I grew up on Enid Blyton books....Famous Five, Malory Towers, Secret Seven, St. Clare's etc etc...my kids grew up on the Noddy books, the Naughtiest Girl series, Magic Faraway series, etc etc....her books made me want to read more. I graduated quickly from Enid Blyton straight into full blown historical novels...psychology text books...any classic literature I could lay my hands on...I would have never had the appetite for books if it had not been for Enid Blyton.
I've heard some negative reviews of her writing...and I'm sure, now as an adult, I might find some of the writing lacking...but as a child...well, she transported me into fantasy worlds. She was the reason I tramped around in primary six with my 4 best buddies- and we named ourselves the Fearless Four- or Famous Four- we would scope out haunted houses and explore abandoned buildings. We drank ginger ale and ate ginger biscuits....probably imagining we were on one of the Famous Five's great adventures.
It is good to see that Amazon.com does offer more of her books. (compared to a few years ago) I know I have bought some classics from Ebay (for my grandkids). I hope these books are always around for children to enjoy!
If you were an Enid Blyton fan (or you just read some of her books) which one was your favorite??
*images from Ebay and Amazon.com
Ahh!! Enid Blyton! I grew up on a healthy dose of her books...and gradually nancy drew, hardy boys, Mills and boons filled in the spaces! later giving way to sydney sheldons and danielle steels, and jeffery archers and grishham...no better joy than to have a novel for company...
ReplyDeleteand now my son( all of 8 yrs) is hooked to enid blyton too..the favs? the five on whispering island, the five get into trouble and the five on finniston farm...the five have plenty of fun!! and many more!
ah yes- and now I am buying the books for my grandkids in anticipation for when they will start reading them :)
DeleteI am a hardcore Enid Blyton fan, so much that I read those books now too! St clares, Malory towers, Darell rivers, the O sullivan twins, Gwen, the midnight feat. The famous five, secret seven!! haha we named ourselves secret seven and we even used to hold secret meetings :-) Malory towers are my favorite of all of them, and I loved Darell.. Oooh talking about this makes me want to go and read the series!
ReplyDeleteAnd gosh waht store is this, which doesn't have her books!
I haven't read an Enid Blyton book for years- although when I bought some for my grandkids I flipped through them- they were more of her nursery type stories- fast easy reads- and I found myself smiling :)
DeleteBelieve me- so far ALL the bookstores I've been in here do NOT have her books- and they look like, "Enid who???" I'm flabbergasted!!
I never got tired of reading her books. Starting from the short stories, to Famous Five and Secret Seven..i love them all. I still have all those books :)
ReplyDeleteYes, I've yet to meet an Enid Blyton book which I did not love.
DeleteWhoa...that's like exactly what i thought about her books too..after starting with Tinkle and Amar Chitra KAtha comics, Enid Blyton's books were the first ones that I read (nay...more like devoured). Must have read atleast 50 of her books, and they were totally un-pt-down-able...each one of them. Although, I must say...there might be other new writers catering to the young readers of today. Hmm..does that make us sound old??
ReplyDeleteha ha- yes most probably!
DeleteMy fav is "the secret island" i recollect reading this in school and loving to be on a dventure like that.
ReplyDeleteI loved Secret Island too....I loved it so much tht I borrowed the book from the library and painstakingly wrote the whole story down in a notebook. It took me around 2 weeks but I did it;-P
DeleteIt is great that each book brings back a memory!
DeleteI've heard some negative reviews of her writing...and I'm sure, now as an adult, I might find some of the writing lacking...but as a child...well, she transported me into fantasy worlds.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree...as a kid I loved the five find-outers, the secret series, the adventure series, the 6 cousins at Mistletoe Farm kids...so many...too many to list. We outgrow them after a while but the memories associated with them are wonderful:-)).
I love buying them for my kids now...and when I find a book in a series I had missed out as a kid, u can be sure it will be in the cart;-D
ha ha- if I saw that there was a book I had missed out on- it would be in my cart as quick as a wink- and I would be devouring it. :)
DeleteLike you, I was disappointed by how the American public is very ignorant of Enid Blyton and her books. You only need to look at the faces of librarians or bookstore managers when you mention the name, "Enid Blyton," and the blank stares you get from them. I too grew up reading Enid Blyton's books as a child growing up in my native country, Uganda. Thus, amongst other reasons, including my fascination with Enid Blyton and her books, this was one of the reasons why I embarked on writing and publishing a book on Enid Blyton, titled, The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage (www.thefamousfiveapersonalanecdotage.blogspot.com) where amongst other things, I discuss Enid Blyton's complex relationship with the USA in an article in the book, sub-titled, "Enid Blyton and America," in addition to other aspects of Enid Blyton that had until the publication of my book had been overlooked by previous writers on her, such as Enid Blyton's views on the environment and the influence of her writings on issues such as health, food, and even science, etc.
ReplyDeleteStephen Isabirye
wow- thanks for the link to the book- will definitely check it out! It does sound like it will be a look at Enid Blyton that has never been done before.
