I can understand them changing Dick and Fanny's names, but what's wrong with Bessie? Bessie isn't a slang word for genitalia, is it?!
Haha, not to my knowledge. I think it was because Bessie has fallen out of usage as a nickname. They also changed Jo to Joe as the more common male spelling.
I am reading my daughter The Brownies - the adventures of Hop Skip and Jump. She is four, and loves it. I am loving revisiting stories from my childhood.
This thread caused me to re-read the Faraway Tree series. It still bothers me how they bastardised it by making such silly edits, such as changing Dick to Rick, Fanny to Franny and Bessie to Beth. Also making Dame Slap Dame Snap who instead shouts at children instead of hitting them. Sigh!
I'm really annoyed that the currency has been changed in all Blyton books. The Naughtiest Girl now gets £2 a week instead of two shillings.
I was a huge fan growing up. We never bought many books growing up, but I was a keen user of the school library and the public library. At school we were all taken to the library once a fortnight to get a new book, and I distinctly remember the librarian (who incidentally was an old family friend) complaining that I wanted another 'Famous Five' or 'Secret Seven' book. She tried her best to get me to read other things, but I don't think she understood the power of a series!
I credit Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl for introducing me to the joy of reading, reading as much of their work as I could until around the age of 12. Then I discovered Harry Potter, which as a series took me right the way through to the age of 20 (which is when JKRowling finally got around to writing the last one!). Between the three of them, they were my childhood literary heroes.
Even now, at the age of 26, I prefer to read a series, and the complete works of one author. I read a lot of stand alone books, but I like to get lost in not only a book, but the universe within, and I still blame Enid Blyton for that!
Oh, and who didn't want to live in The Faraway Tree?
Oh gosh, yes, I used to dream of living in The Faraway Tree!!:) I wanted to climb to the top and visit the Land of Birthdays, Land of Goodies, Land of Take-What-You-Want and the Land of Do-As-You-Please.
I'm in my 40s but have just finished reading the 10 books in The Naughtiest Girl series as I found them cheap online - loved them as a child, still loved them . Now I have to decide if I'm going to reread St Clares or Mallory Towers, I've had my copies of them for years and years or go back to more adult themed books.:)
I'm in my 40s but have just finished reading the 10 books in The Naughtiest Girl series as I found them cheap online - loved them as a child, still loved them . Now I have to decide if I'm going to reread St Clares or Mallory Towers, I've had my copies of them for years and years or go back to more adult themed books.:)
I thought there was only 3 books in The Naughtiest Girl series.
I used to love Enid Blyton books as a child, and despite not having read one for probably nearly 30 years I can still remember many of them well and indeed still have snippets of them stuck in my head!
Most of the ones I liked have been mentioned, when I was younger it was the likes of Mr Meddle, Faraway Tree and the Wishing Chair books then I moved on to the Famous Five, Secret Seven, Five Findouters, the "..of Adventure" series etc. I also liked the Cherry Tree Farm books which I don't think have been mentioned in this thread, lots of info about animals due to children mixing with an odd homeless man who was a sort of wizard with all animals called Tammylan who lived in the woods - I bet that's been censored to hell these days...
There are a couple which I can still remember much of but can't for the life of me recall what they were called and I don't think they were part of a regular series - one was about some children who stayed with grandparents in the country and found bits of a treasure map and had to get there before the bad guys (a common Blyton theme), I remember an underground tunnel and the treasure chest being hidden in a pigsty. The other was some kids who somehow went to Africa to search for their missing father and there was a scene where they got captured by natives and their guardian, with very convenient timing, was able to save them from being sacrificed with the help of a solar eclipse and convinced them that he was angry and eating the sun (it made more sense in the book!)
I thought there was only 3 books in The Naughtiest Girl series.
There are ten now, but I think only the first three (or four?) were written by Enid Blyton. The series was continued by a different author.
I've just re-read the first three, as well So nice to re-visit childhood favourites. I am now re-reading Malory Towers, which I'm not enjoying so much - the characters are SO unlikeable, or is it just me?! The only one even slightly endearing is Gwen - the one we're not supposed to like!
I found the same when I re-read part of a Malory Towers. Darrell et al, who I thought were wonderful when I was a child, just sounded like nasty, smug brats sneering at anyone who didn't like sports or was different in anyway. I think the St Clare books were the same. Girls who were overweight or spoke with a 'common' accent were usually unpopular and looked down on by the heroines of the story.
I found the same when I re-read part of a Malory Towers. Darrell et al, who I thought were wonderful when I was a child, just sounded like nasty, smug brats sneering at anyone who didn't like sports or was different in anyway. I think the St Clare books were the same. Girls who were overweight or spoke with a 'common' accent were usually unpopular and looked down on by the heroines of the story.
