Bunchy: The uncanny side of Milly-Molly-Mandy

Contrasting the characters of Milly-Molly-Mandy and Bunchy

Bunchy and Milly-Molly-Mandy are the creations of English author Joyce Lankester Brisley. The girls live in the same village, but they are completely contrasting characters. Milly-Molly-Mandy, who lives in ‘the nice white cottage with the thatched roof’, has numerous relatives and friends, while Bunchy is an orphan dependent on her imagination for company.

Emeritus Professor Kathryn Walls will explore the contrasts in the characters of Milly-Molly-Mandy and Bunchy in these much-loved books.

Joyce Lankester Brisley was born in 1896 and published her first novel Hurrah for the Trains in 1919. But she is best known for her Milly-Molly-Mandy stories, which have remained popular, and in print, since they were first published between 1928 and 1967. Two Bunchy books were published in 1937 and 1951.

About the speaker

Dr Kathryn Walls is Emeritus Professor of English Literature, Victoria University of Wellington. Her research interests are broad. She has published the areas of Middle English literature (Chaucer, Langland, the mystery plays), Renaissance allegory, the Reformation and early modern literature, and literature and science.

Kathryn has an abiding interest in the New Zealand children's writers Margaret Mahy and Maurice Gee, and in children’s literature in general. She has been a member of the Friends of the Dorothy Neal White Collection committee since 2015.

Safety measures when you come to the event

Find out about what you need to do when you visit the National Library Wellington for the event.

Safety measures in place for visiting the Library

Stay home if you are sick or feel unwell.

Check before you come

Due to COVID-19 some of our events can be cancelled or postponed at very short notice. Please check the website for updated information about individual events before you come.

For more general information about National Library services and exhibitions, have look at our COVID-19 page.