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Original poster

What was your favourite Enid Blyton book?

280 replies

Flapjacker48 · 02/08/2023 14:04

When I was a child (80s) read loads of Enid Blyton books (passed down from siblings, library etc) and in the past few months have read loads of these free online (original/early editions, none with updated texts) - prob way more than when I was a child!

Although dated in many ways I have a fondness for the "family" type EB books - (house on the corner, family at red-roofs, six bad boys) which were less well known than Famous five/secret seven etc.

Also I have read several books about EB (biography, book by her agent and a book by her daughter about her childhood) and found these really interesting, of course like all authors/famous people in general who you think you know their lives are more complex (and interesting!) and different to how one would expect and how they are "presented"

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MillicentTrilbyHiggins · 02/08/2023 15:52

Of and of course Noddy

Original poster
Flapjacker48 · 02/08/2023 15:53

@salamithumbs Find-outers was a good series (like all tailed off in the very last books). I think I was impressed as EB (like Conan Doyle) always explain HOW Fatty came to his conclusions in the end to solve the case!

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ranoutofquinoaandprosecco · 02/08/2023 15:53

Secret Island and the Faraway Tree series.

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Children's books
WinterNightStars · 02/08/2023 15:54

Loved reading Enid Blyton!
Famous Five, Mallory towers & far away tree stand out in my memory.

Original poster
Flapjacker48 · 02/08/2023 15:54

As an aside EB books also improved my vocabulary - I remember looking up the meaning of "Verbose" and "Asinine" after seeing them in a find-outers book.

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Lentilweaver · 02/08/2023 15:55

Version12 · 02/08/2023 15:44

I loved that one. I vaguely remember Jack had a friend called Richard Lawson (?) who had a horse called Lordly One. Jane and Melisande both had a bit of a crush on him but he liked Melisande because she was so feminine and pretty and quiet, whereas Jane didn't wash her neck, was a tomboy and talked a lot (?). And then Jane's twin Jack told her he was ashamed of how she'd looked to his friend, so she started washing and being tidy, and next time Richard saw her, she was very demure and he really approved of her. My feminist sensibilities are screaming now.

Magic Faraway Tree and Five on a Hike Together were great too.

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Oh yes I remember this. All the tomboyish horsey girls with short hair got a really bad deal in Blyton's books. George, Jane, Bill and Clarissa... Remember how Clarissa got rid of her glasses and was finally beautiful? Urgh.

Of course, these days they would be condemned to being non-binary.

Sherrystrull · 02/08/2023 15:56

My favourite were absolutely The Famous Five. I read and reread them all.

I also enjoyed 'Those Dreadful Children' and the Islands of Adventure books.

Original poster
Flapjacker48 · 02/08/2023 15:58

@Uppersop Interestingly the "Circus" series re-used lots of the ideas and characters that EB developed in an adult novel (The caravan goes on) which she submitted to publishers and they rejected (even though she was pretty wealthy/well known at this point). The adult characters and their relationships are a bit more developed than usual in EB books.

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User3735 · 02/08/2023 16:00

The Children of Cherry Tree Farm! I didn't realise it was a sequel to Children of Willow Tree Farm until I was an adult. I bought it for my DD but she/we haven't got round to reading it yet. Enid Blyton was such a staple of my childhood reading, from being read Noddy to Magic Faraway Tree, and then reading endless Secret Seven and Naughty Amelia Jane etc I often wonder why it isn't celebrated as a British staple in the same way Paddington and Winnie the Pooh is. Movies of the faraway tree would be amazing.

Original poster
Flapjacker48 · 02/08/2023 16:05

@KohlaParasaurus I had never seen/heard of "Land of far-beyond" as a child and have recently read it for the first time and was impressed (of course books with such a religious message are out of fashion these days). I found myself really hoping "Mr Scornful" would carry on and try and get into the next entrance and get rid of his burden (of course he does but as the book ends its unresolved!)

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Lentilweaver · 02/08/2023 16:07

I often wonder why it isn't celebrated as a British staple in the same way Paddington and Winnie the Pooh is.

Enid Blyton is very, very popular all across Asia. Far more so than Paddington Bear. If you travel across India, every tiny bookstore will have a copy of The Faraway Tree, the Famous Five and the Secret Seven.

