It seems incredibly easy to climb and in all the rushing about nobody every seems in danger of falling off. The mechanics of the Faraway Tree are a mystery. Their parents hardly ever let them have five minutes free of chores, but when they do they're happy to let the kids (as young as 7) stay out to midnight in the woods in the company of old men they haven't met. The children have a deeply unconvincing home life and never appear to go to school. Suffice it to say that things like Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, and Willy Wonker's whole meal in a single strip of chewing gum may well have their root in the Faraway Tree's. Whether Enid Blyton was copying them in turn from some earlier writer I can't say. If you pay attention reading this book (published 1939) you will see a good number of ideas re-used later by authors such as Roald Dahl and JK Rowling. The second thing to note is that if you read this book as a child then all four children in the modern edition will have changed their names!ĭid they change Jo and Bessie so it wasn't so obvious why they changed Dick and Fanny? Who knows.Īdditionally Dame Slap is now Dame Snap, and disciplines the children in her school by scolding them rather than slapping them.

If it wasn't a tree the whole thing would be a lie! They often harp on about how lucky they are that the Enchanted Wood starts across the lane from their house. The first thing to note about the Faraway Tree is that it's not far away at all, it's actually very close to where our heroes live. Clare's.Īccording to the Index Translationum, Blyton was the fifth most popular author in the world in 2007, coming after Lenin but ahead of Shakespeare.

Notable series include: The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, The Five Find-Outers, Noddy, The Wishing Chair, Mallory Towers, and St. Her stories were often either children's adventure and mystery stories, or fantasies involving magic. She died in 1968, one year after her second husband.īlyton was a prolific author of children's books, who penned an estimated 800 books over about 40 years. This marriage ended in divorce, and Blyton remarried in 1943, to surgeon Kenneth Fraser Darrell Waters. She taught for five years before her 1924 marriage to editor Hugh Pollock, with whom she had two daughters. Christopher's School, Beckenham, and - having decided not to pursue her music - at Ipswich High School, where she trained as a kindergarten teacher.

Enid Mary Blyton (1897 - 1968) was an English author of children's books.īorn in South London, Blyton was the eldest of three children, and showed an early interest in music and reading.

Enid blyton the magic faraway tree