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Forty years or so after her death, Enid Blyton remains one of the most popular authors, not only here in the UK, but all over the world. This new series of features doesn't attempt to tell you anything you didn't
already know about our foremost children's author, except maybe to let you know just how many of her titles are still in print. At the time of writing I am still awaiting details from some publishers, but on this page, for example, you will find over one hundred titles still published and continually being updated and refreshed by Award Publications. Many of these titles have been taken from the old Dean publishers catalogue lists, whilst the "Barney" mysteries were originally published by Wm. Collins
of Glasgow. The Barney mysteries are due to be re-released in the Spring of 2011, testament to the continuing popularity of this particular series. What strikes me is the huge variety of subject matter and age ranges for whom Enid wrote, whether it was about pixies and brownies, or young teenagers embarking on their own independent adventures away from the security of an adult to make sure they don't get into trouble. Not all of Enid's subjects were middle-class, though. In many stories, she reveals a humanitarian
streak, a feeling of sympathy for the less well-off. Take, for example, THOSE DREADFUL CHILDREN. Whilst they were not lower working class children, they were less privileged than some, and their plight is examined and treated very seriously indeed. Cathy Come Home it was not, but then with Enid's comparatively sheltered upbringing, this is not to be wondered at. Many of the Famous Five adventures are equally as enthralling as Malcolm Savile's Lone Piners, and no less enjoyable. If I'm ever stuck for something
to read (which isn't often now, of course, with all these wonderful books arriving daily), I can always turn to my library of Enid Blytons, and choose a Barney, a Famous Five, a Mystery, or an "adventure". Below you will see links to the other Enid Blyton gallery in this issue, for Macmillan. And next month there will be galleries of Enid's books as published by Hachette, Egmont and Harper Collins. Happy Days!
Macmillan Enid Blyton gallery here... Next issue: Hachette, Egmont and Harper Collins...
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