Monday, April 3, 2017

B is for Enid Blyton


My favorite childhood author is Enid Blyton (1897-1968).  Her books have been read by millions of children in England and around the world.  Her adventures set in the English countryside make one long for simpler times.  I loved her books as a child, loved to read them to my daughter, and still take one off the bookshelf when I am feeling particularly nostalgic.

Among the many books and series she wrote, these are my favorites:


Julian, Dick, Anne, Georgina (George) and their dog, Timmy, (aka The Famous Five) take off on all sorts of adventures, solve mysteries, and enjoy lashings of ginger beer.  There are 21 books in the series.


The Malory Towers and St. Clare's series are set in their respective girls' boarding schools.  Malory Towers is set on the Cornish coast, a magnificent building with a tower at each corner.  How I wanted to go to boarding school with a tuck box and participate in a midnight feast, play tricks on Mam'zelle, and be a part of the pantomime the girls wrote, produced, and performed.  The St. Clare's series follows the adventures of twins Pat and Isobel O'Sullivan who begin determined to hate everything about their new school and end up loving every minute of their time there.  Tuck boxes, midnight feasts, and Mam'zelle feature prominently here too.

Just a few more examples of my love affair with England.

9 comments:

  1. I only discovered her a few years ago and have read several of her books.

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  2. I've never heard of that series. Thank you for sharing it. I'm going to see if our local library carries any of these books.

    Also, I put a clickable link for your post on the A to Z Challenge. There was a good tutorial about how to make a clickable link here: How to create a clickable link . I never knew how to do one until this year's A to Z Challenge.

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    1. Thank you! The clickable link worked just fine for me on the A post but for some reason, it just wasn't working for B. I'll give it another try tomorrow.

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  3. I had never heard of her. Thank you for introducing us. I have 3 young nieces and nephews that love to read so I will be looking these up for them!

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  4. I love Enid Blyton. I am so glad I have found you again. I love your posts. Since I moved over to Wordpress I somehow lost a lot of the blogs I was following. I know I am following you on Google+ but I couldn't get on your blog, for whatever reason.. I think I was doing something wrong. Anyway now I have bookmarked you. Hope you have a good challenge. If you have the time come and visit my B post... B is for Take Care Luv Lu xx

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  5. I grew up on Enid Blyton and wrote her a fan letter when I was about ten. I got a typed postcard with her signature stamped on it, which I treasured (and still have). My favourite books were the Adventure series, with Jack, Philip, Dinah, Lucy-Ann and Kiki the parrot (sulphur-crested cockatoo, in fact). Enid Blyton was out of favour with the education authorities in the early 60s and my primary teacher told me not to say I liked them when I had my interview for secondary school. Me being me, I promptly told them why I liked them and that they were jolly good books! I still got in, though :)
    Happy memories.
    Jemima and the Book Bloggers' Hop

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    1. that is so cool Jemima - the postcard is to be treasured! I would have said the same too:)

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  6. I've never heard of Enid Blyton before, but it sounds like a delightfully fun series. And YAY for books that you can enjoy for generations. :)
    See my "B" post here: https://lydiahowe.com/2017/04/03/b-is-for-backstory-atozchallenge/

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  7. Yes!! One of my favorite childhood authors too.. Famous Five, Secret Seven, The Adventure Series, the Five Find outers, Mr.Pink Whistle, Noddy, the Faraway Tree, the Naughtiest Girl series and so many more including the ones you mention... My very first Enid Blyton was 'Rag, Tag, and Bobtail' and that started a delightful journey..LadyInRead@MyRandRSpace-My_B_Post

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