The Little Grey Men

The Little Grey Men: A story for the young in heart is a children's

Watkins-Pitchford won the 1942 Carnegie Medal recognising The Little Grey Men as the year's best children's book by a British subject.^[4]

A sequel was published in 1948, Down the Bright Stream; later issued as The Little Grey Men Go Down the Bright Stream (Methuen, 1977). Jointly they may be called the Little Grey Men series.^[2]

The original novel was adapted for television in 1975.^[5]

Plot summary

The last four

• Dodder is the oldest and grumpiest gnome, and the leader of the group. He is a skilled fisherman and has a leg made from bone as the result of an attack by a fox.
• Baldmoney acts as the navigator and mechanic on the gnomes' boat Jeanie Deans, and later invented a glider named Wonderbird.
• Sneezewort is the youngest, most sensitive gnome who follows the lead of his older brothers and is usually assigned the less interesting tasks such as cooking and cleaning.
• Cloudberry is a boastful and rebellious loner who often leaves the group to explore the forest. He is on good terms with the
  Spitzbergen
  known as the hounds of heaven.

Supporting characters

• Squirrel is the gnomes' friend who accompanies them on their adventures in both books.
• Ben is an owl who provides the gnomes with mouse skins for clothing.
• Water Vole is the gnomes' neighbour who appears in both books.
• Bub'm is a rabbit whom the gnomes rescue from a
  snare
  in the first book. Also a general term for rabbits.
• Sir Herne is a heron who appears in both books.
• Otter helps pull the Jeanie Deans to safety after her clockwork motor breaks.
• Mr Brockett is a badger who appears in Down the Bright Stream.
• Kack-Jack is a thieving jackdaw who steals some of the farmer's silk handkerchiefs for Baldmoney's glider.
• lough
  .
• Nanny goat
  lives on a farm and allows the gnomes to milk her.
• The Farmer is Nanny Goat's owner. In Down The Bright Stream, Baldmoney uses his best
  Sunday shirt
  to build Wonderbird.
• Mr Shoebottom is an
  petrol station
  owner who repairs the gnomes' boat after it is discovered by his son.
• Pan, the Greek guardian of nature, is the unseen deity who protects the gnomes and forest animals, as in the Piper at the Gates of Dawn.
• Robin Clobber is a human seven-year-old boy, a scion of a noble family, who meets the gnomes and whose model ship is found and used by them.

Villains

• Cruel Giant Grum is a human gamekeeper who kills any animal that enters his wood. The gnomes witness his death in the first book.
• Jet is Giant Grum's black hound who tracks down intruders in Crow Wood.
• White Stoat is a vicious ferret who serves as Giant Grum's henchman, and is rewarded for killing rabbits.
• The "Chinaman" is an arrogant, brightly coloured cock pheasant who acts as Giant Grum's lackey.
• Red Robber is a greedy
  atheist fox
  who tries to eat Dodder, and does not believe in Pan.
• The Worm of Death is a treacherous, sadistic
  adder
  who preys upon defenceless chicks in the second book.

This novel has been described as the most distinguished fantasy of the war years, a fantasy which sought to capture the beauty and wonder of an English year, a timely and timeless book. Through the choice of gnomes for the protagonists, the author was able to get closer to nature and show more effectively the hazards wild creatures face.[10] The authenticity of the natural history satisfied the preference of the Carnegie committee for realism over fantasy, and the book won the award for the most outstanding children's book of 1942.^[4][11]

The novel was one of Syd Barrett's favourite books; an excerpt from it was read at his funeral.^[12]

Television adaptation

In 1975 The Little Grey Men was adapted into a 10-part animated series, called Baldmoney, Sneezewort, Dodder and Cloudberry, by

External links

• The Little Grey Men in libraries (WorldCat catalog) —immediately, 1949 US edition