No one is a stronger supporter of Enid Blyton and what she has done for Children, books and reading but I feel much the same about JK Rowling. Harry Potter came along at a time when parents couldn't get children off their computer games etc to read any books. Children were generally reading less and less. And then suddenly children who hadn't read a book were wanting to read Harry Potter because of friends who had read him.Rob Houghton wrote:depends! I can't stand those 7 books!! I've tried to read a couple of them - but even just flicking through them leaves me with exactly the same feeling I get from the Adult Famous Fives - boringly written.Fiona1986 wrote:Quantity does not equal quality.
My introduction to Harry Potter was on a plane flight with one of my young staff who was reading the third book before giving it to her son who was eight. She said, whilst she was an avid reader and had surrounded her son with books, he just wasn't interested in reading, UNTIL his friends at school had read Harry Potter. She now couldn't stop him reading those books. As I talked with other young mums I found the same thing. Harry Potter was doing what Enid Blyton did many years ago, but at a time when all this technology was replacing books for childrens time.
I thought it was time for me to read Harry Potter and I could immediately see how Rawlings was capturing these children. It was exciting and a way to escape as children. Using the escapism and freedom for children that Enid Blyton relied on but in a totally different way. I loved them and was so glad there was somebody producing books that got children reading again.
That doesn't in anyway diminish what Enid Blyton achieved and is still achieving but was needed at a time when technology was taking over. My grandchildren who fit this period, read all my Blyton books and loved them, and read all Harry Potter books and loved them. I think they loved finding books that were as good as grandmas books but were written during their childhood not mine.
So I believe we should be cheering both JK Rawlings and Enid Blyton for what they have done for children.
And like Enid Blyton, Rawlings is a philanthropist and helps others too, both wonderful women that have added much to the world.
Aussie Sue