AIBU - or are the Faraway Tree books utterly insane?

[BaleOfHay]

I've started reading these to DD5 at bedtime and they are making my head hurt. I'm all for a bit of magic (we've just finished the Worst Witch) and I loved Enid Blyton a a child (Famous 5) but the Faraway Tree makes me want to scream and throw it out of the window. Is it just me?

They are wonderful, amazing, and genuinely imaginative books. I loved them and one of the greatest joys of my life was being able to share them with my children when they were little. When my DD was little I’d read a paragraph and then she’d read a paragraph, a chapter a night. We often revisited favourite lands - it was the best part of the day.

Should also add, when it feels like a storm is on the way and it’s blowy and blustery, my DD (now 18) or I will comment, ‘I think the land at the top of the Faraway Tree is moving on’.

Sicko!!! 😀

Someone’s going to come on in a minute and confess to a sneaky crush on the Angry Pixie…

Someone definitely said they’d fancied Julian from the Famous Five, whereas I could see Dick, maybe, if only because he wasn’t Julian.

I loved them as a child and still have my books from the 80’s.
Obviously some things have been removed from the books now.

There was a massive tree along the road from our house on its own on the edge of a pavement, used to wish/hope it was the faraway tree as I wanted to go to the lands at the top !

The Faraway Tree series were my absolute favourite books as a child, I loved all the characters and how you were transported into a different world with each story, often they were scary but you always landed safely back to earth at the end. Even now when I am out walking and I see a particularly magnificent and gnarled tree it reminds me of the Faraway Tree.

I loved them as a child - it has become a thing to dislike Enid blyton these days it seems!

I loved them as a child. Saucepan lid man. Moonface. The fairy

Wishing chair was good

Secret seven

Famous five

St clare's

Mallory towers

All amazing books

Silky the fairy ?

I loved this book, it was my favourite (can't remember what it was about now)

I loved them as a kid. I am sufficiently old to remember when Rick and Franny were Dick and Fanny.

I adore those books. I’m reading the series with my youngest for the 3rd time, after doing similar with my elder two kids. Faraway Tree was the first proper book I remember reading as a young child and I’ve been an avid reader since.

And Dame Snap was Dame Slap.

I loved Enid bouton as a child and the faraway tree.

I started reading Island of adventure again and got into it straightaway.

When my dc were little my eldest wanted Angelina Ballerina. My god it was tedious! I used to try to skip pages but she would notice.

And the mr men books. Did not enjoy reading those.

Blyton of course ⬆️

The Faraway Tree is one of my favourite childhood books. Magical!

I loved all of them and started re-reading the Mallory Towers series just for myself this year! People had a much nicer turn of phrase back in Blyton’s time. My grandmother still speaks that way. It makes me feel very nostalgic.

I found it really eye opening trying to read some of my favourite books to my kids when they were small.

Thomas the Tank Engine (as mentioned upthread) was one of the worst. We’d bought the whole set and ended up throwing it away with only a couple of books read. I was a bit shocked at how nasty some of the stories were. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe series I had to editorialize through the sexism, it was so blatant. I never really got into Blyton’s books for younger kids but I loved Famous Five, Mallory Towers etc. Fortunately my kids were aware enough readers by the time I encouraged them to read those that they could see past some of the not so great values (as could I when I read them as they were pretty dated 40+ years ago too).

@Thementalloadisreal

🥱🥱
😴😴
predictable mind blowing comment 🙄

Tell me something refreshing enlightening for a change...

Wokeisim become allmost meaninglessness as its used so much become bland santised homogenous word,

Wokenism word *

I don't quite know how to admit this, but...

I listen to the Faraway Tree books on audible to help me sleep. I especially love the Jacqueline Wilson follow-ons in the series - the Christmas one is adorable and so cosy and feelgood. Her versions are a bit more PC and less moralistic too. But I do actually listen to the originals too.

I have to go and change my name and probably have plastic surgery now you all know....

I loved them as a child. They are slightly surreal fantasy, sure. It would be pretty boring if all children's books were sensible. Where's your imagination, OP?

Exactly hit the nail with that good insightful comment @AllProperTeaIsTheft .!👌

I never read them as a child but bought them to read to my to my dd who absolutely loved them when she was around 6. I hated them so much that I gave them away and didn’t read them to my younger kids!

I still have my copies of the Faraway tree series from the late 60s. Pretty battered now. I adored them as a child. Someone mentioned the squirrel that collected cushions at the bottom of the slippery slip. I loved him with all my heart and have had a thing about squirrels ever since! He wore a jumper if my memory serves me correctly. I asked my Grandma to knit me a jumper the size to fit a squirrel once. Strangely enough she didnt! No idea what I was going to do with it! Maybe leave it at the bottom of a large tree and hope it eventually made it to THE squirrel in the books! 😁😁