Least Favourite Enid Blyton Series?

[Moonraker]

I devoured all of the school series of books at a young age and loved them!

[Boodi 2]

I have read all of the main series and my least favourite is "The Secret Seven", but perhaps that is because I discovered them too late (i.e. after already having read many of the other series, which to my mind are far superior).

[Bertie]

I can understand that, Boodi.
I like the Secret Seven books, but for me they're definitely a level below Famous Five and Find-Outers. They're good, but, overall, I'd class them as an all round inferior version of Find-Outers books (similar format, but not as good for quality of mystery, detective work or humour).
Of the series that I read regularly, I'd order them...

1. Find-Outers
2. Famous Five
3. Adventure Series
4. Barney R's
5. Secret Seven
6. 'Secret...' series
7. Adventurous Four

[Hannah]

For me it's the Secret Seven.
I haven't read any of the books with fairies, magical things, talking toys etc. though- I'm not at all into that. So those books would most certainly be below the Secret Seven.

[Boodi 2]

I would rate the main series in the following order:
1. The Five Find-Outers
2. The Barney/R Mysteries
3. The Adventure series
4. Malory Towers
5. The Secret series
6. St. Clare's
7. The Famous Five

I also rate most of the "stand-alone" books very highly, the two "Six Cousins" books being my absolute favourites. Like Hannah I have not read all of the books with fairies, brownies etc but did enjoy Brer Rabbit, Sunny Stories (especially Treacle Pudding Town!!!), Mr. Twiddle and of course it was Noddy who first introduced me to the world of Enid Blyton, although I think I ceased to be a Noddy 'fan at the age of about seven!!!

[Anita Bensoussane]

I'm really enjoying the revival of some of the older threads, Bertie. It's always interesting to hear which books appeal/don't appeal to people, which characters they identify with, etc.

Enid Blyton wrote books in many genres (adventure and mystery, circus, farm, nature, school, family, fantasy, etc.) and I like them all. If I concentrate only on the mystery/adventure series, however, I would rate them as follows:

1. Adventure
2. Find-Outers
3. Barney
4. Secret
5. Famous Five
6. Adventurous Four
7. Secret Seven

[Lucky Star]

My list would be pretty similar to Anita's except that I bump the Secret series up a bit.

1. Adventure
2. Secret
3. Find Outers
4. Barney
5. Famous Five
6. Adventurous Four
7. Secret Seven

It would become much more complicated if I was to include all of Enid's genres as Mr Galliano's Circus and the Faraway Tree books would need to vbe slotted in somewhere. Probably at the expense of the Secret Seven.

[IceMaiden]

I haven't got one. There's not one book on my shelves that I could pick up and say I don't want to read it again. Some have slightly more in them than others but all of them offer something and I wouldn't want to have missed out on reading any of them.

[Barnard]

This is the order in which I would rate the mysterious/ adventurous series.

1 Find-Outers
2 Adventure Series
3 Barney Series
4 Famous Five
5 Secret Seven
6 Adventurous Four
7 Secret Series

[John Pickup]

I wonder how many of people's choices are influenced by when they read the books, as children or when they became adults.
I was lucky to read all of the mystery/adventure books as a child but I can understand some people not taking to the Secret Seven series for example, if they didn't come to them until they were grown up.

[Boodi 2]

I did read the Secret Seven as a child, but only after I had read some books from the other series (mainly FFO and FF) and the Secret Seven seemed very flat and boring in comparison, with the result that I never bothered to read the whole series.

[Bertie]

I read all of the Mystery/Adventure series being discussed here at a young age, but very much focused on Famous Five, Find-Outers, Adventure and Barney R's.
When I was younger, I didn't really warm to Secret Seven and, similar to Boodi, I just saw them as an inferior version of the Find-Outers and couldn't work out why that wonderful series seemed to go under the radar while Secret Seven seemed to get a lot of attention.
Over the years, I've returned on and off to the Secret Seven and I'm actually fonder of them now than I was as a child. I still think they're vastly inferior to the other four I listed, but I think they're as good as any of the other Enid's series that I've read.

[pinkwhistle53]

I love all the series, as a teenage lad I read Malory Towers voraciously as I was brought up with two older sisters. I can see why now, looking back as an adult, the Secret Seven are grating a little - it's just that Peter is such a smarmy superior character - one of Enid's most unlikeable. My order of excellence would be:

Faraway Tree series - absolute classics
Adventurous Four series - both superb
Adventure Series
Malory Towers
Famous Five
Willow Farm series
Barney Series
Find Outers
Secret Seven

I haven't read St Clare's or many of the family stories!

[pinkwhistle53]

Can't believe I missed off the Secret Series - put them in third!!

[Hannah]

I haven't got one. There's not one book on my shelves that I could pick up and say I don't want to read it again. Some have slightly more in them than others but all of them offer something and I wouldn't want to have missed out on reading any of them.

I wouldn't want to have missed any but there are several books that I rarely reread (The Secret Seven, like written recently in another thread I can't bear Susie) or where I only really read the first part (usually before the real adventure starts - this is the case e. g. in Mountain of Adventure).

I can't put the series in an order except for saying that the Secret Seven would be bottom.