I think one can never outgrow Enid Blyton, unless you've never read her before...

Am I right?

All my childhood imaginations and fantasies were based on her stories, the adventures, the people, and it's just amazing how she could capture the hearts of so many children from all over.

I wanted to go to boarding school for YEARS after reading Mallory Towers. Plus I shared a name with one of the Famous Five, and those books were the first mystery-type books I read. I see some problems with her work now that I didn't as a child (mostly having to do with them being written ages ago), but I still have a special place for Enid Blyton in my heart

Hello I loved reading her in spanish and think it is a wonderfull gift for todays children, they will have delightful moments reading her allthough a bit old but winderful

[jaysee]

I recently added the Famous Five audiobooks to my iPod....


Love Blyton's books. Especially the Five Find-Outers series. Yes, they are wholly a product of their time, but as stories to transport the reader, they're timeless.

[profprofessorson]

Totally agree re timelessness. I re-read some of the Famous Five a while ago and it magically transported me back to my childhood when I first read them… I remember being pretty confused by some of the Britishisms (ginger beer; hols; treacle) but the adventures are universal.

Enid Blyton's are my fav downtime books, esp when I need a quick read to wind down, or have just a short time to spare in between stuff... I too wanted all the adventures that those characters had, but my mum always went 'no, this is not England, we do not do this here...' lol! But magical things happen when I read her books, the imagination takes me to so many places in her world...

[jaysee]

Totally agree re timelessness. I re-read some of the Famous Five a while ago and it magically transported me back to my childhood when I first read them… I remember being pretty confused by some of the Britishisms (ginger beer; hols; treacle) but the adventures are universal.

The adults are very much peripheral characters and when they do appear they are either cold and stand off-ish (parents) incompetent fools (Goon) or nefarious villains.

I love them. In fact, I think I'm going to start re-reading them again soon.

Totally agree re timelessness. I re-read some of the Famous Five a while ago and it magically transported me back to my childhood when I first read them… I remember being pretty confused by some of the Britishisms (ginger beer; hols; treacle) but the adventures are universal.

Coming from a working class British background, I was probably just as confused as you. Didn't stop me from devouring them.

Never could figure out what a 'hicough' was though

I had to get my mum to explain certain things to me when I was younger, as she had lived in England for a few years.. It was fun imagining how it is in real life, since I have not yet gotten a change to experience the British-ness

I have not read the adventure series yet, for fear that there will be nothing left of hers for me to read.....

[GreenBird]

I still re-read these from time to time they're the perfect pick me up.

[jaysee]

Never could figure out what a 'hicough' was though

A weird way of writing 'hiccup'

I loved her books when I was a kid!!!

My favorite was her Five series.

Has Anyone Got Secret Seven Short Story Collection?

[jaysee]

Has Anyone Got Secret Seven Short Story Collection?

Try here - viewforum.php?f=20

People, y'all are forgetting "The Naughtiest Girl in the School," and also "The Faraway Tree." Or was it called something different? I think it was the faraway tree anyway. Oh and 7 o'clock tales(and all those). Quite honestly Famous Five was my least favourite. I still loved it, but not as much as all her others.