I felt the same. As a child, I admired those girls, but as an adult, I recognise them as mean and spiteful. Enid Blyton was a bit of a snob wasn't she?
Browsing this thread has made me want to re read the Enid Blyton books I loved when I was younger. I'm now 24. I think we may have boxes of them in the loft still. I used to love the Famous Five, Secret Seven, The Mystery Series (was this the five find outers?) the Malory towers and saint Claire's series and the magic faraway tree.
I also have a first edition of The Very Big Secret, which was where the two children found a baby and took care if it. My mum found it in a charity shop for me when I was about 7 and I read it so many times.
I vaguely remember a couple of books about some children who go to stay with some relatives on a farm in the country and had adventures (of course), I want to say they were called something along the lines of Appletree Farm? Does anyone know the ones I'm talking about. I think in one of them one of the children made friends with a homeless man?!
My brother, friends and I were always going off exploring old houses and barns, hoping that we'd stumble upon a mystery of some kind. We never did, so disappointing!
My brother, friends and I were always going off exploring old houses and barns, hoping that we'd stumble upon a mystery of some kind. We never did, so disappointing!
I read them from time to time. Mischief and Kiki are my favourite pets.
I vaguely remember a couple of books about some children who go to stay with some relatives on a farm in the country and had adventures (of course), I want to say they were called something along the lines of Appletree Farm? Does anyone know the ones I'm talking about. I think in one of them one of the children made friends with a homeless man?!
I also liked the Cherry Tree Farm books which I don't think have been mentioned in this thread, lots of info about animals due to children mixing with an odd homeless man who was a sort of wizard with all animals called Tammylan who lived in the woods - I bet that's been censored to hell these days...
I liked the mystery/adventure ones more than the schools ones. Particular favouries were the Barney ones (all begain with an 'R'), Five Find-Outers (and Dog), Adventure (with Kiki the parrot) and Secret (Secret Island/Spiggy Holes etc).
I also remember a couple of single titles - Those Dreadful Children - where a family of tearaways (as the mother saw them) came to live next door to a nice family and the 2 fathers turned out to be old friends - typical 'don't judge a book by its cover' story really.
And I also remember one called The Six Bad Boys, which was quite a surprising subject for Enid Blyton - quite a bit away from her usual 'happy families' style - about 3 families where 2 of the boys got caught up with a gang and so on.
I always remember my mother reading Mr Twiddle to me - I think it was a story called A Knot in Twiddle's Hanky - and she was crying with laughter because she was finding it so funny.
I used to love Enid Blyton books as a child, and despite not having read one for probably nearly 30 years I can still remember many of them well and indeed still have snippets of them stuck in my head!
Most of the ones I liked have been mentioned, when I was younger it was the likes of Mr Meddle, Faraway Tree and the Wishing Chair books then I moved on to the Famous Five, Secret Seven, Five Findouters, the "..of Adventure" series etc. I also liked the Cherry Tree Farm books which I don't think have been mentioned in this thread, lots of info about animals due to children mixing with an odd homeless man who was a sort of wizard with all animals called Tammylan who lived in the woods - I bet that's been censored to hell these days...
There are a couple which I can still remember much of but can't for the life of me recall what they were called and I don't think they were part of a regular series - one was about some children who stayed with grandparents in the country and found bits of a treasure map and had to get there before the bad guys (a common Blyton theme), I remember an underground tunnel and the treasure chest being hidden in a pigsty. The other was some kids who somehow went to Africa to search for their missing father and there was a scene where they got captured by natives and their guardian, with very convenient timing, was able to save them from being sacrificed with the help of a solar eclipse and convinced them that he was angry and eating the sun (it made more sense in the book!)
I'm really annoyed that the currency has been changed in all Blyton books. The Naughtiest Girl now gets £2 a week instead of two shillings.
Ew! What else has changed? Instead of using her money to buy ginger beer and stamps does she save up and then go on her ipad to buy clothes in the New Look sale? *roll eyes*
I found the same when I re-read part of a Malory Towers. Darrell et al, who I thought were wonderful when I was a child, just sounded like nasty, smug brats sneering at anyone who didn't like sports or was different in anyway. I think the St Clare books were the same. Girls who were overweight or spoke with a 'common' accent were usually unpopular and looked down on by the heroines of the story.
I seem to remember Mary-Lou being quite sweet, although she was also a bit of a wimp. I think the one girl I liked from Malory Towers was Bill (came in third year, had seven brothers and a horse called Thunder). I don't remember her being bitchy like the others.
Did anyone read the Mistletoe Farm books? They were good.
Aw, I loved the Famous Five books, I read all 21 at least 10 times I reckon. Hard to pick a favourite, but I really liked Five get into a Fix, IIRC they stay at some remote Welsh cabin for some skiing to recuperate from illness and discover strange coloured smoke coming from a far away building...The one that got me into the series was five run away together (3rd in the series IIRC) as it was one of the books on the shelf in my parents house, they also had the one where they go off in a caravan and get friendly with a circus (5th book?).
