# Enid Blyton



## Noldor_returned (Jun 17, 2007)

I'm sure there will be enough people here who have read the works of Ms. Blyton, and was wondering what people's viewpoints are. For instance favourite series eg Adventures of Mr. Pink-Whistle, Famous Five etc.

Now I feel that every child should be made to read one Blyton book. For children under 12, they are pretty good. I couldn't get enough, and once I found the secret seven, Land of the Faraway Tree etc I was entranced. My favourite would have to be...hmm...Land of the Faraway Tree, I love the characters, Moonface, Saucepan Man and everyone are so awesome. It's just so clever and witty, I wish I was young enough to go back and read them with the same sense of enjoyment.


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## Ithrynluin (Jun 17, 2007)

Oh, I loved her books when I was a kid. I have read _The Famous Five_ (21 books) and _The Barney Mystery_ (6 books) series more than once, but none of her other works. Curling up in bed on a cold winter night and reading about a mysterious knocking sound that does not seem to originate from anywhere in particular, discovering secret passages and meeting sinister characters, well...that's just the kind of feeling that can be matched by few things in life.

I agree that children should be introduced to her books, and I am certain that any child with a propensity for reading would be enamoured of her stories. I plan on doing just that as soon as my niece is old enough; Although neither of her parents enjoy reading, I refuse to let that discourage me. 

As for wishing to be young enough to enjoy these books again, I know precisely what you mean. In the past few years, I have gone back to revisit a few of the beloved comic books from my childhood, and one of the Barney mysteries (_The Rat-a-Tat Mystery_, I think it was), and though I did not enjoy them with that zest of youth, I was pleasantly surprised that I could enjoy them nonetheless. So I think it all depends from person to person, whether you are able to switch your mind into "kid mode" and put your critical attitude aside for a time.


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## Noldor_returned (Jun 21, 2007)

Thanks Ithy...but I expected more replys than that. Where is everyone?

I never read the Barney mystery myself, and I can't remember the name of the series with the other five kids...Fatty, Larry, Daisy and the other two...what was that series called?


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## Lindir (Jul 2, 2007)

Only read a load of the famous five books as a kid. Quite liked them back then in an innocent, childish way, but they really are awful. I would not recommend them and would actively discourage a child of mine to read any of them, since the books include both racist and sexist elements. Children need to be shielded from this drivel.


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## Noldor_returned (Jul 6, 2007)

What makes you say that? Just curious...


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## HLGStrider (Jul 27, 2007)

I had never heard of them, but I looked them up to see what was available on Amazon because I figured if, as Lindir stated, they had racist elements they would be mentioned in customer reviews and while there weren't a lot of reviews, I noticed that most of the modern editions of these books have been "abridged." Possibly the books Lindir read as a child and the books NR has read more recently are a little different.

Though these books don't have a ton of reviews. I've never seen them, honestly, perhaps they weren't as widely distributed in America. The reviews I am reading makes them sound a lot like an English version of the Box Car Children . . . or the Box Car Children are an American version of them . . . I don't know which came first. I liked the Box Car children books for a long time.


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## Noldor_returned (Jul 29, 2007)

I'm surprised there hasn't been all that many people saying they know of Blyton. Either they haven't seen this thread or she wasn't was well known as I thought.


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