Resources for children?

[EmbethW]

Hello,

I'm a grade four teacher and my class is reading Enid Blyton's short stories in our literacy class. I would like to know if there are any resources such as comprehensions, essays or guides related to Blyton's books.

Any help will be appriciated,
Embeth

[Anita Bensoussane]

Welcome, Embeth. Interesting that you're using Enid Blyton stories with your class. Which ones have the children read, and have any titles proved particularly popular? Also, how old are the children?

Anita

[EmbethW]

Welcome, Embeth. Interesting that you're using Enid Blyton stories with your class. Which ones have the children read, and have any titles proved particularly popular? Also, how old are the children?

Anita

Anita, thanks for the reply. We've mostly read Award titles like The Wishing Wand and Other Stories, The Little Brownie House and Other Stories and Mr Pink-Whistle Stories.

The children really loved The Three Strange Travellers and The Bed That Ran Away. Although they're eight and nine years old, they've confessed that Blyton is their favourite author, though her books especially the Award short stories are quite hard to find here in the UK.

Regards,
Embeth

[Timmy-the-dog]

Hello,

I'm a grade four teacher and my class is reading Enid Blyton's short stories in our literacy class. I would like to know if there are any resources such as comprehensions, essays or guides related to Blyton's books.

Any help will be appriciated,
Embeth

Welcome Embeth - great to hear EB is alive in the classroom still!! I used many EB books in my English classes some years ago but I had the same resources problems you are encountering. In the end I created my own comprehension cards etc.
cheers
Timmy

[EmbethW]

The comprehensions card does sound like a rather good idea, Timmy. I've also told my children to write reviews of the short-stories we've read and also an essay on why they find Blyton so appealing. Beleive me, they'll be bombarding this website to look for help because they've already told me they'll have a hard week with review and essaya nd plus they are out of ideas!

Regards,
Embeth

[Anita Bensoussane]

Thanks for the further information, Embeth. It's great that your pupils consider Enid Blyton to be their favourite author.

I don't know of any Blyton-related educational resources being produced these days, so you may have to make your own! It would be interesting to study the structure of an Enid Blyton story, looking at what makes a good beginning, middle and end. Blyton's short stories are wonderfully crafted and always have a satisfying ending. Style could also be discussed, though unfortunately some of the stories in the Award collections have undergone a touch of modernisation - names, currency and sometimes clothes and food have often (though not consistently) been updated, some old-fashioned words and phrases have been altered and references to physical punishment have been toned down. Comparing modernised versions with the originals could make a fascinating social history lesson.

Once they've looked at style and structure, pupils could be asked to write a short story of their own in the style of Enid Blyton. Or they might be presented with the first half of an Enid Blyton story which they have to finish off. Some stories could be turned into plays and acted out, or children could design their own book covers including blurb, etc. It would be possible to take a passage from an Enid Blyton book and remove the punctuation - the children's task would be to punctuate it. Letters and diaries could also be written in the role of various characters from Enid Blyton stories. Perhaps a class collage could be made, representing Enid Blyton and her worlds. Another idea would be to do some research about her life.

I was wondering whether you're familiar with Enid Blyton's Book of the Year, Embeth? It was designed for use in the classroom and it contains short plays to act out, poems, suggestions for nature activities, seasonal short stories, etc.

Anita