The Folk of the Faraway Tree: 1 (The Magic Faraway Tree)

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So I say to anyone, read this to your young kids, it is brilliant. Full of fantasy and adventure but really simplified. There are no in-depth plots, it is just one adventure after another, no slow character build-ups, just in your face - these are the characters, now let's go. A truly magical book that I have read way more than just this one time. I am pretty sure I read it multiple times a year from the first time I got my copy. Anytime I want to escape and just be free, this book is one of my go to books. The characters are so real to me even in all their fantasticness. It never bothers me that their mother doesn't question why Moon-Face looks the way he does or how a squirrel can talk. It never seemed strange that she didn't notice they would sneak out or that they spent most of their time up an enchanted tree. I experienced every land they went to as if I was there with them. Sometimes we all just need a little bit of magic and this book always has a way of giving me what I need. This was written in 1939 but I think it's still a fun read for kids of today. This edition was printed in the early nineties and does still contain elements which I think have been removed now. Obviously Golliwogs have been removed, however I read a few years ago that Dame Slap was considered problematic so not sure if she is still about. Slapping is a big storyline, so not sure what they replaced her with!

There are quite a lot of different fairyland characters. Goblins, pixies, brownies, talking animals, and others who defy description. Even the trees can talk in this magical forest! Doodle came. Bessie and Fanny felt nervous, and hoped that their hair and hands and dresses were clean and tidy.A British institution almost in her own right, the famous children’s author Enid Blyton was well known for her fun, friendly and accessible family oriented literature. With many enduring characters such as Noddy, the Famous Five, and the Secret Seven, she was definitely an author of her time. The stories she wrote, though, have lived on throughout the years, seeing various different incarnations over time, whilst always remaining true to the spirit of the originals. One such series that she’s particularly well known for is that of her Faraway Tree series of novels, an enduring collection of novels that retain a timeless quality to this very day. Set in a fantastical land they told stories that worked alongside the illustrations of Georgina Hargreaves to tell a magical tale of childhood wonder and enchantment. Following the adventures of Jo, Bessie and Fanny, it sees the three children moving into a new home by an enchanted forest with a magical tree they climb, taking them off to far and distant lands of magic and wonder. But now grim times are upon them. Troll Thieves are cutting at the roots of the Faraway Tree in search of jewel stones, and the tree is now dying. There are no fruits anymore, and the leaves are old and withered. It's a dim and dark age, and the Folk grow sad and worried. However, in re-reading with a fresh perspective, I stumbled on an uncomfortable truth. This book, like many of Enid Blyton’s works, contains problematic content. This 2007 reprint amended the most problematic and outdated references; “slapping” is now “snapping”, “Fanny” is instead “Frannie”, but the echo of the original remained. Come with them and their new friends Silky the fairy, Saucepan Man and Moonface, as they discover which new land awaits them at the top of the Faraway Tree.

I did enjoy some of the characters Moon-face in particular but the Saucepan man really winds me up he's the most annoying a repetitive character ever created. I was hoping for more substance in this book and it explains why I never remembered anything that happened.Now then, children of all ages between eight and eighty, strap yourselves in for a mad and magical dash up a gigantic tree and into the whitest of white clouds, from which—if you aren't careful—you may never return. We're off to visit the Folk of the Faraway Tree in this, the third and final book in the Enchanted Wood series.