The Enchanted Wood: 1 (The Magic Faraway Tree)

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Their father set them to work in the over-grown garden after tea. Jo had to pull up the tough thistles and the two girls had to weed the untidy vegetable bed. They spoke to one another in joyful voices. And it was whilst they were in the middle of their tea that they saw a very peculiar thing. Fanny noticed it first. Let's sit down under that old oak tree over there," said Jo. "It's all soft moss beneath. It will be like sitting on a green velvet cushion." The Faraway Tree Series written by the much beloved Enid Blyton was one of my favorite book series when I was a kid. In fact, I’d be wrong to say it was. The book still is, and will always be very close to my heart.

Likewise, the characters who inhabit the enchanted wood and the faraway tree were a bit hit and miss for me. Moon-face – a bit weird. Silky – lovely! Mister Whatzisname and Dame Washalot – one note wonders. The Red Squirrel – cute. The Old Sacepan Man – annoying! As for the three children – I never developed different voices for them with my read aloud as I did with the characters of Winnie-the-Pooh because quite frankly they all spoke exactly the same way and had near identical characters. They’re all idealised clone-kids, (good, kind, considerate, hardworking, respectful, etc). Considering how many of these identikit kids Blyton uses in her stories , she must have had a production line churning them out… Famous Five + Secret Seven + Faraway Tree Three = the Fiction Factory Fifteen? Yes, run along," said Mother. So off the three children went, out of the tiny white front gate and into the lane. Voices: Roy Hudd, Richard Pearce, Kate Harbour, John Baddeley, Jimmy Hibbert, Janet James and David Holt.In the first novel in the series, Jo, Bessie and Fanny (edited to Joe, Beth and Frannie in revised editions) move to live near a large forest, which the locals call "The Enchanted Wood". One day they go for a walk in the wood and discover it really is enchanted. They encounter a group of elves who have been robbed of important papers by a gnome. They chase the gnome and recover the papers, but the gnome himself escapes up a huge tree whose branches seem to reach into the clouds. This is the Faraway Tree. I loved those books so you can imagine how peed off I was when I discovered that the books have been edited to make them more politically correct! Dame Slap, who runs a school for bad pixies which, in some of the adventures, the friends accidentally land in. Her name has been updated in later revisions of the book to Dame Snap. The children tore after him. In between the trees they went, dodging here and there—and at last they saw the gnome leap up to the low branches of a great tree, and pull himself into the leaves. The children sank down at the bottom, out of breath.

Very well," said Mother. "You can go tomorrow. Father and I are going off for the day to buy some things we need. You can take your dinner and tea and go off by yourselves, if it is fine and sunny." One of my all-time favourite authors when I was young, this stories never failed to keep me entertained and build a foundation in english. Some of the changes were criticised in a review by Alison Flood. [3] Continuations by other authors [ edit ] I have a newer version, so names have been changed from Jo, Bess and Fanny to Joe, Beth and Frannie. I have mixed feelings about the update. I understand why some people would object to Fanny in particular. It's the loss of Bessie that I find saddest as it was updated because Bess/Bessie has fallen out of fashion. While I like the name Beth too, I don't see the issue with an old-fashioned children's book maintaining an older style of name.But that's where he was quite wrong. My goodness, the things that happened to those three children! The book starts off with a family moving to the countryside. The three children, Joe, Beth and Fanny are very excited about the idea of countryside. They think up of all the fun that they will have there. So when they spend their first evening out in the woods, they are nothing but surprised. Because you know, the trees whisper there. Or at least, the sound is as if they whisper! And that is how their adventure starts! Or well, when they find the faraway tree but it's sort of the same. They wouldn't have found the tree if not for the enchanted wood. Reliving my childhood with Enid Blyton. I love how the trees whisper and you can travel to magical lands. One I remember really enjoying was Dame Slap's school. Her classwork was entertaining. Is it me or does one really not find distinctive characteristics for Jo, Bessie or Fanny? They sound the same... Then again, it's a children's book and I cannot be too critical. Lovely book. You've worked well, all of you, and you deserve a picnic. I'll cut you some sandwiches, and you can take a bottle of milk."

It's an odd book. The children have a deeply unconvincing home life and never appear to go to school. Their parents hardly ever let them have five minutes free of chores, but when they do they're happy to let the kids (as young as 7) stay out to midnight in the woods in the company of old men they haven't met. The Faraway Tree series were particular favourites of mine however, and I had been hankering to revisit them for some time. I knew I was taking the risk of marring my rose-tinted memories of this series but decided to proceed, regardless. Far from my usual romance genre but I thought that I could also post about the books my kids read as I am sure there may be parents with children around you. I am always doing a lot of research regarding the best books for my kids and maybe this will help you as well.

Additionally Dame Slap is now Dame Snap, and disciplines the children in her school by scolding them rather than slapping them.