There is Still Magic in That Tree

Enid Blyton was born in 1897, the Mahjong Nazi grew up with her stories, I grew up with her stories and Riley still loves her stories. We have just started re-reading "The Magic Faraway Tree", it was published in 1943 and it is still a hit in this house. I know it was a hit for my nephews aged 14 and 19 because we have borrowed their copy. 

Edid Blyton

Sadly there have been criticisms of Blyton's writing; complaints that her language was not literary enough; questions about the relationship between Noddy and Mr Big Ears; judgements on Noddy as a role model for boys as he wept with frustration; views that the worlds that she painted were too rosy and don't mention Gollywog!

There were colloquialsims in Enid Blyton's novels that we would now find unacceptable, but really, don't we read a text in relation to the time it was written and don't we learn about societal change from these references? And in learning about what is no longer acceptable don't we then form a view of what is acceptable?

As for Noddy and Big Ears, we should be providing gay role models for children, because some of them will be gay and all of them will have gay friends or family.

Boys should be encouraged to cry, to show their true emotions. There is nothing femine about crying, just human.

I love that Riley has rediscovered this book, that he puts a bracelet around it when he is not reading it and that he crawls under the covers when a 'scary' bit comes. I love this especially because our kids seem so sophisticated these days and really they are not, they are just kids.