Musings of a Polyglot Bibliophile: The Joys of Reading Blyton

The Famous Five, Secret Seven, The Five Find-Outers, The Adventure Series, The Secret Series, The Adventurous Four, The Barney Mystery Series, St Claire, Mallory Towers, The Wishing -Chair, The Naughtiest Girl, Noddie, The Mistletoe Farm, The Magic Faraway Tree, Book of Brownies... Did this British author brighten our childhood or what!

I don't know which of her books i read first, but I do think it was The Naughtiest Girl is a Monitor and the Wishing Chair. My sister got a few Noddy, the "Book of Brownies", which she got incredibly attached to, Billy-bob Tales, Mister Meddle, Shadow the Sheep Dog, Six O' Clock Tales, The adventures of Scamp, Bimbo and Topsy, The Put-em-Rights, The Train that lost its Way, Snowbell the Pony, Bimbo the Kitten (etc)., and The Mystery that Never Was (and many more). I remember sticking more the adventure and mystery books, along with the school series. However my sis, read all these other magical stories, strangely she never let me read the Magic Faraway Tree, or the Book of Brownies. She did lend me the others, and Bimbo and Topsy led me to name the school cat, "Bimbo-Lion". We would have adventures in school with our school dogs, and plant fake mysteries for us to solve later. It never worked out as Enid did in the book, but we always sought to have such experiences as the Famous Five did!

The first famous five book I read was read out to the class by Chitra Akka. It was the most delightful experience. It was in fact The Famous Five have a Wonderful Time. Where they travel to the countryside, and happen to be camping out on the same field that the circus was camping out on with their caravans. The circus folk were strange but they made friends. Then there was a mystery to solve, a big mystery, obviously involving very important physicists or scientists. The best feeling of the adventure books, was as reading as a child, we would get involved, and the climax would prevent us from putting the book down. After we experience the adventure with the characters, they would settle down for tea and crumpets in the safety of home. The reader as well would be eased out of it, to the safe surroundings, with the sudden taste for tea and crumpets!

Most of all I loved her descriptions. They made everything seem so much more vivid in my imagination. George and Timmy of the Famous five came to life. The Secret Seven club were all well described, and seemed like a group I would be in. I would love to have been friends with Jack from the adventure series, his love for animals always inspired me to adventure and be with animals like he was. St. Claire and Mallory towers made me wish I went to boarding school, and made sleep overs, and school trips so much more fun!

Harry Potter seems to have been this great mix of Magic and these books. The warmth of these books is felt to some extent in the Harry Potter books. Enid Blyton and authors such as her, always made me wish to cozy up in a ball by the fireplace with a rug, hot chocolate in hand on cold an rainy day, to read these books. Maybe I will write such books in the future.

Now as I finally grow up I find out more about my favorite childhood author and her life, books, controversies around the time she wrote them, but these facts don't sway my adoration for her work. My love and lust for adventure, travel, and encouragement to be myself comes from her writing, her characters! I always pictured myself as George, but now I know, there's a Georgina in many of us girls!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enid_Blyton

Enid Blyton

The Adventure Series

A rather nice TV show created out of Famous Five... i love the people that played the characters, i thought they did so well! Also the theme song was great- "We are the famous five - Julian, Dick, and Ann, George and Timmy the Dog."