Meet Sara And Hoppity Published 1961 by Daily Mirror Books Illustrated by Marion Wilson 1/ Sara Makes A Cake It is raining, which makes it an inside day. That morning, Sara helps Daddy and Mummy, and then Miss Julie as they mend, paint and dress the toys in the hospital. At lunchtime, Mummy and Daddy praise Sara for being a good girl. That, she tells them, is because she left Hoppity in her bedroom. In the afternoon, Mummy is going to bake a cake and asks Sara to help her. Excited, Sara goes to get her apron from her bedroom but Hoppity wants to help her so she pops him in the apron pocket on the condition he is good. Sara wants to make a currant cake and Mummy says she can add the currants. Hoppity want to see so Sara takes him out and props him against the milk bottle. Mummy suddenly realises she hasn't lit the oven and goes looking for the matches, which Daddy has taken for his cigarettes. While she is gone, Hoppity points to a large box of blue powder by the sink. Thinking that Mummy would like a blue cake, Sara adds two large tablespoons to the cake mix but is disappointed when it stays the same colour. Mummy returns with six packets of matches Daddy had, and is surprised to see a box of soap powder on the table. Sara says she thought it was blue flour and is too scared to tell Mummy what she has done. At teatime, Sara wonders what the cake tastes like but it is Miss Julie who tries it first. All are surprised when she starts to blow bubbles and froth at the mouth! As Miss Julie rushes out to get some water, Mummy thinks she must have used the soap powder instead of sugar. But Sara admits to Hoppity telling her to do it. Mummy is angry but Sara says she did not know it was soap because she can not read yet. Miss Julie hears, and forgives her because a blue cake would have been pretty. But next time they will use proper blue colouring... Notes: This story bears some similarities to the episode Sara and Hoppity Bake A Cake. 2/ Sara Gets Into Trouble Another rainy day and Sara wants to bring Toffee, her ginger kitten, in from the tool shed in the garden. But Toffee is on the garden swing, and all wet! Sara carries him through the shop and upstairs to the kitchen, where Mummy towels him until soft and fluffy as a ball of wool. While Toffee has some warm milk, Sara fetches Hoppity and goes to help Miss Julie. But things go horribly wrong with Toffee catching his claws in the material and Sara knocking over a vase of roses. It gets worse when trying to help Daddy when she trips over Toffee and splits a bag of sawdust. And when Sara goes to help Mummy, Toffee knocks over a pot of red paint and walks in it, leaving a trail of paw prints everywhere! Mummy finally catches him and goes to wash his paws. Trying to make amends, Sara finds a cloth and starts to clean up the paint and has nearly finished when Mummy returns. But Sara herself is now covered in paint! It will take hours for Mummy to ge the paint out of Sara's clothes, and the poor girl is bathed and sent to her bedroom to put clean clothes on. Notes: This story indicates this book comes after Sara and Hoppity Find A Cat, in which Toffee is first found. 3/ Sara Dresses Up In her bedroom, feeling sorry for herself, Sara dresses. Toffee goes to sleep but Hoppity suggests playing dressing up. Sara only has her own clothes for dressing in but Hoppity dances over to the bedroom door. With a dozing Toffee under one arm and Hoppity in the other, Sara goes into Mummy's bedroom to dress in her clothes! First, she pulls down Mummy's blue woollen dress but a scarf also falls down and Toffee plays with it. Then Sara tries on Mummy's best nylon nightdress. But then she tries on Mummy's special party dress - pink net with a frilly skirt, and her pink satin high heeled shoes. But then... CRRK! Sara steps on the trailing dress and tears it, just as Mummy comes in. Angry, Mummy gets her to take off the clothes and sends her to bed. Sara fetches up Hoppity and gets him to promise to be good, which he will be... for a little while. 4/ Sara Makes Mud Pies The sun shines on Sara's pillow for a new morning, and being sunny Sara is sent to play outside, which she does not like. With Toffee chasing fish around the goldfish pond, Sara winds up Hoppity who dances off arond the side of the house. She finds him face down in a puddle of mud, and tries to clean him off in the goldfish pond but Hoppity dances off and dives in the mud again! Sara puts her finger in the mud and finding it delightfully soft and squishy, gets her bucket and spade from the tool shed to make mud pies. Sara, Toffee and Hoppity are having so much fun they don't even notice it is raining again until Mummy calls them in. Absolutely black with mud, Sara and Hoppity are undressed and bathed, while Toffee (as pussy cats do not like water) is wiped with a damp cloth. Wet and not herself from bathing Sara, Mummy goes to tidy herself up then notices her gold brooch is missing! Thinking she may have lost it shopping this morning, Mummy goes to look for it while Sara and Hoppity are sent to her bedroom. 5/ Mummy's Lost Brooch Hoppity wants to make more mud pies but they can not because there isn't any in the bedroom. He tells Sara to get some and bring it up to the bedroom. A bucket of lovely squelchy mud is brought from the garden but no matter how careful Sara is, Toffee jumps on her back and makes her knock it over! Mud goes everywhere! Mummy returnns, having not found her brooch. Daddy tells her Sara has been very good and quiet, and goes to play with her and cheer her up. But he finds a dreadful mess! Sara is hiding behind the curtain, but on being found tells Daddy it was Toffee's fault! He and Sara decide to clean it all up before Mummy sees it. As they do, a large lump of dried mud cracks open to reveal Mummy's lost brooch! Sara tells Daddy it was Hoppity's idea, but as the brooch is found Sara won't get into trouble - this time. Notes: This story bears some similarities to the episode Mummy Loses Her Ring With thanks to the British Library. On to The Big Book Of Sara and Hoppity Back to the Sara and Hoppity Books Sara And Hoppity would welcome any information on any Sara and Hoppity books for future updates. Back to the Sara and Hoppity homepage