DeleteInteresint! Seems reading Enid Blyton brings together those who grew up abroad! I remember reading Enid Blyton in German translations, but since I can't remember I must conclude I did not have a favorite.
ReplyDeleteha ha- yes, seems like Enid Blyton brings together the people from all over the world.
DeleteEB's adventure series are just too awesome and it did really transport us to different world :D ofcourse we had explored an abandoned hut inside forest near river(which was actually made for animal watching)called it out secret Island and almost 3 summer holidays we cousins used to trek there to have our meetings :D
ReplyDeleteLOL what a wonderful days you took me back too...
Oh my- it is so great hearing the memories people have when thinking of her books- all the fun adventures we had as a child.
Deletei am an enid blyton fan for sure growing up and read a lot of novels & series...ofcourse lot of negative things about her personal life and writing have been said...but i choose to ignore it..as far as im concerrned ..she is a very good children's author!!!
ReplyDeletemy fav - famous 5 and mallory towers
http://sushmita-smile.blogspot.in/
ah yes- mallory towers was definitely my top! :)...famous 5 a close runner up.
DeleteHang on; what? People here didn't know who Enid Blyton was? I think my childhood was amazing simply because I read her books. While the Faraway Tree series has got to be my favorite, I loved most of her books. Mallory Towers is a close second... Aaaaah this post has made me so nostalgic.
ReplyDeleteGayatri- EXACTLY- how can they NOT know :)....maybe you can educate all those in Texas when you go there :)
DeleteI will. By the way where have you been? Almost a month and no posts! We miss you.
DeleteA book that you didn't love? That won't ever come :)
ReplyDeleteha ha- My thoughts exactly !!
DeleteI consider myself a big reader but the truth is that I don't know who Enid Blyton is! Or I didn't until now.
ReplyDeleteI am off to check her out...thanks for the suggestion!
Hope you are having a great weekend so far.
Ameena...Ameena...where have you been?! Enid Blyton is definitely for the younger set- especially her nursery books- for the very young- her 'naughtiest little girl' series is for the 6-8 (?) and her other books- famous five and such are for 10 years old and above (I think)-- Her Mallory Towers and St. Claire's are for pre teens. My kids LOVED all her books- which we devoured together- I had already read them as a child (so you know how old they are then :))...but I totally enjoyed reading them again each night at bedtime with the kids...their favorite was the naughtiest little girl ...ha ha...I wonder why!
DeleteThat's surprising indeed. It's difficult to imagine someone would not know about Enid Blyton. Growing up we read her books, and would always be on a lookout for her titles at school. Secret Seven and Famous Five series had us believing we were some sleuths ourselves :-)
ReplyDeleteYour book reviews and posts are always very exciting to read. One, they present a great picture and two.. It helps me with ideas of what books to read next. :)
ReplyDeleteYou weaved Enid Blyton and your childhood together so beautifully. I haven’t read one of her books yet, but after reading this I will probably go pick up one of her books.
Raj- I hope by now you have read one of her books!! Loved your autumn post.
DeleteI just LOVE enid blyton! I started reading at 6... and my first book was "Mr. Pink Whistle", i was so addicted to it! Then came the Famous Five, The Secret Seven, The Five Find-Outers, and my all times faves... St. Clare's and Mallory Towers! Your post brought back such wonderful memories :)
ReplyDeleteEnid Blyton was a demigod and whatever I am able to write today, I attribute largely to the fondness I developed for the language through her books! So nice to read about her once more, Anjuli:)
ReplyDeleteAs we grow up our liking undergoes a kind of metamorphosis. But when we get older, very interestingly we once again go back and relish things which we were interested in.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up brings all those changes in aptitudes but interestingly when we get older we once again cultivate interest in things we loved as children.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE ENID BLYTON! I think because I started with Famous Five, they will always be my favourites! My daughters are now reading The Naughtiest Girl and really enjoying the series.
ReplyDeleteEagerly awaiting for something new. It is more than One and Half months now.
ReplyDeleteI came in thinking I would get to read a whole lot of posts at one go....where are U????
ReplyDeleteI miss your posts! (and looks like I'm not the only one) I hope all is well and you're enjoying your new grandbaby! <3
ReplyDeleteWhy there is no post for such a long time. I hope you are well. Wishing you all the best.
ReplyDeletePretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I’ve really enjoyed surfing around your blog posts. After all I will be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again very soon!
ReplyDeleteWhere are you Connie, really missing your posts :-(
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed your 'blabbering' ;) ...no no no...as I said...it can never be classified as that- wonderful prose is what I would call it!! :)
DeleteIndeed a nice post! I am also from the SEO background and love to enjoy reading fresh posts on this subject. I would like to thank you for writing this post and now I am your regular reader as I have subscribed your blog in my RSS reader.
ReplyDeleteTaking a long break Connie? Hope things are fine and you are enjoying with family.
ReplyDeleteWhere have you been? It has been a long long time! Really miss you and your lovely writing! :(
ReplyDeleteThanks to one and all who commented!! :) Let's hope my next update will not take as long.
ReplyDeleteAmazing article shared by you. Well done! Lets wait for next update...
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