LoveReading4Kids Says
A choice of David Almond, September 2011 Guest Editor, and Ali Sparkes, November 2009 Guest Editor.
David Almond: "Anyone of my age is pretty sure to have read Enid Blyton, just as they probably read the Dandy and the Beano and Superman and Rupert Bear and I-Spy books. She’s certainly in among the mix of things that influences me. She did the trick of getting kids to read voraciously, and she still manages to do it. OK, the books can be a bit repetitive, and the language can be pretty clunky, and many folk keep trying to look down on her and to dismiss her, but the pages turn and turn, and I still remember the delight of being swept into the gang’s world, and sharing in their adventures."
Ali Sparkes - "Without Enid I probably would never have become a bookworm or, eventually an author. Discovering Five go to Smuggler’s Top in the back of a toy cupboard really changed my life. I understand when people say the characters are a little 2D and the plots a bit similar, but Enid knew exactly what young readers want – fast-paced adventure, dogs, secret passages, midnight feasts. I still want all those things."
To see Ali Sparkes’ 5 favourite children’s books click here
The Lovereading Comment:
Mystery and adventure still at its very best years after publication. Enid Blyton’s books were responsible for getting an entire generation of readers reading and now with their updated covers they are being enjoyed by a new generation of 8+ year olds. Long may it continue.
LoveReading4Kids
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About Enid Blyton
Enid Blyton is one of the most-loved authors in children’s publishing. With over 700 titles published, Enid Blyton’s stories remain timeless classics, adored by children throughout the world.
Soon after Enid Blyton was born in 1897, she fell gravely ill with whooping cough. Her father, Thomas Blyton stayed up with her night after night until her cough subsided and she recovered. From that time on, Enid followed her father wherever he went, and it was through her father that she developed a love of nature and animals – an enthusiasm which stayed with her throughout her life. It was also her father who instilled in Enid her love of books, and she would often be seen sneaking into her father’s library and borrowing a pile of books.
As a young woman Enid was faced with many choices; her father had planned a career in music for her, while she felt drawn to writing. In the end, she became a teacher, though her passion for writing never dwindled. In 1922, a collection of poems by Enid was published - it was her first step toward her dream of becoming an author.
At 27 years old, Enid married Hugh Pollock and moved to London. Enid had two children with Hugh, and soon after wrote her first novel, The Adventures of the Wishing Chair. Enid divorced Hugh after almost 20 years of marriage, and remarried Kenneth Waters in 1943.
Throughout the 40 and 50s, Enid wrote books at a colossal pace: adventure stories, mysteries, magical stories, farming stories, stories for younger children, best-selling series like The Famous Five and Noddy…her writing knew no bounds!
Apart from breaks to play golf and spend time with her children, Enid’s working week was consumed with writing new stories, correcting proofs and answering the hundreds of letters she was, by now, receiving weekly. She explained that her characters evolved organically and her stories seemed to naturally form, she described herself as “merely a sightseer, a reporter, and interpreter.”
Enid fell ill with Alzheimer’s disease in her old age (a disease that affects people’s memory) and she died in 1963. Her spirit lives on in her books and she is remembered as one of the most-loved and celebrated children’s authors.
If you are interested in more about Enid Blyton you may like to visit The Enid Blyton Society
Author photo reproduced with permission of Hachette.
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