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Enid Blyton

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Enid Mary Blyton (1897–1968) was a prolific English children's author, noted particularly for numerous series of books based on recurring characters and designed for different age groups. She is one of the most popular children's authors of all time, with her books selling more than 600 million copies worldwide. Blyton has remained popular among many generations of children; many of her classics have never been out of print. More than 800 books are to her credit and at least 300 of them are in print. First editions are expensive and have become collector's items.

Her most widely known character is believed to be Noddy. More than 200 million copies of the 24 Noddy books have been sold worldwide and the Noddy-related merchandising items are worth £50 million. Other particularly popular series include the Famous Five (consisting of 21 novels, 1942–1963, based on four child detectives and their dog) and Secret Seven books (consisting of 15 novels, 1949–1963, based on the adventures of seven children who solve various mysteries).

Her work involves mainly children's adventure stories, and some fantasy, occasionally involving magic. Her books were and still are enormously popular in Britain, India, New Zealand and Australia. They have been translated into nearly 90 languages, including Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Japanese, Malay, Spanish, and Swedish. Translated versions became and have remained extremely popular in many parts of Europe and Asia.

Enid Blyton was born on 11 August 1897 in East Dulwich, London, the eldest child of Thomas Carey Blyton , a salesman, and his wife, Theresa. Enid was a talented pianist, and obtained a Licentiate diploma from the Royal Academy of Music, but gave up her musical studies when she trained as a teacher. She taught for five years at Bickley and Surbiton, writing in her spare time. Her first book, Child Whispers, a collection of poems, was published in 1922.

On 28 August 1924 Blyton married Major Hugh Alexander Pollock, editor of the book department in the publishing firm of George Newnes, which published two of her books that year. The couple moved to Buckinghamshire. Eventually they moved to a house called "Green Hedges" in Beaconsfield. They had two children, Gillian and Imogen. By 1939 her marriage to Pollock was in difficulties, and in 1941 she met Kenneth Fraser Darrell Waters, a London surgeon, with whom she began a friendship which quickly developed into something deeper. After each had divorced, they married at the City of Westminster register office on 20 October 1943, and she subsequently changed the surname of her two daughters to Darrell Waters. Enid's second marriage was very happy and she moved smoothly into her role as a devoted doctor's wife, living with him and her two daughters at Green Hedges.

Afflicted by Alzheimer's disease, Blyton was moved into a nursing home three months before her death; she passed away at the Greenways Nursing Home, 11 Fellows Road, Hampstead, London, on 28 November 1968, and was cremated at Golders Green.

Enid Blyton's most popular works include: The Adventure series, The Barney Mystery series, The Circus series, The Famous Five series, The Magic Faraway Tree series, The Malory Towers series, The Mary Mouse series, The Mystery series (also known as the Five Find-Outers), The Naughtiest Girl series, The Noddy books, The Secret Seven series, The St. Clare's series, and
The Wishing-Chair series.

Blyton also wrote numerous books on nature and Biblical themes. Her story The Land of Far-Beyond is a Christian parable along the lines of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, with modern children as the central characters. She also produced retellings of Old Testament and New Testament stories.

Blyton's books often referenced the fantasies of pre-pubescent children. Children are free to play and explore without adult interference, more clearly than in most authors before or since. Adult characters are usually either authority figures (such as policemen, teachers, or parents) or adversaries to be conquered by the children. The children are often self-sufficient, spending whole days, or even more than one day, away from home. This theme is taken to its extreme in two books: Five Run Away Together and The Secret Island, wherein a group of children run away from unpleasant guardians to live on an island together, making a home and fending for themselves until their parents return.

Blyton's books are generally split into three types. One involves ordinary children in extraordinary situations; having adventures, solving crimes, or otherwise finding themselves in unusual circumstances. Examples include the Famous Five and Secret Seven, and the Adventure series. The second type is the boarding school story; the plots of these are usually less extraordinary than the first type, with more emphasis on the day-to-day life at a boarding school. This is the world of the midnight feast, the practical joke, and the social interaction of the various types of character that can be found at school. Examples of this type are the Malory Towers stories, the St Clare's series, and the Naughtiest Girl books.

The third type is the fantastical. Children are typically transported into a magical world in which they meet fairies, goblins, elves, or other fantastical creatures. Examples of this type are the Wishing-Chair books and the Magic Faraway Tree.

Enid Blyton's books are very much of their time, particularly the 1950s titles. Undoubtedly present are some stereotypes regarding gender. Some of the politically correct brigade argue, from a current perspective, that the portrayal of golliwogs, amongst others, was racist. On the other hand, the Famous Five displayed a remarkably modern equality of teamwork between the sexes, and the truth is that only one golliwog ever appeared as the villain, and in just one Noddy book, while elsewhere in her fantasy works golliwogs appeared as the heroes.

Modern reprints of some books have had changes made (such as the replacement of golliwogs with teddy bears). This is the publishers' reaction to contemporary attitudes on racial stereotypes, and probably enforced by market conditions and pressure groups. It has itself drawn criticism from those adults who view it as tampering with an important piece of the history of children's literature. The Druce book brings up a single case of a story, The Little Black Doll, which could be interpreted as a racist message (the doll wanted to be pink) and which was turned on its head in a reprint.

Books by Enid Blyton

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