Also loved the Adventure series, these were much longer than the FF books but there were only 8 in the series. Who can forget Bill Smuggs and Kiki the parrot lol.
Comments
Haha, not to my knowledge. I think it was because Bessie has fallen out of usage as a nickname. They also changed Jo to Joe as the more common male spelling.
I'm really annoyed that the currency has been changed in all Blyton books. The Naughtiest Girl now gets £2 a week instead of two shillings.
I credit Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl for introducing me to the joy of reading, reading as much of their work as I could until around the age of 12. Then I discovered Harry Potter, which as a series took me right the way through to the age of 20 (which is when JKRowling finally got around to writing the last one!). Between the three of them, they were my childhood literary heroes.
Even now, at the age of 26, I prefer to read a series, and the complete works of one author. I read a lot of stand alone books, but I like to get lost in not only a book, but the universe within, and I still blame Enid Blyton for that!
I thought there was only 3 books in The Naughtiest Girl series.
Most of the ones I liked have been mentioned, when I was younger it was the likes of Mr Meddle, Faraway Tree and the Wishing Chair books then I moved on to the Famous Five, Secret Seven, Five Findouters, the "..of Adventure" series etc. I also liked the Cherry Tree Farm books which I don't think have been mentioned in this thread, lots of info about animals due to children mixing with an odd homeless man who was a sort of wizard with all animals called Tammylan who lived in the woods - I bet that's been censored to hell these days...
There are a couple which I can still remember much of but can't for the life of me recall what they were called and I don't think they were part of a regular series - one was about some children who stayed with grandparents in the country and found bits of a treasure map and had to get there before the bad guys (a common Blyton theme), I remember an underground tunnel and the treasure chest being hidden in a pigsty. The other was some kids who somehow went to Africa to search for their missing father and there was a scene where they got captured by natives and their guardian, with very convenient timing, was able to save them from being sacrificed with the help of a solar eclipse and convinced them that he was angry and eating the sun (it made more sense in the book!)
There are ten now, but I think only the first three (or four?) were written by Enid Blyton. The series was continued by a different author.
I've just re-read the first three, as well
Oooh yes they do!!:o
I was brought up on Enid Blyton and I love her books!!:D
I dreamt of being able to buy toffee shocks that silky used to make!! The sweets that got bigger as you ate them, instead of smaller!!:D
I also have a first edition of The Very Big Secret, which was where the two children found a baby and took care if it. My mum found it in a charity shop for me when I was about 7 and I read it so many times.
I vaguely remember a couple of books about some children who go to stay with some relatives on a farm in the country and had adventures (of course), I want to say they were called something along the lines of Appletree Farm? Does anyone know the ones I'm talking about. I think in one of them one of the children made friends with a homeless man?!
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventure_Series
My brother, friends and I were always going off exploring old houses and barns, hoping that we'd stumble upon a mystery of some kind. We never did, so disappointing!
I have from childhood one of the Mr Pink Whistle books along with many others by the author.
Plus Crompton's Just William series which being mischievous was a good counter-balance.
I read them from time to time. Mischief and Kiki are my favourite pets.
Yes, I remember them!
I liked the mystery/adventure ones more than the schools ones. Particular favouries were the Barney ones (all begain with an 'R'), Five Find-Outers (and Dog), Adventure (with Kiki the parrot) and Secret (Secret Island/Spiggy Holes etc).
I also remember a couple of single titles - Those Dreadful Children - where a family of tearaways (as the mother saw them) came to live next door to a nice family and the 2 fathers turned out to be old friends - typical 'don't judge a book by its cover' story really.
And I also remember one called The Six Bad Boys, which was quite a surprising subject for Enid Blyton - quite a bit away from her usual 'happy families' style - about 3 families where 2 of the boys got caught up with a gang and so on.
I always remember my mother reading Mr Twiddle to me - I think it was a story called A Knot in Twiddle's Hanky - and she was crying with laughter because she was finding it so funny.
Gosh this thread's brought back some memories ;-)
Bib - I think this might be The Secret Mountain?
Ew! What else has changed? Instead of using her money to buy ginger beer and stamps does she save up and then go on her ipad to buy clothes in the New Look sale? *roll eyes*
I seem to remember Mary-Lou being quite sweet, although she was also a bit of a wimp. I think the one girl I liked from Malory Towers was Bill (came in third year, had seven brothers and a horse called Thunder). I don't remember her being bitchy like the others.
Did anyone read the Mistletoe Farm books? They were good.
Also loved the Adventure series, these were much longer than the FF books but there were only 8 in the series. Who can forget Bill Smuggs and Kiki the parrot lol.