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 Milly-Molly-Mandy 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 vacations 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). The year is 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. 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 family.Father's first name is John. Father does all the gardening and grows vegetables for the whole family to eat and sell.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.Grandpa takes the vegetables to market using his pony (Twinkletoes) and cart.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.Uncle's first name is Joe. Uncle keeps cows (to give them all milk) and chickens (to give them all eggs).Aunty sews frocks and shirts for them all and does the sweeping and dusting. Aunty's first name is Alice.Great Aunt Margaret is Grandma's sister and came to stay for a few days.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.