to feel uneasy about my son reading Enid Blyton books

Yes but the racism etc is totally insidious in those books. When my DS reads horrid henry, he knows henry is horrid. Were my DS ever to read the Enid Blyton book about gollywogs, chinkies, sneering at the "rough" children in the village blah blah, he might think these sort of attitudes are acceptable.

Besides which the writing just sucks. It really does.

You are so right Worszel. That's kind of what I meant when I said that it is the modern corruption of words that is wrong, not the words themselves.

can only speak personally, pointydog, but that would never ever occur to either of my ds' and i am completely sure any racist connotations went well over their heads. mind you, my kids tend not to point at strangers in the street and call them big ears either so maybe I am blessed with polite children

No, because I cant see that actually happening. I read those book and I didnt develop the attitude as I never saw an Elf!

I think that sometimes common sense should prevail. For example ds tried to do a scottish accent today (promotion/quiz on radio was doing it) it didnt sound scottish and actually sounded indian. Ds thought it was cool that he could do an indian accent. I explained to him that he shouldnt because although I know he wouldnt mean it in a nasty way some people may be offended. He naturally asked why, I explained that in the past indian people were treated badly by white english people just because of the colour of their skin. Ds thought it was sad people would be mean to someone for something like that. So no I do not think ds would point his finger at someone and call them 'chinky'. Nor do I think he would point his finger and call someone fat/ugly etc. Why, because he knows that is rude and unkind and not how we behave.

My kids ahve read some Enid Blytons. I have organised a secret seven party (was very good).

a racist comment is only racist if you mean it in a racist way, there is no such thing as racist words.

A vote here for Enid Blyton - perhaps you could explain why some people wouldn't like Chinky and come up with a new name.

Paddy?

seriously though, I don't think he'll be damaged and some of her stuff is magical. It would be a shame to "ban" it. There is plenty of time to read other books

And all you ultra PC people need to get a life - really.

Well I remember Enid Blyton books so well from my childhood. I loved them and they really fired my imagination. I'll reread certain ones even now to relive those moments. One of my absolute favourites was The Children of Cherry Tree Farm. I also loved the Famous Five, The Enchanted Wood, etc. etc. I can't think of another author that I read at the same age that made such an impression on me.

not talking about nasty orks. Don't see the connection

I am getting quite worried now. In our copy, the elf really did not look chinese.

I'm not so much bothered with children being scared, golden, as learning racist comments without them realising they are racist.

blimy, Tolkein books say Orks are nasty should i stop reading them too ? They are just stories and even the youngest child would realise they are old fashioned, they were out of date when i read them but that made me love them more.. and i'm not a facist racist homophobe, i managed to grow up quite balenced despite reading my friend flika a million times..

"Chinky" shows an elf like creature with slitted eyes"

SO the scenario where your child sees a child in the street with 'slitted eyes' and laughingly calls him 'chinky' doesn't worry you at all?

Q, EB herself once said that she didnt listen to criticism from anyone ovr 10 years old. Of course, she didnt know about being PC - I guess she was referring to the quality of the writing. Now that I read them as an adult, they are pretty trashy, and I am surprised that I loved them so much as a child.

We read the wishing chair, it had illustrations as far as I remember, but I didnt get the elf as being chinese at all - would not have gone on with it if I had. They are classist and sexist of course, but I hope that my children will get from me, that these things are not relevant to modern life.
There is one EB book I dont want my children to read, which has a rare depiction of a black African in it. I remember not liking this part as a child, as the character was so unbelievable, and of course, it is a completely racist portrayal.

i think fairytales can be much worse.

take hansel and gretel for example they get ditched in the woods by their father they knock on a strangers door and get locked up. they are almost boiled but instead the witch is.

the old version of that actually scared me.

yet another thread about to spiral downwards i think.

Ds hasnt picked up an EB yet and is completely absorbed by horrible histories and horrid henry books. If he chooses an Enid Blyton book formt he childrens section of the library (yes, they do stock them), then I will him allow him the freedom to read it. Ds doesnt go areound acting like horrid henry because he read the books, he enjoys the books for what they are, entertainment. I remember the magic wishing chair and loved it. Dont think ds will be into Malory Towers somehow tho.

I object to Enid Blyton on the grounds of both taste and decency.

Let's take decency first. Her works are racist and class-ridden. In order to keep making money out of Blyton, her publishers have tried to eliminate as much as possible - getting rid of gollywogs etc, but the prevailing tone is really really inappropriate for our time. Before anyone starts arguing the toss about being "of a certain time" that is simply not true. There are plenty of REALLY GOOD books for children that pre-date Enid Blyton and do not have attitudes of that nature. Take E Nesbit as an example of an enlightened writer.

Let's take taste next. The books are simply appallingly written. There are so many very good and well written childrens books, both ancient and modern. Why read trash? It's not necessary.

Of course Enid Blyton is popular. But why forcefeed your children the children's literary equivalent of the Sun newspaper? You don't have to do it.

Thankfully many school libraries (including ours) do not stock her books.

the thing is though children are innocent and they will not pick up on anything racial/class divided if there isnt an issue made out of it.

i could never read "whatever next" to my son for fear of him getting a colander stuck on his head and climbing into cardboard boxes but that would be silly of me and stem from my own worries also he misses out on a bloody good book.
my point is children (or the ones i know at least) dont take stories literally to them its just a fun read.

also if you have trouble with enid blyton what are your views on fairy tales where kids get eaten people die etc. grimms fairy tales for example.

goldenwings dont be disappointed if ds refuses to read them. i loved them, as well a little house on the prarie book which i kept, and bought new copies for my dd now 11 and she hates them. wont even go past chapter 1 - such a shame. likes jaqueline wilson i'm afraid. also like tintin but that stuffs worse than enid b

funny old think just reading famous five to d/d at night and they cannot wait for next chapter. It is rather spoofing sardine sandwiches

I loved Enid Blyton as a child but with adult hindsight am appalled at some of the racial and class-related prejudices which are rife in the books, like that servants are inferior people, French people have no sense of honour and my favourite; that if you are Irish you have red hair and go about slapping people! To be fair, I think a lot of that would be lost on a younger child and it did probably reflect the attitudes of the upper middle classes at the time.

[yawn] where is the link for the pitchfork paymobil when you need it!!

Of course Enid Blyton books have always been amazing popular..

my sons 8 months and im actually building up an enid blyton collection for him. i love her stories and they make a brilliant bed time read. i dont see any problem with it as long as you dont make an issue out of it.