In her Invisible Library series, Genevieve Cogman sends her main character to a version on the Chalet School.
There is a fan club for Hitchhikers Guide called ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha. They sell Beeblebears - teddy bears with two heads and three arms!
I have happy memories of reading Astérix in the school library when I was supposed to be doing homework. The teachers couldn't complain, because they were in French. Trois sangliers rôtis pour mon ami Obélix, s'il vous plaît.
Oh goodness, I do remember the books mentioned upthread. My Aunt had a full set of the Chalet School in hardback, I don't remember what happened to them. I know I didn't take them and my sister didn't request them. My Aunt also had Lorna Hills ballet series too.
I loved Asterix and I liked Tintin, but preferred Asterix for the puns. I would love to have had a full set of Miss Read books, but alas now I am running out of space on my bookshelves to begin collecting them.
I did love Maeve Binchy's books too, particularly her later ones where some of the books had characters from previous titles making an appearance. It made me think she had a whole world in her head.
One of my friends has a copy of Asterix in the original Gaelic. He insists that it is the authentic version, close to the language Asterix actually spoke (assuming, as of course we do, that Asterix was an historical figure).
@Dafyd and @Jane R Yes, there's a boy's school at the beginning of the first book, but later on there's a brief discussion of where Irene's parents sent her to boarding school, and if you've read the Chalet School books, the description is obvious! She did confirm this in an interview at EasterCon a couple of years ago, because she's a Chalet School fan too.
I'd forgotten that! But it's been a while since I read the early books in the series.
My favourite literary reference to girls' school stories is in 'Mars Evacuees' by Sophia McDougall. The Earth has been invaded by aliens who have triggered a new ice age to make the planet more comfortable for them, and the protagonist is one of a group who are being evacuated to Mars. The story opens in her boarding school, which is being relocated to escape the advancing ice and she has a soliloquy/rant (slightly tongue in cheek) about how the values of her school will ultimately triumph: 'We'll be back! And more ladylike than ever!' Clearly inspired by events in 'The Chalet School in Exile,' but perhaps with a dash of Malory Towers and Angela Brazil.
I love that in Diana Wynne Jones The Lives of Christopher Grant, the living goddess he meets in another world has a penchant for Angela Brazil type school stories.
I’ve got about a dozen Chalet School books - mostly the Armada paperbacks but a few hardbacks.
We have a lot of Astérix in English and a few in French. Surprisingly, the English versions use more puns; the translator must have been very skilled.
The translators, sadly now both wrong side of the turf, were Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge. Anthea was the sister of Martin Bell the journalist and politician.
I love that in Diana Wynne Jones The Lives of Christopher Grant, the living goddess he meets in another world has a penchant for Angela Brazil type school stories.
My aunt had a whole shelf of Angela Brazil books that I used to dip into, but they were old hat even 60 years ago! They are now all on Project Gutenberg.
I did a dissertation on CS Lewis and Charles Williams back in 1987. I did reread “Descent into Hell” and “The Greater Trumps” recently (partly because I was trying to remember the passage in TGT about the Athanasian Creed for an assignment on the Trinity).
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I loved the radio version. I was in a bookshop when I learned of Douglas Adam's death and I burst into tears - very embarrassing.
There is a fan club for Hitchhikers Guide called ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha. They sell Beeblebears - teddy bears with two heads and three arms!
I loved Asterix and I liked Tintin, but preferred Asterix for the puns. I would love to have had a full set of Miss Read books, but alas now I am running out of space on my bookshelves to begin collecting them.
I did love Maeve Binchy's books too, particularly her later ones where some of the books had characters from previous titles making an appearance. It made me think she had a whole world in her head.
My favourite literary reference to girls' school stories is in 'Mars Evacuees' by Sophia McDougall. The Earth has been invaded by aliens who have triggered a new ice age to make the planet more comfortable for them, and the protagonist is one of a group who are being evacuated to Mars. The story opens in her boarding school, which is being relocated to escape the advancing ice and she has a soliloquy/rant (slightly tongue in cheek) about how the values of her school will ultimately triumph: 'We'll be back! And more ladylike than ever!' Clearly inspired by events in 'The Chalet School in Exile,' but perhaps with a dash of Malory Towers and Angela Brazil.
We have a lot of Astérix in English and a few in French. Surprisingly, the English versions use more puns; the translator must have been very skilled.
The translators, sadly now both wrong side of the turf, were Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge. Anthea was the sister of Martin Bell the journalist and politician.
My aunt had a whole shelf of Angela Brazil books that I used to dip into, but they were old hat even 60 years ago! They are now all on Project Gutenberg.