What was your favourite Enid Blyton book?

[Flapjacker48]

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"

Just had a sweet memory. In the Mr Galliano books there is a story where Jimmy's dog, Lucky is stolen and Lottie goes off on an adventure to find him. She stays out searching all night and everyone is looking for her. I read it to my little boy about 9 yes ago and he asked me 'is that why they sing that song Mummy?' I'm up all night to get Lucky . Every time I hear it I smile

@MargaretThursday

The farming children in six cousins working class? No-way.

Father is a gentleman farmer who owns the land (not a tenant farmer) who employs farm workers who live in tided cottages on the land. His son and daughter goes to prestigious schools as day pupils. They also employ help in the house (cook and maid)

That’s adorable 😊

I credit the enchanted wood and the faraway tree for my love of reading. I devoured Enid Blyton books. I loved St Clare’s and wanted to go to boarding school so I could play lacrosse and have a tuck box 😂
Some of the ‘values’ and writing was a bit old fashioned even back in the 1980s and as a child I recognised that without anyone having to tell me. We should credit kids with more sense! Any child struggling to read introduce them to Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton. Timeless and wonderful stories

The Island of Adventure. Kids ran away from wicked relatives house to live on an island. Think they used to go back and steal stuff from the house even chickens and cows 😂. So far fetched but great fun.

I loved the 5 finder outers

I liked these, I thought that, actually, it had quite adult themes.

I liked the Adventure Series &
Famous Five

Sorry think I meant The Secret Island!

In confident this was one of the two adventurous four books, I think the first one.

(apologies if someone else has got this, I had got to the end of the hundred post page and no one had and I didn't want to lose the post!)

I enjoyed the Mallory Towers series; the Five Findouters (and dog) series; The St Clare's series and The Adventurous Four series - but far and away my favourite one was The Rubadub Mystery. It represented the absolute ideal holiday-from-heaven for me! Adventure, excitement, fun, danger and a mystery! I still re-read it from time to time, even though I'm now 65! 🤣📖

In order of preference:

The Enchanted Wood
The Adventurous Four
Country Walks with Uncle Merry - I read this lots I recall.

I think that's The Adventurous Four.

The Castle of Adventure was also a real favourite. How could I have forgotten!

Oops, sorry! I just posted the same answer!

The secret island is my all time favourite but lots of others were great too.

The Malory Towers series was my favourite.

"The Secret Island" was EB's first full length children's book (it was actually published as a series in a magazine before being published a book)

Does anyone remember The Secret Mountain? I think it might be out of publication now, presumably because of the portrayal of the African tribe who used to sacrifice people to the sun by throwing them off the mountain. I loved the genuine peril of that one.

Mr Pinkwhistle, he was half human and half brownie. He could make himself invisible and put wrongs to right.
I can remember looking for him in the streets as people walked by.
I also loved the Brer Rabbit stories too. To be honest, most Enid Blyton books were brilliant as a child. They always had fairies and magic and took you into a magical land.
Not sure some have aged well such as the 'gollyw*' stories. But in the 70s they were so popular.

I loved the Malory Towers and the St Clares series.

The first book that was ever bought for me was Mr Gallianos Circus- I absolutely wanted to join the circus. Then I adored the Faraway Tree books and the Famous Five . I re read Mallory Towers and St Clare's in lockdown. I cant choose a favourite I loved them all .

I loved Enid Blyton.
I had an old book of stories that had belonged to my mum, and was particularly enthralled by one about a cat that was a great hunter, but then cut off his whiskers (I think in an attempt to look more handsome), and found he couldn’t effortlessly fit through narrow gaps any more, because he had used his whiskers to know how wide his body was. I absolutely loved that story, I must have made my poor parents read it to me so many times.
I wish I could read it again now.

I loved the Famous Five, my favourite was Five on a hike together, and Five go adventuring again, when they get a tutor for the Christmas holidays but he is part of a gang out to steal Uncle Quentin’s scientific research.

Not much love for the Secret Seven on this thread, but I think lots were really great - the one where the tiny postman is a dog thief, and wears big boots to steal them and makes big prints in the snow to put everyone off the scent, and then one of the 7 finds the boots hidden in the postman’s garden shed - I remember being speechless with excitement reading that scene.

Six Cousins Again, the sequel to Six Cousins at Mistletoe Farm was probably my overall favourite.

The Secret Island, reread it recently with my 9 year old and he loved it too. It just really fed into the lust for freedom and adventure I had as a kid!

Is anyone else on Amazon looking at books? 🤣

I read dozens of EB books as a child, I loved so many of them.

Mallory Towers, St Clares, Famous Five, Secret Seven, the circus books with Mr Galliano, the Island/Valley etc of Adventure.

I've read through the thread and I don't think anyone has mentioned Shadow the Sheepdog, probably the one I read most frequently. A boy and a collie growing up on a farm in the Lake District. Does anyone else remember that one?

Oddly I have never read The Faraway Tree, I obviously need to put that right!

Off to see what EB books are lurking in the attic...