Favourite Author - #2 - Enid Blyton

Enid Blyton

Enid Blyton or Mary Pollock was born on 11 August, 1897 in London, England. She is the author of over 700 books for children, including the well-known Noddy, Famous Five and Secret Seven, Malory Towers series.
Enid Blyton first started to study music, and then trained as a teacher! She did not teach for long, though. . (Thank god she did not continue, or what a shame it would be, for the writing world.) She then became an educational journalist, and that’s how our beloved books came into existence.
Enid’s style can truly be called a classic, because the way she connects with the kids is stupendous. She reaches out to kids of every generation! Her stories still hold good. (I personally still like them.) Her first book for children was a collection of poems called “Child Whisperers” in 1922! You know what? The Noddy Series were published in 1930s. Can you believe it? The deep, futuristic, imaginative thinking of hers? Everyone loves Noddy. Even my grandma used to watch it, (the T.V. series) with my li’l sister and, me of course.
She had a very strong sense of the need to educate her young readers. She’d always strived to give them a clear picture of what’s right and wrong. She, through her short stories, aimed to educate the young ones about proper behaviour. Her stories always have a moral, even if it is a trivial one.
Even though teachers and librarians have often said that they felt the plots were too simple and the style of writing was very flat and uninteresting, her publications have been enjoyed by a great many students, over the years.
My personal favourite was the Famous Five series. I absolutely adored Julian, and George was my ideal. Perhaps, Timothy or Timmy, made me discover the dog lover in me! ;) The beautiful Kirrin Islands make me sigh even now. How she explains each and every little nuance! How smart and intelligent those kids were. I loved those whenever-you-please picnics, and yep, the amazing food, especially the gingerbeer. (I still ache to taste it.) and those mysterious, adrenalin pumping adventures. Sigh..
Oops, I got carried away!
That’s what she does to you! She mirrored the fantasies of children, very seamlessly. I have never read the “Naughtiest Girl in the School” series, because I could not have enough of Famous Five. Do you remember Mr. Goon?
Wasn’t she brilliant!? I cannot think of creating such an character in her times. Her flawless narrations, un-ending imagination sets her a class apart. Even though I am obliged to J.K. Rowling for the beautiful world of Harry Potter, nothing can beat the magic, the aura, the environment Enid Blyton created.

She diedof extreme illness in 1968, aged 71.

Blyton's life is set to be turned into a BBC movie for the first time later in 2009. Academy Award nominated actress Helena Bonham Carter will be portraying Blyton in the movie.. Bonham Carter is set to star alongside Matthew Macfadyen and Denis Lawson who will be playing Blyton's first husband Hugh Pollock and Blyton's second husband Kenneth Darrell Waters respectively.


Her Works:

The Famous Five series
The Adventure series
The Noddy books
The Secret Seven series
The Malory Towers series
The St. Clare's series
The Wishing-Chair series
The Magic Faraway Tree series
The Barney Mystery series
The Circus series
The Five Find-Outers
The Mistletoe Farm series
The Naughtiest Girl series
The Amelia Jane short stories
The Secret series