Enid Blyton...what ages for which series?

[ThreeFeetTall]

My son and I have enjoyed reading the Faraway Tree Series and the Wishing Chair books at bedtime. I'd like to read him more of her books but not sure where to go next. Famous 5? Secret 7? (What's the difference?)

Or The adventure books?

I never read these as a child. My son is 7 but quite a young 7.

I started FF at about 7 or 8 I think. SS a bit later. Also read DD those at that age.

Hope you're censoring as you go-they're pretty dreadful you know!

I started FF at 6. I am not sure they will have aged well though!

I loved secret seven at seven 😀 it’s younger than famous five, posh and suburban and quite tame little adventures. Famous five is no harder really but there are angry (foreign looking) men with guns. Bloody loved ff.

There are modern rewrites of EB now, with the racism and oo er names removed. Same stories just a bit less early 20th C upper class Britain.

I wouldn’t get the updated versions or censor them yourself. Just explain they were written in a different time and talk about any bits you have concerns about. I hate the censorship of books - where does it end?

He might enjoy Arthur Ransome's books in a year or two. Apart from a girl called Titty, I can't think of anything worth changing.

Secret Seven is easier but not as good, although my girls loved them both. I'd say the adventure series is more grown up than the FF.

I got SS for my DD for her 7th birthday and she's read them all so must have enjoyed.

Ok thanks! Very useful.

I do edit a little as a read (Chinky became Binky) but haven't found it too bad so far. I assume Famous five and secret seven are worse for racism/classism but happy to read and see what we find.

We've tried some modern authors and there are only a few books which seem good, most of them are too scary or repetitive or zany.

The secret series, starting with The Secret Island. Slightly younger than FF and in my opinion nicer stories.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Island-Enid-Blyton/dp/1841356735/ref=nodl_?dplnkId=258443bf-8da0-4c55-82ac-dc3081769180

We do secret seven before famous five. The find outers are also very popular. (And extremely tedious on car journeys)

My 7yo loves them all, my older kids had some they were scared of but managed it themselves. I'll let them read anything they can broadly.

Both DH and I are very much looking forward to this but think he is a bit young still.
My favourite line is "Meanwhile, Titty was pretending to be a cormorant"

My 10yo has only just gotten into famous five. took quite a bit of encouragement (watching a youtube video of an old series, putting on audiobooks to get him in the mood). It's like he's suddenly got the bug!

I realise that they are very dated and sexist these days, but we chat about that. However the core sense of adventure and fun I think is still brilliant, and if he's anything like me he will get a lot out of them.

I tried a couple of years ago but he just wasn't interested then.

There is more racism in day to day life than there is in Enid Blyton books. Unless you are white in which case it's quite a good prompt to talk about it.

My dd was annoyed by Anne always making the tomato sandwiches.

The Naughtiest Girl series would be good. Also the Five Findouters.

My dd loved Enid Blyton.

Yes! The Naughtiest Girl would be a good choice.

I do find it baffling that people are still giving their children this classist, sexist, racist rubbish to read. It wouldn't be so bad, but it's also badly written, uses a tiny vocabulary Blyton was a pretty questionable individual personally. And the characters are often vile to each other! There are a million other books-why hang on to this dross?

I used to like the Mr Pink-Whistle books, they were aimed slightly younger than Famous Five and Secret 7. Although the name Mr Pink-Whistle now sounds a bit questionable... One book was called Mr Pink-Whistle Interferes, maybe give that one a miss

Unexpectedly Malory Towers has been a huge hit with my 6 year old boy.

He caught me watching the TV series and he just loves it

He has the yoto cards for it and keeps asking me the cutest questions - mummy, what is dictee? What is prep? How do you play lacrosse?

There are a million other books-why hang on to this dross?

I gave them to my dd as I loved them so much as a child and my dd loved them too. I didn't identify with the characters and neither did she. I didn't care. I read them for enjoyment rather than to improve my vocabulary.

My mum read them to me because she only had one book as a child which was an Enid Blyton. She won it as a prize at school and it was her only book until she was an adult.

When the Seven Stories had a Blyton exhibition on we all three went together and it was quite emotional for my mother.

I can't stand Roald Dahl books. I can't read them as I think they are so bad. But I wouldn't stop my children from reading them because I think they are beneath them or not good enough.

@CurlewKate because simply the stories and the imagination take children to another world.

I've not grown up to be a racist, nasty 1950s housewife as a result of reading them. We also discuss the fact they were written 80 years ago and the differences in what was socially acceptable those days. They present good talking points, to point out how sexist they were and discuss why things are different.

But my imagination and the joy I got from the adventures, the magic and so on from the books was so much as a child. In fact I'd say Blyton books were some of my favourite (Faraway Tree, Famous Five) and I can't think of any others that took me to the same exciting imaginative places as they did or I got so much imagination food from. Also some of the adventures and characters did so much exciting stuff (living on an island on their own) that was independent and self sufficient.

My 10 year old still loves the Faraway Tree and cites it as one of his favourites.

They may not be highbrow or culturally sensitive now, but as so many people get so much out of them, there must be a reason for this.

DS is 5 (reception) and is absolutely loving secret seven (read to him not reading himself). I was worried it would be so dated it wouldn't make sense but the editions we have must have been updated- £3 for the circus not shillings, cm not inches, so probably racism and sexism have been edited too, there's been nothing that's really made me wince.

He's very keen, trying to enlist his friends into a secret club; the books are still very engaging.

@Rayna37 I find it strange that they would want to update things like "shillings" and "inches". For what reason? Surely children realise that in times gone by things were done a little differently; to pretend they weren't is madness. They would also get to learn about the past from it. I get it on the racism though but for the most part the problematic stuff represents a good opportunity to have a chat about how things have changed and what isn't appropriate.

@CurlewKate for god's sake. I read lots of these, never ended up being racist or sexist.

It's a good opportunity to talk to your kids about racism etc. Let them be kids and read the books that they want to.

Stop sanitising the past. Instead, learn from it and use it as a teaching opportunity for your children.