The Enchanted Wood: 1 (The Magic Faraway Tree)

Product Information

Meet Enid Blyton's most famous characters - Julian, Dick, Anne, George and of course the ever-loyal Timmy the dog - for the first time in this, the first book in the classic Famous Five series. Many magical folk live in the woods and up the tree, but at the very top of the tree is a ladder through the clouds to a magical land. Grab your golden ticket for three of Roald Dahl’s finest fizz-whizzing adventures – James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Twits – in this splendiferous new Folio Society set, featuring Quentin Blake’s iconic black-and-white illustrations and the classic texts.

According to the Index Translationum, Blyton was the fifth most popular author in the world in 2007, coming after Lenin but ahead of Shakespeare.

Christopher's School, Beckenham, and - having decided not to pursue her music - at Ipswich High School, where she trained as a kindergarten teacher. Featuring a fascinating introduction by Val McDermid and new illustrations by Juan Esteban Rodríguez, each copy has been signed by both the introducer and the illustrator. Often, what so appealed to our younger selves we later find riddled with plot holes, become distanced from the young protagonists, or find them just generally unsuited for an adult readership. It is actually not a single adventure but a collection of at least five different adventures that three children, Jo, Bessie, and Fanny, have after moving into the country. This was most definitely the first novel I read when I was about 7 or 8, and I was completely mesmerized by Joe, Bessie and Fannie and their adventures in the enchanted woods so much that I just COULD no keep this book down.

I started reading this at a fairly young age and would sit for ages on my bed, lost in the world of the Enchanted Wood and wishing something like finding the Magic Faraway Tree would happen to me instead of having to play cops and robbers with my brother. Likewise, the characters who inhabit the enchanted wood and the faraway tree were a bit hit and miss for me. Apart from the language, another thing that dates the book, is that the mother is quite happy for the children to go out without supervision all day (and many nights too), and meet up with strangers (including adults) who haven’t been vetted. Imagine visiting the Land of Take what you Want or the Land of Goodies or the Land of Tea-Parties although, despite their names, things don't necessarily run 100% perfect even in those lands.

There's a ladder up into the clouds at the top of it and this leads to ever-changing magic lands that swing into position one after the next.

She was fairly shameless about incorporating things that they would like - a visit to the Land of Birthdays, where the characters had the Most Fun Party Ever, was the capstone.I have a newer version, so names have been changed from Jo, Bess and Fanny to Joe, Beth and Frannie. I do have some bugbears, mostly that the 'pc-ifying' has seen it necessary to change some of the character names. Their father has a cousin who lives in the tree and would you believe it — the cousin's name is Moonface (without a hyphen). I also loved getting re-aquainted with all my favourite old characters, even the ones I had forgotten about. Another repeated (again and again and again and again) 'gag' is where the Old Saucepan Man miss-hears every second thing said to him.

Now of course I had never forgotten the likes of Moonface and Silky, or Dame Washalot for that matter. In either case, the kids were on an unforgettable adventure with their new forest friends every time they entered the forest and climbed the tree.Even better than that though, was her ability to create so many different amazing voices for all the characters to the point where you could hear a voice and recognise it and know who it is speaking, without even needing to hear name. I can't praise her highly enough though, she is easily one of the best narrators I have ever had the pleasure to listen to.