The Enid Blyton Society The Faraway Tree

The Faraway Tree

Jo, Bessie and Fanny come to live at the edge of the Enchanted Wood where the trees, "a darker green than usual," whisper their secrets: "Wisha-wisha-wisha." In the wood is the Faraway Tree — a huge tree inhabited by fairy-folk and laden with fruit of all kinds from acorns to lemons. Its topmost branches lead to ever-changing magical lands above the swirling clouds.

The Faraway Tree

The three children make friends with colourful characters like Moon-Face, Mister Watzisname, Silky, and the Saucepan Man, feasting with them on Pop Biscuits and Google Buns and sliding down the slippery-slip which spirals down inside the trunk. Climbing the tree involves dodging the dirty washing-water which Dame Washalot pours down the trunk at regular intervals and avoiding peeping in at the Angry Pixie, who throws things at those who poke and pry.

The Faraway Tree

Excitedly, the children explore lands like the Land of Take-What-You-Want, the Land of Dame Slap, the Land of Topsy-Turvy, the Land of Spells, the Land of Goodies, the Land of Dreams and the glorious Land of Birthdays.

The first title of the main trilogy, The Enchanted Wood, was published in 1939, although the Faraway Tree and Moon-Face had already made a brief appearance in 1936 in The Yellow Fairy Book. A picture-strip book, Up the Faraway Tree, was published in 1951.

Over the years, the Faraway Tree stories have been illustrated by various artists including Dorothy Wheeler, Rene Cloke, Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone and Georgina Hargreaves.

Faraway Tree Books, Stories and Games

One-off Novels

The Faraway Tree made its first brief appearance in the one-off novel The Yellow Fairy Book...

First Published in 1936 by George Newnes
Book 4 of 18 in this category
See review by Terry Gustafson

Faraway Tree

The three books in the Faraway Tree trilogy were published in 1939, 1943 and 1946...

First Published in 1939 by George Newnes
Book 1 of 3 in this category
See review by Terry Gustafson
First Published in 1943 by George Newnes
Book 2 of 3 in this category
See review by Terry Gustafson
First Published in 1946 by George Newnes
Book 3 of 3 in this category
See review by Terry Gustafson

One-off Picture Story Books

In 1948, the first part of Up The Faraway Tree was published in Sunny Stories Magazine in picture-strip form. The complete story was eventually put together as a picture book in 1951...

First Published in 1951 by George Newnes
Book 4 of 5 in this category
See review by Terry Gustafson

Non-Series Books

In 1952, a 4-part story appeared in Sunny Stories magazine. This story, "The Faraway Tree", was also included in Enid Blyton's Omnibus! published the same year, a special book that contained four other stories featuring popular characters...

First Published in 1952 by George Newnes
Book 15 of 23 in this category
See review by Terry Gustafson

Dean's Reward Series

The hugely popular Dean's Reward Series featured reprints of many popular series including the Faraway Tree books...

First Published in 1971 by Dean
Book 31 of 101 in this category
First Published in 1971 by Dean
Book 33 of 101 in this category
First Published in 1972 by Dean
Book 36 of 101 in this category

Dean 2002 Collection Editions

In 2002, Dean published six Collection books featuring original novels from popular series. The Faraway Tree Collection is the first in the series ...

First Published in 2002 by Dean
Book 1 of 6 in this category

Games and Puzzles...

There have been a couple of Faraway Tree games over the years, including the jigsaw puzzle produced by BeStime as part of their numbered series throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and a card game...

BeStime Numbered Jigsaws

First Published in 1950 by BeStime
Book 1 of 72 in this category

Enid Blyton Card Games

First Published in 1950 by Pepys
Book 1 of 8 in this category