Enid Blyton

[Gratia271]

Could anyone tell me about the ability/interest level of her books?

 

Thanks!

[Jyniffrec]

We LOVE the first Famous Five book, from 6 years old up to 11. My 6 year old likes to hear them on audio book (abridged) but we haven't read any beyond the first ones. I have seen her other books around - they seem to be for young children. We haven't read them, though.

[Lori D.]

I read some of her "Five" books when I was around 11-12yo. I would suggest, due to vocabulary and sentence structure (and ages of characters) that these would be good for a 10-13yo student who is reading the books on their own. For a family read-aloud, I would imagine the books would work for ages 6 and up. I have not looked at these since childhood, so I could be mistaken. BEST of luck, Warmly, Lori D.

[Susie in CA]

We love them! We have the "Adventure" series and some of the famous 5 books. They are great for kids 10 -12, or earlier as read-alouds.

 

Susie

[Gratia271]

Thank you! Is Amazon the best place to purchase them price-wise?

[Melenie]

Thank you! Is Amazon the best place to purchase them price-wise?

 

Thebookdepository.com might be cheaper than Amazon especially with free shipping.

[Melenie]

Duplicate

Edited September 25, 2010 by Melenie

[Gratia271]

Thanks!

[In The Great White North]

Enid Blyton has written 1000's of books, of varying levels.

 

The Secret Seven is similar to the Famous Five, but an easier reading level (more like the Magic Treehouse)

 

Here's a list of her books:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enid_Blyton_bibliography

[Gratia271]

Thank you! I just learned about her recently and am fumbling around to find out more about her books.

[crazyforlatin]

Enid Blyton has written 1000's of books, of varying levels.

 

The Secret Seven is similar to the Famous Five, but an easier reading level (more like the Magic Treehouse)

 

 

Is the font size of The Secret Seven appropriate for a 5-year old? Unfortunately our huge library system doesn't carry any of her books and amazon.com doesn't have the look-inside feature for her books.

[Gratia271]

I am going to pick it up at the library and can let you know.

[crazyforlatin]

I am going to pick it up at the library and can let you know.

 

Thank you so much!

[Mommy22alyns]

I love and adore her boarding school series - Malory Towers and St. Clare's. I read them for the first time when I was about 10.

[Dolphin]

My mother and husband are both from the UK So, we all grew up with Enid Blyton. She is good for all ages.

 

Start with her story books, My daughter LOVES Noddy.

My son read the Secret 7 in first and second grade

The adventures of the wishing chair and the Magic faraway Tree in 2nd

He has started the famous five this year, then he will do the mystery's and the adventurous 4 after that.

For girls start around 1st 2nd grade with The Naughtiest Girl(still one of my favs) follwed by St. Clares and Mallory Towers.

 

Pre JK Rowling and I am not sure about now, Endi Blyton is the best selling children's autor in the world, just not much here in the USA. I have friends from Australia and India and they grew up with her too.

 

I am always happy when new people discover her. She is great. Although funnily enough, she didn't actually like children much... very interesting lady.

[Alessandra]

I actually read and reread the Adventure series through high school. The stories are exciting, and I loved the sense of place -- I especially loved one (Sea of Adventure, perhaps) that was set on an island full of puffins. I spent a lot of time wanting to be on that island!

 

Thanks for this thread -- it reminds me that I want to get some Blyton for my dc. Can anyone tell me about editions? I want to avoid anything that has been 'Americanized.' You know the kind of book that changes sardines on toast for tea to something more palatable to U.S. kids

[In The Great White North]

The font of the Secret Sevens that I have is bigger than the Famous Fives that I have (all are vintage), and the book is thinner.

[ThelmaLou]

My 11 and 9 year old boys both can't get enough of the Famous Five. Ds9 just asked for more today. They both have their own copies of the books, and are both working to purchase the entire set. We do have a couple on audio, too. We wanted to get the DVDs, but they're coded for a different region.

[NYC]

I grew up reading Enid Blyton books, and so when my kids were born, I collected a large library of Enid Blyton books. In addition to the series already mentioned in the previous posts, my kids also enjoyed the Barney series -- my favorite is Ring O'Bells Mystery, the series with the Five Find-Outers, and this book - The Children of Willow Farm.

[LindaOz]

I grew up reading Enid Blyton too. I LOVED 'The Naughtiest Girl in the School' series. My children also enjoy 'Mr Galliano's Circus' (3 in series) and 'The Children of Cherry Tree Farm' (3 in series). The Cherry Tree Farm and Willow Farm books are great for animal lovers. My 12yo has discovered the Mallory Towers book too, and now I have to find her some more.... ;)

[Gratia271]

Is the font size of The Secret Seven appropriate for a 5-year old? Unfortunately our huge library system doesn't carry any of her books and amazon.com doesn't have the look-inside feature for her books.

 

Yes, I think it is large enough. The copies I have are hardcover.

[Dolphin]

Not Enid Blyton, but another fun series of books that most children over here don't read. All creatures great and small by James Herriot. A little early for my DS to read, but he loves listening. It also has a great TV series that goes along with it available on Netflix.

[Susan in KY]

Is the font size of The Secret Seven appropriate for a 5-year old? Unfortunately our huge library system doesn't carry any of her books and amazon.com doesn't have the look-inside feature for her books.

 

Yup. Both my dc loved them in early elementary.

[SkateLeft]

Oooh, how neat to find a thread about Enid Blyton! Our homeschool has always been called Faraway Tree School, from the Enid Blyton books.

 

I grew up doing back and forth between the US and the UK, because my parents are from the north of England, and I adored Enid Blyton growing up. My favorites were the Faraway Tree and Wishing Chair books, though I loved the others also. I still have my old copies of the books, but I bought new ones for my kids when they were old enough to read them. :)

[crazyforlatin]

Yes, I think it is large enough. The copies I have are hardcover.

 

Thank you. I'm going to order a couple of these books.