The Stuff:
This is a children’s book written and illustrated by a British naturalist. It features four gnomes, reputed to be the last in Britain. They regard themselves as brothers and live under a tree root by Oak Pool. Cloudberry, the most adventurous of the four, has left to find the source of the Folly Stream, which they live by. He has not yet returned.
The other three gnomes, Baldmoney, Sneezewort, and Dodder, begin to worry about him. Baldmoney and Sneezewort build a boat to work their way upstream to find him. Dodder, the eldest and most stubborn, refuses to join them.
Baldmoney and Sneezewort are not deterred. They leave in their boat, Dragonfly. Dodder becomes lonely in a day or two and follows them, only to find the wreckage of the Dragonfly by Moss Mill and no sign of Baldmoney or Sneezewort.
Thoughts:
My friend Tracy gave this to me, saying neither she nor her adult daughters could finish it. I can see why; saccharine oozes from its pages. It’s a children’s book from a bygone era. I’ve finished it. I don’t know that I would give it to a child, but not because of the saccharine.
One of the most enjoyable things about the book is the depiction of the natural settings. The author’s love of being in the wild appears on every page. It took me a bit to realize the names of the gnomes are also names of flowers.
The book even veers into a bit of nature worship. Pan is the overseer of the animals. The gnomes speak of him as a power or deity. The gnomes and (most of) the animals are friends, but they have nothing to do with humans if they can avoid it.
One of the things that never made sense to me was renaming the animals. Rabbits are Bub’ms, for example. A fox is a wood dog. The wood dog is an enemy—Dodder lost one leg to a wood dog as a young gnome.
Despite warnings of danger, our heroes stop at Crow Wood. Here, the gamekeeper is a vicious human named Giant Grum. So efficient is he at keeping “vermin” down that there are no songbirds in Crow Wood. He’s killed them all. He shoots Otter in the Folly, who has done nothing more than help tow the gnomes’ boat. The gnomes are horrified, but it gets worse. They later find Otter’s carcass nailed on a “gibbet” along with the remains of several other animals and birds.
Dodder vows revenge and, of course, gets it.
In 1942, when the book appeared, more people lived on farms and were familiar with slaughtering animals for food and killing pest animals. In this book, Otter was a character, a friend, and a decent person. He was only in Crow Woods and not with his wife and children because he was helping the gnomes. He’s killed in cold blood, and his body hung up to dry like a game trophy. ICK
The author illustrated his book with black-and-white drawings using his own name. These are a nice touch, but some are hard to make out. Or maybe it’s just my old eyes.
The book won the 1943 Carnegie Medal for children’s literature. Reading through places like Goodreads, I find that many people have happy memories of reading this book as children.
I enjoyed the adventure and the portrayal of the outdoors. Still, many things make me hesitate about recommending this book, either for its intended audience of children or for adults who need a break—and I’m not talking about the gnomes smoking tobacco.
There are one or two sequels (depending on who’s counting): Down the Bright Stream and The Forest of Boland Light Railway.
Title: The Little Grey Men
Author: B.B. (pseudonym for Denys James Watkins-Pitchford) (1905-1990)
First published: 1942
Reviews of Old and New Stories. Mostly Old 
It seems like interesting old children’s book. I like gnomes and gnome stories. However, you say “saccharine oozes from its pages”, which does not sound good, but I admit it is a new expression for me.
It is interesting, and I enjoyed some aspects of of it. But I have a low tolerance for Pollyanna and the violence was rather surprising in a children’s book. Altogether, I’m torn. If I’d lived in the 50s and read it was a kid, I probably would have loved it.
Oh Pollyanna, that word I understand. Yes I can see how too much of that is annoying and the violence is unwelcome in children’s books. But I think it was pretty common back then. However, I’ve read some old Swedish children’s books, even from as far back as the 19th century and they did not have any violence in them.
see? Violence isn’t necessary.
I cried for a week after movies like Bambi and Old Yeller my folks took us too when we were kids. Old yeller was particularly hard. I’ve always loved dogs.
Yes you are right, but times change. I did not see those movies when I was a kid. I basically just watched or read Swedish stuff.
I think I would pass on reading this to children, and I’m not sure if YA readers would like it. The illustrations are dark, but the one you posted is also beautiful. I also don’t care for sappy stories. I don’t mind if the story is sweet, but sappy or saccharine isn’t my cup of tea.
thanks for your note. Most of the illustrations are even darker. They are lovely, but hard on these old eyes.
I really am in two minds about this. I like a lot of things about it, and disliked a lot, too. As I old Thomas, if I’d lived in the 50s and read this as a kid, I probably would have loved it. But I can’t.