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Enid Blyton

A scan of Blyton's photograph that appeared in The Daily Telegraph
Born August 11, 1897(1897-08-11)
Died November 28, 1968 (aged 71)
Occupation Novelist
Genres Adventure, Mystery, Fantasy
Official website

Enid Mary Blyton (August 11, 1897 – November 28, 1968) was a popular and prolific British children's writer. For "The Daily Telegraph" in Australia see The Daily Telegraph (Australia. Events 2492 BC - Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founder of the Armenian nation Year 1897 ( MDCCCXCVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common For the town in Argentina, see 28 de Noviembre. Events Year 1968 ( MCMLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story A literary genre is a category of literary composition Genres may be determined by Literary technique, tone, Content, or even (as in the case of fiction An adventure is an activity that comprises Risky dangerous and uncertain experiences Fantasy is a Genre that uses magic and other Supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting Events 2492 BC - Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founder of the Armenian nation Year 1897 ( MDCCCXCVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common For the town in Argentina, see 28 de Noviembre. Events Year 1968 ( MCMLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located This is a list of notable children's literature authors and their most famous works She was one of the most successful children's storytellers of the twentieth century.

She is noted for numerous series of books based on recurring characters and designed for different age groups. Her books have enjoyed popular success in many parts of the world, and have sold over 400 million copies. By one measure, Blyton is the sixth most popular author worldwide: over 3400 translations of her books are available in 2007 according to UNESCO's Index Translationum;[1] she is behind Lenin and almost equal to Shakespeare. United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on November 16 The Index Translationum is UNESCO 's database of book Translations Books have been translated for thousands of years with no central record of the fact William Shakespeare ( baptised One of her most widely known characters is Noddy, intended for beginning readers. Noddy is a character created by British Children's author Enid Blyton, originally published between 1949 and 1963 However, her main forte is the young readers' novels, where children ride out their own adventures with minimal adult help. In this genre, particularly popular series include the Famous Five (consisting of 21 novels, 1942 – 1963, based on four children and their dog), the Five Find-Outers and Dog, (15 novels, 1943-1961, where five children regularly outwit the local police) as well as the Secret Seven (15 novels, 1949 – 1963, a society of seven children who solve various mysteries). The Famous Five is the name of a series of children's books written by Enid Blyton. The Five Find-Outers and Dog (not to be confused with The Famous Five) also known as the Enid Blyton Mystery Series, is a series of children's mystery The Secret Seven or "Secret Seven Society" are a fictional group of child detectives created by Enid Blyton.

Her work involves children's adventure stories, and fantasy, sometimes involving magic. Her books were and still are enormously popular in Britain, Malta, India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Singapore, and Australia, and as translations, in the former Yugoslavia, Japan, and across most of the globe. Malta, officially the Republic of Malta (Repubblika ta' Malta is a European Microstate, comprising an Archipelago of three islands India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island Singapore For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. See also Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia ( Serbo-Croatian For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Her work has been translated into nearly 90 languages.

Contents

Personal life

Five Go to Mystery Moor (1954)
Five Go to Mystery Moor (1954)

Blyton was born on 11 August 1897 at 354 Lordship Lane, East Dulwich, London, the eldest child of Thomas Carey Blyton (1870 – 1920), a salesman of cutlery, and his wife, Theresa Mary, née Harrison (1874 – 1950). Events 2492 BC - Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founder of the Armenian nation Year 1897 ( MDCCCXCVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common East Dulwich is a district of London, England in the London Borough of Southwark. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. There were two younger brothers, Hanly (b. 1899), and Carey (b. 1902), who were born after the family had moved to the nearby suburb of Beckenham. Beckenham is a town in the London Borough of Bromley, England. From 1907 to 1915, Blyton was educated at St. Christopher's School in Beckenham, where she excelled at her endeavours, leaving as head girl. Head Boy and Head Girl are terms commonly used in the British education system, and in private schools throughout the Commonwealth. She enjoyed physical activities along with the academic work, but not maths.

Blyton was a talented pianist, but gave up her musical studies when she trained as a teacher. She taught for five years at Bickley, Surbiton and Chessington, writing in her spare time. Bickley is a residential area and electoral ward in the London Borough of Bromley, England. Surbiton, a suburban area of London in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, is a commuter town next to the river Thames, populated with a mixture Chessington is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in Greater London, England. Her first book, Child Whispers, a collection of poems, was published in 1922. Child Whispers (published in 1922 is the first published work of the British children's author Enid Blyton.

