Evacuation

[Yak]

I saw Goodbye Mr Tom - thought it was excellent. I was an adult before I fully understood what the term 'evacuation' really meant. It didn't seem to affect any of Enid's characters did it? But then there was scant little mention of the war at all in any of her books. I suppose probably she wanted to create a magical world for children where such things as evacuation and rationing simply did not exist (not to mention that to include those things would have instantly dated the books .. as it are they come close to being timeless...)

[Viv of Ginger Pop]

The Adventurous Four is a good wartime story, along with Smuggler Ben and The Children of Kidillan.

To add to the list of WW2 books by other authors, I recently enjoyed Friend or Foe by Michal Morpurgo

Viv

[Moonraker]

(not to mention that to include those things would have instantly dated the books .. as it are they come close to being timeless...)

I don't think that would have been a consideration, at all, Moose. I am sure that Enid wrote for the children of the time, and probably never considered her books being so popular 70 years later. There are, as Viv has said, several instances of the War being mentioned. You are spot-on, I feel, in that Enid wanted children to be entertained by huge feasts and other things that were not possible in the War years.

To me, their time zone is what makes them so good. No wretched text-speak, computers or mobile phones. Just truth, honesty and discipline!

[Lucky Star]

To me, their time zone is what makes them so good. No wretched text-speak, computers or mobile phones. Just truth, honesty and discipline!

I think Blyton's books can generally be dated by the lack of modern technology and phrases. I doubt anyone reading a Blyton, especially in its original form, would think it set in the 21st century. Good books are timeless in the sense that they will always have appeal due to their straightforward honest storytelling and most of Enids work is like that.

I would like to have read more war stories by Blyton. War stories are, I believe, still very exciting to children, especially boys. The Adventurous Four and The valley of Adventure were two of my all time favourite books and I'm sure that the war element in them is at least partly responsible for this. I recently read Smuggler Ben for the first time and enjoyed it immensely, again those stories of wartime Britain really fascinate me and nobody told them better than Blyton.