The Life of Enid Blyton
Enid Blyton was raised in Buckingham, England. Her father harboured hopes for her to become a concert pianist as she did possess a talent for music. However, she chose to be a children’s story writer. Perhaps this was because she was not keen to pursue the limelight, and concert pianists would inevitably have to make public appearances. Enid Blyton was actually shy in her interactions with the public, and unlike celebrity authors of today whose private lives are often transparent, she did not share much of her private life with the public.
Enid Blyton underwent Froebel training in one of the five colleges in Ireland, which was for the preparation and education of national school teachers in the United Kingdom. She then became a governess to a family of boys in Surrey. This experience inspired
Blyton to establish a school for boys. Whenever she was free, she would spend her time writing children’s stories. Her work included the authoring of natural botany books, biblical stories, a simplified version of Pilgrim’s Promise, as well as the timeless Famous Five series, the lovely Noddy and Big Ears stories.
Enid Blyton’s early work was published by George Newness, and she gained popularity through the reception of her stories in the children’s magazine entitled Sunny Stories. Even though she is now considered to be one of the literary giants of today’s world of children’s literature, her writings during her time were often not regarded as ‘great literature.’ Some critics stated that her stories such as Big Ears and Noddy were too childish. For years, some of the public libraries in England were not keen on stocking Enid Blyton’s books, even though they were well-loved by children themselves. However, her work has stood the test of time and children all over the world today continue to read her stories because they are both engaging and charming in their own right.
The Famous Five is the name of a popular series which features the escapades of a group of young children named Julian, Dick, Anne, Georgina (George) and their dog named Timmy.
The stories take place near George’s family’s home or in a really old house that contains secret passages or hidden tunnels. Sometimes, the children camp in the countryside, or go hiking together elsewhere. The places where these adventures unfold are almost always rural, such that the children would be able to discover the simple joys of cottages, islands, and life in the countryside. Initially, Enid Blyton intended to write just a few books for this series. She was not expecting the commercial success that eventually spurred her on to write 21 full-length Famous Five novels. Within 12 years, more than 6 million copies of Famous Five novels had been sold. This success continues even today with more than 2 million copies of the books continue to be sold each year. Over 100 million Famous Five books have been sold to date! This worldwide reception makes the Famous Five books one of the biggest-selling children’s series of all time.