Spotlight on Enid Blyton
I thought that for my first author in the spotlight, it would be appropriate to choose a writer from my childhood. It would be fair to say that were it not for Enid Blyton I would not be the avid reader I am today. I might have learned to read with Janet and John but, it was Enid Blyton who fuelled my love of reading.
Critics, journalists and other novelist love to dismiss her writing as boring, stilted, bland and badly written. Not to mention branding her racist, sexist and hopelessly upper middle class. The books were of their time and Blyton like Austen wrote about the society she knew, using terms and language that was not only acceptable but used in almost every home in the land. I’m not defending her merely pointing out she was of her time.
Her books have been heavily edited and while I understand and even support the need to remove the phrases and characters that are considered racist. I’m dismayed by the ruthless editing to make them more palatable to a modern audience. To address the problems of sexism, the references to the girls doing the house work but not the boys have been removed. But surely in the 1930’s and 40’s when these stories were written that is what happened.
But worse than that, the current publishers are changing the language so that young people today can relate to them better.
Does this mean we will go from having – golly gosh, good show, buck up old bean and cheerio to innit, bro, like, and whatever. Would these publishers feel it necessary to change the words of Shakespeare, Dickens or Austen? I think not.
My childhood love of her stories began with her charming fairyland stories. How I delighted at reading how the fairies went out and rolled up the ferns so they wouldn’t be hurt by the frost or how wall flowers got their colours and became known as Gilly flowers. My favourite was when some naughty sprites let some fireworks off in fairyland.
As I began to read independently I’d lose myself in the tales of the Far Away Tree and Wishing Chair. To a seven year old Enid Blyton created the most amazing make believe land. It’s probably true to say had I not fallen in love with the fantasy world she created I’d never have moved on to reading The Chronicles of Narnia or The Hobbit.
By the time I was nine I’d never have owned up to liking fairy stories but Enid must have realised that because she created a whole other world for me to escape into - the world of boarding school. Just like a generation of children today want to head off to Hogwarts I wanted to go to Mallory Towers or St Clares and oh how I wanted to be friends with The Naughtiest Girl at Whyteleafe School.
My favourites were and always will remain the Famous Five - Julian, Dick, Anne, George and Timmy the dog. They starred in 21 adventures and I loved every one of them. I so wanted to be part of their gang and have adventures like them. I mean they went off without any adults on holidays sometimes on bikes or in caravans – this was at a time when I wasn’t allowed to even go to the local park on my own.
It was from the famous five I developed a love of crime novels and thrillers that still exists to this day.
My favourite is Five on a Hike Together. I can’t believe anybody didn’t want to read on and find out what the strange message Dick receives meant.
"Two-Trees. Gloomy Water. Saucy Jane. And he says Maggie knows. He sent you this. Maggie's got one too."
So academics may sneer but I think that Enid Blyton really knew what children wanted to read about. and yes it was about a little man with a bell in his hat, fairyland and the enchanted wood. Not to mention a girl who wanted to be a boy and insisted on being called George. And of course it was all washed down with lashings of ginger beer.
A lovely introduction Kate - a storyteller after my own heart! Congratulations on a lovely blog!
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