On 28 August 1924 Blyton married Major Hugh Alexander Pollock DSO (1888 – 1971), editor of the book department in the publishing firm of George Newnes, which published two of her books that year. Events 475 - The Roman General Orestes forces western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos to flee his Capital Year 1924 ( MCMXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Sir George Newnes 1st Baronet ( 13 March 1851 – 9 June 1910) was a Publisher and editor in England. The couple moved to Buckinghamshire. Buckinghamshire (abbreviated Bucks) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. Eventually they moved to a house in Beaconsfield, named Green Hedges by Blyton's readers following a competition in 'Sunny Stories'. They had two children: Gillian Mary Baverstock (15 July 1931 – 24 June 2007) and Imogen Mary Smallwood (born 27 October 1935). Gillian Mary Baverstock ( 15 July 1931, Buckinghamshire, England – 24 June 2007, Yorkshire, England Events 1099 - First Crusade: Christian soldiers take the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem after the final Year 1931 ( MCMXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 972 - Battle of Cedynia, the first documented victory of Polish forces takes place Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 312 - Constantine the Great is said to have received his famous Vision of the Cross. Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

In the mid-1930s Blyton had an experience of a spiritual crisis, but she decided against converting to Roman Catholicism from the Church of England because she had felt it was "too constricting". The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Although she rarely attended church services, she saw that her two daughters were baptised into the Anglican faith and went to the local Sunday School. Anglicanism is a tradition of Christian faith Churches in this tradition either have historical connections to the Church of England or have similar beliefs

By 1939 her marriage to Pollock was in difficulties, and in 1941 she met Kenneth Fraser Darrell Waters (1892 – 1967), 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. Events 1740 - Maria Theresa takes the throne of Austria. France, Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony Year 1943 ( MCMXLIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Pollock remarried and had little contact with his daughters thereafter. Blyton's second marriage was very happy and, as far as her public was concerned, she moved smoothly into her role as a devoted doctor's wife, living with him and her two daughters at Green Hedges.

Blyton's husband died in 1967. During the following months, she became increasingly ill. Afflicted by Alzheimer's disease, Blyton was moved into a nursing home three months before her death; she died at the Greenways Nursing Home, 11 Fellows Road, Hampstead, London, on 28 November 1968, aged 71 and was cremated at Golders Green. Alzheimer's disease ( AD) also called Alzheimer disease or simply Alzheimer's, is the most common form of Dementia. Hampstead is an area of London, England, located north-west of Charing Cross. For the town in Argentina, see 28 de Noviembre. Events Year 1968 ( MCMLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Golders Green is an area in the London Borough of Barnet in London, England.

Blyton's literary output was of an estimated 800 books over roughly 40 years. Chorion Limited of London now owns and handles the intellectual properties and character brands of Blyton's Noddy and the Famous Five. Chorion Limited is an entertainment company based in the United Kingdom.

Most popular works

Main articles: List of books by Enid Blyton and Enid Blyton's single novels

Other works

Blyton wrote hundreds of other books for young and older children: novels, story collections and some non-fiction. This is a list of books by Enid Blyton. 1920s;1922 Child Whispers;1923 Real Fairies The Adventure Series by Enid Blyton, a prolific English children's author is a series of eight children's novels The Barney Mysteries were a series of six children's books written by British author Enid Blyton. The British children's author Enid Blyton wrote three books in the Circus Series. The Famous Five is the name of a series of children's books written by Enid Blyton. The Five Find-Outers and Dog (not to be confused with The Famous Five) also known as the Enid Blyton Mystery Series, is a series of children's mystery The Faraway Tree series is a series of popular novels for children by Enid Blyton. Malory Towers is a fictional Cornish seaside Boarding school which features in a series of six Novels by British children's author Enid Blyton Mary Mouse is a fictional character "imagined" by Enid Blyton, a prolific British children's author in the mid 20th century The Mistletoe Farm series is a series of two books by children's author Enid Blyton. The Five Find-Outers and Dog (not to be confused with The Famous Five) also known as the Enid Blyton Mystery Series, is a series of children's mystery The Naughtiest Girl series of novels was written by Enid Blyton in the 1940s-50s Noddy is a character created by British Children's author Enid Blyton, originally published between 1949 and 1963 The Secret Seven or "Secret Seven Society" are a fictional group of child detectives created by Enid Blyton. St Clare's is a series of six books written by British children's author Enid Blyton about a Boarding school of that name The Wishing-Chair series by Enid Blyton contains three novels Adventures of the Wishing-Chair, first published in 1937 She also filled a large number of magazine pages, particularly the long-running Sunny Stories which were immensely popular among younger children.

