molly-Mandy books have also been published under alternative titles, with five or six stories per book.
Gardners Books through Pan Macmillan published a boxed set of four books, The Best of Milly-Molly-Mandy (2004), which was later carried by Kingfisher and released separately the next year. These were billed as in a "dainty, accessible format" featuring Clara Vulliamy cover art with Brisley interior illustrations:
Milly-Molly-Mandy's Family (2005) Milly-Molly-Mandy's Friends (2005) Milly-Molly-Mandy's Schooldays (2005) Milly-Molly-Mandy's Adventures (2005)