The Magic Faraway Tree - Enid Blyton

My oldest son is almost seven and is becoming a fairly confident reader, thankfully going past the stage where reading was becoming a chore rather than a pleasure. Given his rediscovered interest in reading, I have taken a great delight in dusting down some of the books that I enjoyed from my own childhood now that he is of an age to appreciate them. I am a bit of a hoarder when it comes to books, so I still have the original copies of most of my old favourites including the Magic Faraway Tree which is just one of the many Enid Blyton classics that I loved as a child. The Magic Faraway Tree is actually the second book of a series. I can remember reading the ...  Read the complete review

I grew up with a healthy addiction to Enid Blyton's children's books, devouring every single one of her series' including Mallory Towers, The Twins at St Clare's, The Secret Seven and the magical tales of the Faraway Tree. So when I noticed 'The Magic Faraway Tree' was only a few pounds on Amazon, I decided to use my vouchers to get a blast from the past and, despite my 28 years, I wasn't disappointed! The Faraway Tree series of books tells the tale of two young sisters and their older brother who move, against their wishes, from the hustle and bustle of the city to a sleepy house in the country. They feel that life there will be very dull, until that is, ...  Read the complete review

Although Enid Blyton has become less fashionable of late and some of her characters are rather un-PC, she was undeniably the doyenne of children's fiction for several decades and some of her books are as relevant to twenty-first century children as they were to their parents and grandparents, and possibly even great-grandparents. The Magic Faraway Tree is just such a book. This is the second in Blyton's wonderful trilogy about this magical tree. Back story: Jo, Bessie and Fanny move with their parents to a house on the edge of a wood. Whilst exploring the woods where the trees whisper "wisha, wisha, wisha" the children find right in ...  Read the complete review