to feel uneasy about my son reading Enid Blyton books

Am I the only one who finds that the subject of the elf is ridiculous.I don't even think about offence when reading Enid Blyton to my dc's.In fact I always felt annoyed that they took out the golliwogs.I had friends who were supposed to take offence but they never did and didn't undrstand what the fuss was about.

hijack

We are currently having problems with some of the sentiments in my old classic "the book of nonsense" which has lots of Victorian poems, stories, jokes and cautionary tales. The dds love it but I am struggling with the poem about the "little black-a-moor". It's a moral tale, the bad boys who tease him because of his colour get their comeuppance. But the terms used are, well, not ideal.

Well of course the William stories where the Outlaws pretend to be Nazis (Him Hitler and the Nasties) and attack a Jewish sweet shop owner, and the 'rat week' one where there are competitions to kill as many rats as possible, get left out of the modern reprints

I am not joking btw - these are real William stories.

I think EB is the Steven King or Sheri S Tepper of the child-lit world.

Really compelling stories, but the writing is a pile of poo.

Mine are too young to read. When they get there, I think I'll let them read EB as much as they want, but will make a point of saying that I don't agree with some of the things the characters do or say.

(For example, jeering at other people's accents, but I'd like the dds to work this out for themselves).

Mr Wilkins (Old Wilkie to his friends). I loved Jennings books. I'd happily read them again now...

I loved that irascible teacher who was always saying 'hrrmmphhh'! or something like it when he lost control of the boys whilst the other form teacher Mr Carter was a model of calmness and logic.

No William gets told off for playing with common boys

I lurve Just William

I don't think the Just William stories would pass PC muster either - Darbyshire always seems to play the straight man to Jenning's comic but then it shows friends working together.

I find JW a bit grim myself - there are other authors that write a better story just as there as alternatives to EB. My dd currently loves stories about ballet and the characters in the series she's reading are 'modern': not Noel Streatfield m/c creations. ALthough I do want her to read Ballet Shoes/The Swish of the Curtain etc in a couple of years time if only for comparison purposes .

I had a thing for Biggles . Am sure he wouldn't pass PC criteria though, nor Narnia. In fact most older children's books wouldn't.

I re-read the Magic Faraway Tree again recently. It was only marginally less good as a n adult1 I was also well impressed that the children help Mother and do tasks around the house before going off adventuring. Let them read them, ffs, it's fantasy!

Seriously, I don't think they'll notice any prejudice/funny names. Mine are 13 now and I wish they still read that stuff. Jaqueline Wilson is SO unimaginative in comparison.

has anyone mentioned the 'overparenting' thread?

Slightly surprised the Narnia books haven't come up as an alternative QC. They generally seem to be liked by both boys and girls.

Noted that Alan Garner was mentioned earlier. I loved him as a child but remember recommending Red Shift to my teacher when I was 11 and she started to read it in class but then realised it was full of bad language and stopped. I hadn't even noticed the language

My brother loved Biggles! I haven't read that again lately though. Probably is v sexist etc. It was one of the few things he would read though. That and books about cricket!

The other thing I loved was books of Greek myths. They might also appeal to your DS.

If you start a thread re: Shakespeare and/or the nature of stupidity will be happy to join in . Always up for a good debate.

I like Anne Fine. Both the child and adult books. My dds seem to like her too, they are reading Bill's New Frock at the moment with enthusiasm.

Same here NN .

I am just trying to work out under what circs anyone could possibly get 7.50 and a shag out of knowing about Enid Blyton!
A romantic night at the pub quiz????

goosebumps look yucky, but I hate horror stuff anyway.

Quattro
Yes she was my gateway to reading. I always read well but I don't remember reading novels at all until I discovered EB, then there was no stopping. I wasn't forced into them.

My sister (we found out later) was very short sighted so she always had her nose in a book, because she couldn't really see to do anything else. I picked up her EBs one day and then was lost in the world of Mallory Towers and St Clares.
My Ds is not that interested in reading novels except Harry Potter, although he prefers story tapes (he has a SLD).He does read lots of non fiction though.

? Cannot BELIEVE you got £7.50 for knowing about EB.

i did once get £7.50 and a shag out of my knowlege of enid blyton books

but maybe this is Not The Thread...

and robert swindels is really really good, frogs. its not horror, its proper though provoking stuff, does depend on age of kid though.

i don't think you really need to be worrying about whether your kid's stuff is suitable really. I draw the line at sexist racist stuff-so unexpurgated EB-but aside from that, stick them in a library and let them get on with it

btw i DIDN'T read EB growing up (she was banned) and I have a degree and everything. And sometimes I read jsut for the hell of it. It IS possible, you know.

Surely the great joy of children reading independently is that you don't have to read the stuff yourself (hurrah)? Personally I can't stomach Horrid Henry (formulaic, don't like the polarisation of characters) but happy for the children to read it as long as it doesn't take over.

Ditto EB, and the endless profusion of horsey books (Ruby Ferguson, the Pullein-Thompsons) which have all the same flaws as EB. Good plots, poor characterisation and language. Poor use of cliche. With sufficient exposure a bright child will work out for him/herself that all the plots are the same, which must be a commendable act of early literary criticism? I occasionally revert to Agatha Christie and Nevil Shute in moments of boredom and stress, and am happy for Malory Towers and Jill's Perfect Pony to fulfil the same purpose for the children.

The only things I've really steered them away from are the shlop horror books (Goosebumps etc) and anything by Robert Swindells, which is really nasty. Frankly, if you find EB too much to stomach, wait until you see what passes for teenage fiction. This is particularly a problem if you have an able reader, as some of these books present themselves as the next step up from Harry Potter etc, but are actually profoudly vile and completely unsuitable for under-13s. Suddenly The Castle of Adventure will seem oddly appealing.

I loved Anne Fine as a kid. Especially goggle eyes and the flour babies.