The Tower in Ho-Ho Wood and other stories by Enid Blyton is a collection of short stories titled The Enchanted Gloves, The Elm-Tree and the Willow, Bad Luck, Wily Weasel!, The Meddlesome Butterfly, The Little Toy Farm, The Bird Man, The Little Green Donkey, Oh, Bother My Hair!, Black Bibs, The Tower in Ho-Ho Wood, The Tail That Wouldn’t Wag, Susan Sweet and Sally Sour, The Train That Lost Its Way and Lightwing the Swallow.
The Little Toy Farm is about an orphaned little boy named Timmy who lives with his aunt and uncle. Timmy does not have a happy life with his aunt and uncle but he tries to make the best of a bad situation. Timmy likes to play with the toys in his uncle’s toy shop, especially the toy farm. One day a dreadful thing happens when Timmy is playing with the toy farm – a beautiful fairy doll who was sitting all by herself on a high shelf suddenly falls down and breaks. Timmy’s aunt and uncle think that he broke the doll and they forbid him from playing with the toys in the shop.
Timmy buys a toy farm for himself bit by bit with his pocket money and keeps it in his room. Then one day his uncle tells him that he is going to be sent away to boarding school. Timmy has to leave the toy farm behind and is afraid that his aunt would dispose of it after he leaves. Fortunately for Timmy, he meets an old fairy gardener named Mr. Jollyface who works on the beautiful brick wall at the bottom of the garden outside. Timmy makes friends with Mr. Jollyface and visits him regularly.
One day Mr. Jollyface receives sad news from Fairyland informing him that he is too old now to continue with his job and they are going to send someone else to do it and he has to retire and go back to Fairyland. Mr. Jollyface has been working on the wall for many years and has forgotten about Fairyland and does not want to go back there.
Timmy gives his toy farm to Mr. Jollyface before he goes away to boarding school, and the two friends shift the toy farm to a lovely little dell in the Wishing Wood nearby. Mr. Jollyface sends to Fairyland for a bit of magic and the animals in the toy farm come alive. Mr. Jollyface has a happy life on Timmy’s farm and in return for Timmy’s kindness he gives him a magic pencil that helps him with his school work.
Reviewed by Hannah William