Enid Blyton and what was the first Enid Blyton books you read etc

[Suzanne]

Totally grew up with Enid Blyton, read right into my teens when I should have been reading different books.

 

Noddy was the first Enid Blyton book I remember reading

[Madeleine]

Yes I remember reading the Noddy books as well, then some of the "Adventure" series, and then the Famous Five, St Clare's series (set in a girls' boarding school) and probably others I've forgotten.

[Bel-ami]

The Secret Seven series for me - although I can't remember which ones. I don't know why I skipped the Famous Five!

 

and Mr Twiddle.

Edited March 7, 2022 by Bel-ami

[KEV67]

I am sure I read a couple of Noddys, but it did not make an impression. I am sure it was on the telly. Later on I got seriously into The Famous Five.

[France]

My older brother was frightened of Noddy!  I seem to remember reading a collection of her stories but moved on to the Famous Five quickly though my preference was for pony books.

[Marie H]

Noddy was my first Enid Blyton books, but it was the St Clare’s series that I devoured!

[poppy]

I guess Noddy was the first Enid Blyton I read ( it was banned here from libraries in the 70's because Noddy and Big Ears slept in the same bed (shock horror, they could have been homosexual!) and the Golliwogs were always the baddies).

Later on I loved The Famous Five but wasn't so keen on the Secret Seven (can't remember why now).

[Book Girl]

Five Go Off to Camp and Bimbo and Topsy.   I was seven

[Chrissy]

I worked my way through a lot of Enid Blighton's books.

 Like many, I started with Noddy, and then moved on to such series asThe Famous Five and The Secret Seven, The Five Finder-Outers (and dog), Malory Towers and St Clares, 

[megustaleer]

I presume I came across Noddy first, as my early reading days were well before they drew the attention of the PC police.  However,I have no memory of actually reading them.

I think the first Enid Blyton I recall, possibly at aged about seven, was the Faraway Tree trilogy: The Magic Wood, The Faraway Tree and The Folk of The Faraway Tree. 

 

They were not my books, but belonged to my best friend,  so were probably my first experience of talking about books with another reader and started me on a life-long involvement with reading groups. 

I still remember with fondness the inhabitants of these books, Moon-Face, Silky the fairy, The Saucepan Man, Dame Washalot, and many others.

 

Thanks to Suzanne for starting this thread and bringing back memories of a very happy period of my childhood. 

[Madeleine]

Mine was probably Noddy too,  I'd never hard of the Faraway Tree trilogy until fairly recently.  After a while I got into the "Adventure" series, then the Famous 5 and to a lesser extent the Secret 7, plus St Clare's, and a few others along the way.

[KEV67]

On 14/03/2022 at 8:11 AM, poppy said:

I guess Noddy was the first Enid Blyton I read ( it was banned here from libraries in the 70's because Noddy and Big Ears slept in the same bed (shock horror, they could have been homosexual!) and the Golliwogs were always the baddies).

Later on I loved The Famous Five but wasn't so keen on the Secret Seven (can't remember why now).

Do you think Noddy and Big Ears were homosexual? Laurel and Hardy shared the same bed, but they also had wives in some films. I heard Ernie and Bert off Sesame Street were a gay couple, but was that always the case? I remember them from the early 70s. I don't think they were out then. Morecambe and Wise also shared a bed, but in one episode, Eric Morecambe tells Ernie that having Peter Cushing following them around all that time would be inconvenient because he has a date later that evening with a woman who's a raver. In one of the Christmas specials, Ernie Wise dressed as Mark Anthony attempts to leap on Glenda Jackson, dressed as Cleopatra, with obvious lust.

[poppy]

13 hours ago, KEV67 said:

Do you think Noddy and Big Ears were homosexual? 

 

I'm sure Enid Blyton didn't even dream of that implication when she wrote Noddy and Big Ears. But what's interesting is that the reason the books were banned in the 70's would now be considered politically correct and inclusive.

 

[lunababymoonchild]

Given that Noddy and friends is aimed at 2 - 5 year olds I'm certain that sex of any description wasn't in mind when it was written and can't fathom why anybody would even think of that when watching it.

[poppy]

On 02/07/2022 at 3:03 AM, lunababymoonchild said:

Given that Noddy and friends is aimed at 2 - 5 year olds I'm certain that sex of any description wasn't in mind when it was written and can't fathom why anybody would even think of that when watching it.

 

Totally agree, Luna, I thought it was ludicrous when it was suggested in the (I believe)70's. I think there was mention of them having 'a gay time in the woods' but gay only meant happy in those days