This week I re-read “Secret Seven Mystery” by Enid Blyton. A classic tale but with a mystery that I feel lands less comfortably now than it might have when published. I also don’t get how Blyton can be so sexist towards her female main characters while having really good secondary female characters with loads of agency.

#AmReading #EnidBlyton #SecretSeven #SecretSevenMystery

Yesterday was Enid Blyton's birthday (born on 11 August 1897). I forgot to share the link to my last year's blog post on The Famous Five books which I enjoyed so much as a kid. So here it is now:

https://grammaticus.blog/2022/09/26/the-famous-five/

#bookstodon #EnidBlyton #books

I dag ble det «Jolly Good Food» til middag, i hvert fall om man skal tro kokebokens tittel! En bok med oppskrifter inspirert av Enid Blytons barnebøker. Bøkene er kritisert med dagens øyne, men som barn slukte jeg Fem-serien, Papegøyegjengen og Det hemmelige S. Så denne kokeboken kjøpte jeg med både penger og nostalgi. I dag testet jeg en gryte med pølser og bønner. Ville hatt i chili selv, men den var god lell. Ukomplisert mat. #kokebok #EnidBlyton #JollyGoodFood #NorskTut #Allheimen #Middag

And I read Three Cheers, Secret Seven, by Enid Blyton, for the nostalgias. Quite a nice story because it’s a simple investigation, but the sexism still stands out. Weirdly the antagonist character, Susie, stands out as being more progressively presented, and the hero characters are all “you girls stay here”.

#AmReading
#EnidBlyton
#SecretSeven
#ThreeCheersSecretSeven

I've never been to England, or anywhere else in the UK. Pre-internet, pre-tv docos, long ago during my childhood, my impressions of English #waterways & #countryside were influenced by lots of the children's novels i voraciously consumed, amongst which most strongly were the classic #EnidBlyton #FamousFive twenty-one book series.

Now, these hundreds of years later, i routinely read things like this, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/03/england-rivers-election-sewage-water-pollution, shake my head despairingly, & wonder just what Julian, Dick, George & Anne would have made of it all... not to mention Timothy, dashing hither & thither across the moors in search of rabbits.

[1978] The Famous Five - ITV series based on the children's books by Enid Blyton about the adventures of Julian, Dick, Anne, George and Timmy the dog.

"Five on Finniston Farm", there's a ruined castle on Finniston Farm, but only the dungeons remain and no one knows where they are! The Famous Five are determined to find them but someone else wants to find them too. Can the Five get there first?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRyJ10nuB1s

#OldBritishTelly #EnidBlyton #FamousFive

“Qualquer limitação da linguagem é, em si, uma limitação grave ao pensamento e à formação de uma visão crítica da sociedade”

#EnidBlyton #Livros #Bibliotecas #Literatura
https://www.publico.pt/2023/03/22/culturaipsilon/noticia/bibliotecas-inglesas-escondem-livros-enid-blyton-causa-linguagem-ofensiva-2043413

#MaloryTowers s2e13 (2021) - 9/10
Satisfying conclusion to all major storylines.

1️⃣ First half is pure #EnidBlyton, with the gang finally finding the buried treasure they’ve been searching for all season. Thus saving the school, of course.

2️⃣ Second half is character-driven. Gwen continues to be a fascinating-if-flawed character. Back in season one, episode four, Darrell faced the possibility of being ostracised by her peers. Now, it’s Gwen’s turn. And compelling drama it is.

#TVReview

@vmbrasseur what a wonderful site, thanks for sharing!
I've been reading stories from #EnidBlyton's #OClockTales to my 4 year old #BeardGrabber, which I picked up out of a public book exchange 'phone booth', but I think I'll soon be running out of stories in it, so this will come in handy. :)
Aside from #BeatrixPotter's, do you have any other personal recommendations for young children's books with short stories?

A strange toot... One that takes me back a few decades.. A repeat reader & fan of Enid Blyton's work growing up (Especially the Wishing Chair & Faraway Tree books-And who can forget Mr Meddles & Mr Pinkwhistle)

But, I've just discovered by sheer fluke, that Author Jacqueline Wilson has revisited the Magic Faraway Tree & published her own story this yr🤔

Now not sure how I feel & if I want to revisit my classic childhood now with a modern twist!
#EnidBlyton #JacquelineWilson #FarawayTree #Books

Heaven has arrived
#malorytowers is on #bbctwo NOW!!!!
It’s just as you would want it to be !!
#EnidBlyton ⭐️🎄💕ginger beer and everything AND a divorce (Gwen’s parents -) and Daryl 💕in the dorm !!!!! ⭐️💕🎄#theghostofchristmaspresent ⭐️💕(my very own copy of The Treasure Hunters ⭐️)

George was my childhood hero, the only time I ever saw anyone in a book who was anything like me. #FamousFive #EnidBlyton #childhoodhero #ChildrensLit

the first books I loved, as a kid:

#Ladybird #Cinderella (those illustrations!)
#MaloryTowers by #EnidBlyton (soooo wanted to go to boarding school in Cornwall. The rock pools! The drama! But wd prob have hated boarding school really)
and a selection of stories I can't remember the name of, one of which involved a girl getting ready for a wedding who messed round and got her gloves wrinkled 😱 I LOVED this story and asked for it so often my sister got sick of reading it to me
#books #bookstodon

@bookwormrach why apologise for #EnidBlyton?

[1979] The Famous Five - ITV series based on the children's books by Enid Blyton about the adventures of Julian, Dick, Anne, George and Timmy the dog. "Five Run Away Together", the children take an instant dislike to temporary housekeepers Mr and Mrs Stick and decide to camp out on George's island.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hexxauv97CM

#OldBritishTelly #EnidBlyton #FamousFive

@malavparekh Ok, you want her to take a break from #EnidBlyton, but when she's back, I recommend the Find-Outer Mystery series. My absolute favourite Blyton series, which I have even re-visited as an adult

Unfortunately, the current editions of the Find-Outer series have been revised with political correctness in mind & they have greatly damaged the stories. I was so incensed by this that I wrote an analytical essay about it -- have just submitted it to some literary mags.

#literature #books

Made a quick #bookmark out of some black paper and some pencils. It will live in the bedtime story #book I'm currently #reading for #BeardGrabber.
(For those interested, it's an omnibus by #EnidBlyton called "The O'Clock Tales".)

#FiXatoDraws #FiXatoCreative #mastoArt #artShare #creativeToot #art #FediArt

@willmabbitt #EnidBlyton books - first (self-discovered) The Magic Faraway Tree, which introduced me to the concept of strange and mystical worlds, and then when a bit older, The #FamousFive series (one bought for me) had me hooked with adventure.

I'm enjoying revisiting them with The Boy. I read a couple of #FarawayTree books to him (which he's read himself in turn), and I'll introduce the Famout Five soon too - but I'm reading him #TheHobbit at the moment, another great one!

#Books #Reading

@frankboehmert Da ich #EnidBlyton schon als Kind doof fand, kann ich einen Vergleich mit #FünfFreunde nur negativ verstehen. Mir ist damals vor allem aufgefallen, dass die Geschichten alle gleich waren (und seitdem habe ich sie natürlich nicht mehr gelesen). Wie passt das zu #IsaacAsimov oder #RobertAHeinlein?

'Who's that sitting over there?' asked Fanny.
'That's Titty,' said Willy. 'She's talking to Dick.'
'Have they met the new boy, Todger, yet?' asked Fanny.
'Yes,' said Willy, 'Todger is getting on very well with Ass-hat as the moment.'

- By Enid Blyton

#EnidBlyton #Books