Enid Blyton - what changes are/are not OK?

[VictoriaOKeefe]

My example:
Jo-Jo in the Island of Adventure - i think Jo-Jo should have been kept as a black villain but with the "rolling eyes" and "nigra" speech removed. Changing him to a white man sends the dangerous message to children that a member of a marginalised group cannot be a nasty, small-minded jerk (as TPratchett put it). Women are marginalised but i wouldn't pee on my cruel abrasive mother if she was on fire.

Hands off our bloody history. She wrote what she wrote. Her books are illustrative of an era in our past and those norms are now changed. It's absurd and of help to nobody to attempt to erase the past, its needed as a comparitor to guide us in the future.

I loved Malory Towers as a child and was saddened to find new versions don't contain slapping or boxing ears; the way they were written is indicative of the times and I never felt the need growing up to emulate any of the bad behaviour in the books. I'm so glad I have my 1980s originals in fairly good condition and will look to pass them in to my own children perhaps.

I was also amazed in 'The Magic Faraway Tree' they've changed Fanny's name to, I believe, Frannie. For goodness' sake, the Americans still say fanny meaning bottom, but they don't bleep it out our change it in films and TV shows when aired over here.

Changing texts like this assume that people will grow up with the wrong impressions and prejudices, rather than growing up with the ability to understand a little of how society has changed in the last 70-odd years.

No changes. I don't agree with altering history, changing books, place names etc. You can't understand the present without knowing the past.

I quite like the updated versions. I appreciate that every moments a learning moment, but sometimes I just want to read a jolly adventure to my children without a lesson. I couldn't read them in the original for this purpose.

I don’t think they should be changed except for a few words, like obviously racist terms.

Of Mice and Men uses the N word quite frequently and it’s in keeping with the period it was set it. It’s differnt in that it’s not a kids book. I studied it for GCSE and we took turns reading paragraphs aloud. The teacher read the bits that had things like the N word so we didn’t have to. It was a common exam question to discuss themes like racism etc.

Here are a few things which were altered in some newer prints of the Famous Five:

"Golly!" A bit of a problem because she used it so frequently.
"Julian fished out two half crowns."
"I bet I'll get an awful spanking if I'm caught." (Replaced with "telling off").
"Kitbag" became rucksack.
"Shorts" or "skirts" were replaced with "jeans".

And wasn't "baccy" replaced with "sweets" in Demon's Rocks?

I read a centenary edition of Jock Of The Bushveldt where one of the amendments was to change the measurements to metric. The result was such clunkers as "the bushbuck skidded to within 2.5cm of the edge of the cliff" type of thing.

Reading these with my DC at the moment and I must say, despite devouring them as a child, rereading them as an adult has given me many pauses...

As just one example: the speech Dick gives here is fucking dreadful. It did create a bit of discussion as it's infuriating George doesn't counter his shite (yeah, not sure about the role model stuff!) and just spouts even more sexist crap back..

Buuut - they are of their time and whilst I sometimes switch out particularly offensive words, they are still great adventure stories!

Change nothing, the books are of their time.

Yes, if it wasn't for Enid Blyton, I would never have joined the EDL.

I sometimes switch out particularly offensive words
I wish you wouldn't do that as it's giving your children a distorted view of the past. I hope you don't make your kids believe the real world is as left wing as your average student union.

They should just be quietly left to die- they are only kept alive by the power of nostalgia.

I've not seen anyone suggest burning books?

The question is surely if you should publish racist sexist books targetted at 5 year olds, or if new printings should remove the racist, sexist language or even just the outdated language (like half-crowns).

I don't see any reason for new prints of the original books, there's so many around, they're easy to get hold of if you want them. The unconcious teaching that normalising racism and sexism is unneccessary though, if it's the only exposure it's unlikely to be much of a problem, but unconcious biases are introduced by exposure to these sorts of attitudes.

So if you do love the stories and want to buy new editions, then updating the language and removing the racism and sexism is a good thing. The story doesn't change if a Chinese man becomes an elf, indeed it's more true to the intent as when authored the Chinese man was strange and other-worldly in the time it was written, quite a different character today.

I loved Enid Blyton books, it was a major form of escapism for me as a child.
I'm still an avid reader but doubt I'll ever again experience disappearing into an adventure like I did reading EB. The joys of a child's imagination I expect.
It's funny I never associated The three Gollys or any Gollys as been black people. They were made up characters similar to the skittles and not really people in my head.
I can't remember any racism in Famous Five, I wouldnt even have known what racism was then, was it very blatant?

My dd loves all the Famous Five, Secret Seven and Malory Towers. BUT I have read bits of them all with her, and we have rolled our eyes together about the ridiculous sexist bullshit. It's important she understands that this used to be normal. We talk about it and she gets angry at the sexism. And I encourage her to see it for what it is. Ditto the other assorted bigotry in the books. Don't change them - comment on them!

I think they should be modernised but perhaps with slightly different titles to make clear they aren't the originals.

My DS is 6 and reads alone. We have talked about sexism in the famous five, but i would not let him have a book with racist content as he is nowhere near mature enough to separate what was acceptable in the past from what is acceptable now.

I'm not for burning them as I have not yet found a modern children's book that is as good in terms of description and getting children hooked in to read long chunks of text with more challenging language. In that regard I think EB is good for preparing children for "proper" literature.
Modern books for the same age group I have found to be shorter and more simplistic and lacking description.

Depends which real world you're living in Victoria; you and I aren't sharing the same one.

My dd is 8 and can spot the sexism and racism a mile off! She reads on her own but I always make a point of checking in with her/reading a bit with her whatever she's reading to keep abreast of the situation...

Leaving aside the sexism and racism issues, I think it's depressing if books are being altered to, say, remove references to old money like shillings and half crowns in case it's "confusing".

Modern books for the same age group I have found to be shorter and more simplistic and lacking description.

Books 1 and 2 of Harry Potter are right at the same age group as the famous 5, surely they have long chunks of text with challenging language? As does plenty of other modern stuff, I think you might be lowering the imagined age of Enid Blyton because it was a kids book to you.

Like thousands of children from the 40's to the 70's, I grew up loving EB. I was inspired to become a writer myself by her - and even as I grew older and began to learn that she wasn't actually terribly nice, and the tales had racist, classist and sexist undertones - which fitted with the times to be fair - I still understood how her stories got children reading. Today everyone reveres JK Rowling, but to be honest I don't think the HP books have any more literary merit than Blytons.

I wish you wouldn't do that as it's giving your children a distorted view of the past

I take your point but it is also excruciating to read aloud - which I am. I wouldn't go through it with a black pen and censor the actual book and DD who is 9 is perfectly able to read whatever as she understands the historical context.. my 6yo gets it as well but not as clearly and certainly doesnt need a massive discussion around why we don't say 'negro' anymore at bedtime.

Oh, and I assume we're not including the Noddy books in the discussion... They are just unreadable! So dull, and racist to boot.