A collation occasioned by the find of the 1917 ‘Chatterbox’ annual of stories for schoolchildren. Reading a number of its tales I had the impression that I was actually reading a collection of themes, to which the characters were more or less incidental. Most feature a challenge to a boy or girl’s mettle, whether this arrives in the form of adapting to a new school, rescuing a sleepwalker, or journeying through the Canadian muskeg. Hence Scuggery is collated from the original writings entirely on the basis of themes, to which place, situation, character and gender are fully interchangeable. 36 page sewn booklet. August, 2009.
