Parents beware: the awful Blyton is back

[Katharine]

That's a lovely piece of verse Anita. Almost as good as something Enid might have written. It also shows that to judge an author by just one or two pieces of work isn't always fair. Even the most ardent EB fans will usually admit that some of her books aren't up to same high standard of others.

[Fiona1986]

While I completely understand that Roald Dahl may not be to anyone's taste, I wouldn't suggest his work is not appropriate for children.

Yes nasty things can happen, but as with being kidnapped in a FF books the baddies get their comeuppance and everything turns out OK in the end.

***Spoilers for the end of The Witches***

The example where the children are turned into mice is in The Witches. Bruno is quite happy as a mouse - he can continue eating lots of cake! His mother is terrified of him but his father tells her to stop being so silly and says something along the lines of "he may be a mouse but he is still our son, of course we will take him home". The boy - unnamed in the book- is instantly accepted as a mouse by his grandmother and they go home together quite happily. They then discuss how they're going to take down all the witches worldwide - something that can only happen now he is a mouse. I actually find the end utterly lovely - they both have about the same amount of time to live now, so neither will be left alone without the other. He must only be about 10, so the thought of losing his grandmother, having already lost his parents, would have been frightening to him.

I was actually disappointed in the end of the film, where Luke (he was named for the film) get turned back into a human. OK, to some viewers that may seem like a happy ending, but has a human he can't take down the witches (who will continue to kill children around the world - or indeed turn them into mice and have their teachers or parents kill them) and will then be left all alone when his grandmother dies.

***End of spoilers***

I also love The Twits, where again, the bad guys get what's coming to them.

I think the main difference is that most Blytonian bad guys either get arrested, or aren't really all that bad deep down and have the chance for redemption. Dahl's bad guys sometimes get arrested (the Wormwood parents in Mathilda - though you wonder what happens to her nasty older brother), but more often they get slowly squished (The Twits), shrunk to nothing (George's Marvellous Medicine), turned into mice and eaten by cats/squashed/exterminated (The Witches) and so on. Sometimes it's nice to have a black and white bad guy/good guy story where revenge is dealt to the wrong-doer.

[Loony the Dog]

Disgusting. If everybody wants some review about Blyton get a child to do it! I don't really like Roald Dahl that much. His stories are pretty disgusting. If his figures measure up more than Enid Blyton it's only because some people are discouraged from even reading Blyton - like Nicola ! I would like to see how his books will be doing 45 years after his death.

[Fiona1986]

As far as I know they're still selling well enough nearly 25 years after he died.

And 20 years after his death Puffin Books sold a Roald Dahl book every five seconds.

[Lucky Star]

Stupid PC rubbish. The most relevant part was the sentance; A survey during National Library Week in November, completed by 2,300 children aged from 4 to 16, ranks Blyton second only to Roald Dahl as their favourite author.

The children have spoken. Critiscism from anyone over the age of 12 doesn't count.

[Poppy]

I went to an Enid Blyton day at seven stories yesterday and they were saying how many children were discouraged from reading her books due to them being not very well written. Libraries even nowadays refuse to stock this writers books. It was not only that they are apparently not very well written, but because Enid wrote such a lot of books that they could be read from the early ages and stretch right out to teen agers books and teachers thought it was best for children to have a good mixture of books and not get hooked on Enid Blyton books and not read anything else (in other words like me!)

[Julie2owlsdene]

I think this is sad when Libraries can dictate what people read and don't read. Just because of their own opinions.

It's the same with Publishing Houses. They refuse a manuscript because 'they' don't see it in todays market. In otherwords, readers will only read what 'we' the publisher dictates them to read!!!

[Viv of Ginger Pop]

I went to an Enid Blyton day at seven stories yesterday and they were saying how many children were discouraged from reading her books due to them being not very well written.

er - is that contempary librarians or those of a generation ago?

As far as I can see, the best selling subject for kids books today are underpants and bodily functions

The latest edition of Life in the United Kingdom (the book new citizens must learn and pass 75% to become new citizens) lists Dahl but not Blyton

Viv

[Katharine]

I've just finished reading Castle of Adventure which is a book I'm not familiar with, having only read it once before, so it was almost like reading it for the first time. Not for the first time I was struck by how versatile a writer Enid Blyton was. Anyone who dismisses all her books, is I'm afraid either very arrogant, or very stupid.

Can anyone name another chidren's author who wrote such a variety of different books and for such a broad range of ages?

[Moonraker]

Nicola Jones? Never heard of her. She will be forgotten long before Enid Blyton.

[Poppy]

er - is that contempary librarians or those of a generation ago?

Librarians, teachers, parents, anyone who saw you reading Blyton!

[Lenoir]

I agree it’s a good thing to read different authors.
I started with Blyton but read other authors too, probably not as many as I might have done. At one stage the Hardy boy books were very popular with my peers.

[Francis]

I do not like Roald Dahl books but I certainly wouldn't stop children reading them. I also
disagree with the assertion that Enid Blyton books are not well written - the critics almost certainly could not write successful children books themselves. I find Enid's books have a flow about them that is quite
magical. Enid never criticised other authors of children's books so why is she criticised by so many
snobbish middle class killjoys. The truth is they are prejudiced people who hoist their own prejudices onto
children - quite despicable.

[Julie2owlsdene]

It's also sad that Enid isn't here to defend herself. Most people with these views are not looking at the fuller picture. I say if they can do any better than get trying, because I doubt they could write the books as gripping and readable and as many as Enid did in her lifetime.

[Francis]

Well expressed, Julie but we who love her works are here to defend her and we must never feel shy of doing that.