New novel discovered

Famous children's author's lost work found...

10:23 23 February 2011

An unpublished and previously unknown Enid Blyton novel has turned up in an archive of the childrenÂ’s authorÂ’s work.

The book, titled Mr TumpyÂ’s Caravan, was found in a collection of manuscripts auctioned by the family of BlytonÂ’s eldest daughter.

The 180-page fantasy story about a magical caravan was bought by the Seven Stories childrenÂ’s book centre in Newcastle.

Head of the Enid Blyton Society, Tony Summerfield, said:

“I think it’s unique. I don’t know of any full-length unpublished Blyton work.”

My TumpyÂ’s Caravan follows the adventures of a caravan with feet and a mind of its own.

The collection of original typescripts was auctioned following the death of Blyton's eldest daughter, Gillian Baverstock, in 2007.

Blyton, who died in 1968, remains a childrenÂ’s favourite thanks to such characters as the Famous Five, Noddy and the Secret Seven.

An estimated 500 million copies of her books have been sold around the world, with updated and reprinted versions of her stories still selling eight million copies a year.