The Folk of the Faraway Tree

[Diane]

I am trying to find a copy of The Folk of the Faraway Tree. I want one with the original characters (Jo, Bessy, Fannie & Connie). Besides the 1st edition, which reprint has these characters??? Can anyone help or does anyone have a copy of the first edition they would like to sell ? thank you, Diane (USA)

[Anita Bensoussane]

Welcome, Diane. The names of the children were changed (from Jo, Bessie and Fanny to Joe, Beth and Franny) relatively recently - I'm not sure exactly when but it may have been during the 1990s I think. And even then, not all publishers changed the names. Other minor alterations were sometimes made as well, eg. to food, currency and language. The good news is that there are plenty of second-hand copies available online and they're usually reasonably-priced unless you want early hardbacks with the Dorothy Wheeler illustrations. Before buying a book, you could always contact the seller and ask him/her to check the names of the characters.

Anita

[Lucky Star]

ebay is probably your best bet Diane. There are always plenty of copies on there, at least on the UK site. Most sellers will probably be willing to post to the USA. As Anita said, any copy piblished before 1990 should have the original character names.

[Diane]

Thank you for the information. I have been searching on ebay for a copy of the book and that is where I learned that the characters had been changed. Unfortunatly, I have been advised that copies even from the 80's have different names. If anyones knows of a reprint that has the original story - please let me know. Diane