Just remembering the Island of Adventure, the Ship of Adventure and the Circus of Adventure. I think one of those is the one where the children discovered the secret submarines.

CurlewKate · 02/08/2023 16:08

"she may be abhorred by the politically correct crew now but she really was a very talented and diverse author"

  1. you don't have to be politically correct to abhor her.
  2. she wasn't very talented and diverse- she was incredibly prolific and excellent at marketing.
Original poster
Flapjacker48 · 02/08/2023 16:10

@Debopo Potentially "The four cousins"?

https://www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php?pid=20190804

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Original poster
Flapjacker48 · 02/08/2023 16:12

@Summermeadowflowers Put em rights is upper middle class children (with one exception) "helping" the "poor/misguided/cruel" in the village!

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Original poster
Flapjacker48 · 02/08/2023 16:14

@KohlaParasaurus The Taggerty children are noisy and ill-behaved (in EB's eyes) but are descirbed as "rough" as in the boisterous sense - both the Taggerty and Charlton family are upper middle class (large houses and gardens, have hired help, both boys go the local day school etc)

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IMustDoMoreExercise · 02/08/2023 16:17

I read Secret 7 and Mallory Towers.

Didn't like the Famous 5 at all.

Original poster
Flapjacker48 · 02/08/2023 16:18

@LaMaG That would be "The adventurous four" - one of a couple of EB books that are set in WW2 (the other being the children of kidilin).

EB had a phase of using tough, resourceful Scots boys in some of her books (a nod to her 1st husband), note that her later books idolise Doctors/surgeons - a nod to her second husband

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Wren77 · 02/08/2023 16:23

The Children of Cherry Tree Farm/ Willow Farm! Stayed with me all these years- I'm 50 next month!
And the Wishing Chair. Happy memories!

bellsbuss · 02/08/2023 16:27

Mr Pinkwhistle, Mallory Towers, St Clare's, Naughtiest little girl, Famous Five, Secret Seven. My mum has all my old books in her loft

ladygindiva · 02/08/2023 16:27

TwoBlueFish · 02/08/2023 14:07

I read lots of Famous 5, Mallory towers, Wishing chair and the Adventure series. My favourites though were The Faraway Tree series.

Same

LivingOnAPear · 02/08/2023 16:33

I loved EB and we had a vast collection.

Does anyone else remember my favourites. They were the stand alone books “Hollow Tree House” and “The Boy Next Door”.

Rummikub · 02/08/2023 16:33

I loved Enid blyton
Magic faraway tree
wishing chair
Island of adventure
Saint Clares
Mallory Towers
Amelia Jane
brer rabbit (these were based on the African folk lore stories which I rang to read now I know)

KohlaParasaurus · 02/08/2023 16:34

Flapjacker48 · 02/08/2023 16:05

@KohlaParasaurus I had never seen/heard of "Land of far-beyond" as a child and have recently read it for the first time and was impressed (of course books with such a religious message are out of fashion these days). I found myself really hoping "Mr Scornful" would carry on and try and get into the next entrance and get rid of his burden (of course he does but as the book ends its unresolved!)

I did too, and even more so as an adult myself. I admired Mr Scornful for his solid competence and wanted him to succeed.

The lack of much reference to religion otherwise in Enid Blyton's books had me scratching my head as a child growing up in a part of the country rife with sectarianism. So many children, so many schools, not one mention of Catholic or Protestant as far as I'm aware.

MirandaWest · 02/08/2023 16:37

As a single book I loved the Family at Red Roofs.
I’ve read the Malory Towers books multiple times and probably know some parts off by heart.
Did read St Clare’s but didn’t enjoy them as much as Malory Towers.

Version12 · 02/08/2023 16:37

Lentilweaver · 02/08/2023 15:55

Oh yes I remember this. All the tomboyish horsey girls with short hair got a really bad deal in Blyton's books. George, Jane, Bill and Clarissa... Remember how Clarissa got rid of her glasses and was finally beautiful? Urgh.

Of course, these days they would be condemned to being non-binary.

Show quote history

Oh, I'd forgotten Clarissa. And doesn't she have her braces removed too, thus helping her become more beautiful?

There's a weird internalised misognyny with Enid. She based George on herself, so she obviously wasn't happy with gender norms for girls, but she still so often seems to cram the tomboys back into that feminine box. By the end of the Famous Five series, George has far less agency than she did at the start of the series.