Raised with Enid Blyton

We always had lots of Enid Blyton books in the house when I was growing up. My Dad had a big collection of the original hardbacks, and I read them over and over. I didn't have a torch to read under the bedcovers but I remember begging to read one more page before the light was turned out. I still enjoyed them even though they were rather removed from my own experiences. The Famous Five books are the first proper books that I can remember reading on my own, and I devoured the books - buying them with Christmas money, borrowing from friends and the library.


The books have held up pretty well considering how often they've been read by me and my siblings, and after dividing them up I still have plenty to pass down. Behind these is a whole shelf of paperbacks that I've bought since from charity shops, including the full set of Malory Towers books, another favourite series.

I loved the original illustrations:

Maybe the stories were quite repetitive, they certainly had many of the same themes, but I didn't mind. It's also a different experience when re-reading them as an adult, and you realise how politically incorrect some parts seem now! But although Enid Blyton may have had her critics, she certainly started me off on a love of reading!

Did you read Enid Blyton as a child? Which were your favourite stories?