Richmal Crompton's William stories

Talking of books, my all time favourites are Richmal Crompton's William stories. One story that I am particularly fond of is the one where William asks his father if he may have a few friends over. His father says,"No, certainly not." William comes to the conclusion that his father has given him permission to invite his friends, because his father has used two negatives, and William has been taught in school that two negatives make a positive!

William and his friends Ginger, Douglas and Henry call themselves 'The Outlaws'. Like most boys aged eleven, they are misogynists. They feel boys always get a raw deal. But there is a girl called Violet Elizabeth Bott, who pursues them with doggedness that would do any girl proud. She threatens to "thcream and thcream till the ith thick" and always adds proudly,"And I can."

William, with his tousled hair, and ability to get into trouble, is a source of embarassment to his family, especially to his brother Robert, whose inamoratas change every week, and to his beautiful sister Ethel.William,of course, thinks his sister's admirers are potty. William on many an occasion tries to fix his siblings' love lives, with disastrous consequences.

Richmal Crompton is believed to have had "several side-swipes" at Christopher Robin's "besmocked"
appearance, according to her biographer Mary Cadogan. Richmal Crompton also wrote many serious books for adults, two of which I have read-"Sugar And Spice", and "The Ridleys", both of which I enjoyed reading. The William stories are not to be classified as children's fiction. Lots of adult humour there.I have a few of the hard back editions brought out by George Newnes, London. Macmillan brought out all of the William books as paperbacks, and I have added all of them to my collection.