Why Enid Blyton? What do people like about her books?

[GloomyGraham]

Enid's books were the way I began my love of reading - probably from about age 5.

They were a joy to me back then and they are still 'comfort food' many many years later.

[Jomo]

Many us have attested how Enid Blyton’s books engendered our love of reading. I just found this lovely recommendation video from Dr Shwetar in Jaipur India.
https://youtu.be/IW9fndPPhCw

I went to her web site which is all about developing reading habits and skills in children.
Her personal Biography states Dr Shweta is “A dentist by qualification who is working towards bringing a Reading Revolution. She has been working with young children for 8 years and helping them improve in their reading levels through her educational yet interesting stories along with voice overs for their audio stories. She has also been training school teachers on “Effective Storytelling in Classroom” and doing extensive parenting sessions on “How to Raise Readers”. She believes that a child who loves reading can understand and comprehend better and outshine even in academics. But to compete in digital age the books need to be interesting enough for children to pick and enjoy.”

Clearly Dr Shweta has no issues with the Enid Blyton style or content and the books have just as much appeal to Indian children these days as in former times.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Thanks, Jomo. It's interesting to hear Dr Shweta's five choices, though Noddy and Amelia Jane have never been among my personal favourites. When I was very small I particularly liked Mr. Pink-Whistle, Mr. Meddle and stories about naughty children.

[Anne Gracie]

For me, as many, it all started as a child. It was definitely the availability of the books first and foremost. Also, her writing style was very descriptive and she used humour and also fallible characters. There were animals, exciting locations and the plot was a hard to put down kind of narrative as it went along. In my opinion, it is also perhaps that the reader senses that EB is a confident writer and believes in her abilities and does it for the sheer enjoyment and passion. This translates to the page. She certainly set the standard for other authors at that time, actually the second half of the 20th century. The fact that some of her characters were naughty too, was a way to live through them in the fantasy world. As a six year old, the Famous Five books were a big read for me, and there was a kind of accomplishment in finishing one book, then the series. The illustrations in these, and all her books were definitely what also kept me interested. As an adult, they don’t have quite the same drawcard of escapism usually, partly because I’ve read my favourites so many times. I also now tend to analyse them too much! I do like to pick one up and read a random chapter though. That usually satisfies me for a short time, in between the adult ‘grown up’ books. I remember posting here I was reading a chapter of an EB iBook on my phone in a doctors waiting room once, for example. They are always a go to, and I intend to discover new unread ones still as I enter middle age!

[Anita Bensoussane]

In my opinion, it is also perhaps that the reader senses that EB is a confident writer and believes in her abilities and does it for the sheer enjoyment and passion. This translates to the page.

Yes, her enthusiasm shines through and she has a real love of language that shows in her natural rhythmic style, her admirable comic timing, her fondness for alliteration and onomatopoeia, her clarity of expression and her playfulness.

When I was a child I felt Enid Blyton's presence while reading her books - more so than with any other author. At the ends of chapters or short stories she sometimes appeals directly to the reader ("I think she deserved it, don't you?", etc.) but various observations or comments by characters also occur in more than one book or series (e.g. Lucy-Ann in the Adventure series and Anne of the Famous Five both remark that food tastes nicer out of doors) and certain messages are reiterated in numerous short stories and novels (e.g. that you can often be brave for the sake of someone else even if you're normally timid, or that finding is not keeping, or that it's important to face troubles instead of attempting to run away from them). These things are hammered home and help build up a picture of the author's interests, concerns and values. The fact that Enid Blyton was/had been a teacher and a writer of magazine columns probably helped when it came to retaining a keen awareness of her audience and creating a connection with her young readers.