I loved the famous five adventures. No matter what they were up to they always got the best of the adult culprits. They were fearless and the moved around their local environment at will.

The adults they knew were always kindly, if at times stern, and a cream tea was on offer at some stage of the story.

What would Enid have written about had she been writing now? Not a lot. Broken homes, abuse and bullying.

The stories are of a time gone by - so what it may never have existed - but they were ideals we held dearly and have lost at a great cost.

We need to get children to see what is possible and what can be. That the way we live today is not a given.

Even if we ignore the dream childhood we will always be left by a gripping narrative which will thrill the imaginative child.