An estimate puts her total book publication at around 800 titles, not including decades of magazine writing. It is said that at one point in her career she regularly produced 10,000 words a day.

Such prolific output led many to believe that some of her work was ghost-written. Yet, no ghost writers have come forward. A ghostwriter is a professional Writer who is paid to write books articles stories reports or other content which are officially credited to another person She used a pseudonym Mary Pollock for a few titles (middle name plus first married name). A pseudonym is a fictitious alternative to a person's legal name (see Alias) The last volumes in her most famous series were published in 1963. Many books still appeared after that, but were mainly story books made up from re-cycled work.

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. The Land of Far-Beyond is a children's novel written by Enid Blyton in 1942 John Bunyan (28 November 1628 &ndash 31 August 1688 a Christian writer and Preacher, was born at Harrowden (one mile south-east of Bedford The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come by John Bunyan (published February 1678) is a Christian Allegory She also produced retellings of Old Testament and New Testament stories. In Western Christianity, the Old Testament refers to the books that form the first of the two-part Christian Biblical canon.

Enid Blyton was a prolific author of short stories. These were first published, for the most part, in Sunny Stories, an Enid Blyton magazine, or other children's papers.

Not only biblical themes but also she used to explore the forests when she was a little girl and wrote of her dreams in a notebook kept by her bedside.

Subject matter

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. Children are self-sufficient, spending days away from home. This theme is taken to its extreme in two books: Five Run Away Together and The Secret Island: 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 and more conventional type is the boarding school story; the plots of these have more emphasis on the day-to-day life at school. The school story is a genre of fiction basic to much of the Children's literature of the Twentieth century. This is the world of the midnight feast, the practical joke, and the social interaction of the various types of character. 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 fantasy creatures. A fairy (also fay, fey, fae, faerie; collectively wee folk, good folk, people of peace, fair A goblin is an evil crabby or Mischievous Creature of Folklore, often described as a grotesquely disfigured or Gnome -like phantom An elf is a creature of Norse mythology. The elves were originally imagined as a race of minor nature and fertility gods, who are often pictured as youthful-seeming Examples of this type are the Wishing-Chair books and the Magic Faraway Tree. Alternatively in many of her short stories, toys are shown to come alive when humans are not around.

Controversies and revisions

Blyton's status as a bestselling author is in spite of disapproval of her works from various perspectives, which has led to altered reprints of the books and withdrawals or “bans” from libraries.

"Blyton bans": truth and myths

It was frequently reported (in the 1950s and also from the 1980s onwards) that various children's libraries removed some of Blyton's works from the shelves. The history of such "Blyton bans" is confused. Some librarians certainly at times felt that Blyton's restricted use of language, a conscious product of her teaching background, militated against appreciation of more literary qualities. There was some precedent, in the treatment of L. Frank Baum's Oz books (and the many sequels, by others) by librarians in the United States in the 1930s. Lyman Frank Baum ( May 15 1856 &ndash May 5 1919) was an American Author, Actor, and Independent filmmaker The United States of America —commonly referred to as the

A careful account of anti-Blyton attacks is given in Chapter 4 of Robert Druce's This Day Our Daily Fictions. The British Journal of Education in 1955 carried a piece by Janice Dohn, an American children's librarian, considering Blyton's writing together with authors of formula fiction, and making negative comments about Blyton's devices and tone. In Popular culture, formula fiction is Literature in which the storylines and plots have been reused to the extent that the Narratives are predictable A 1958 article in Encounter by Colin Welch, directed against the Noddy character, was reprinted in a New Zealand librarians' periodical. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island This gave rise to the first rumour of a New Zealand "library ban" on Blyton's books, a recurrent press canard. Policy on buying and stocking Blyton's books by British public libraries drew attention in newspaper reports from the early 1960s to the end of the 1970s, as local decisions were made by a London borough, Birmingham, Nottingham and other central libraries.

There is no evidence that her books' popularity ever suffered. She was defended by populist journalists, and others. Her response is said to be that she was not interested in the views of critics aged over 12. [2]

Dated attitudes and altered reprints

Cover of The Three Golliwogs, in which the golliwogs are the heroes.
Cover of The Three Golliwogs, in which the golliwogs are the heroes.

The books are very much of their time, particularly the 1950s titles. They present Britain's class system – that is to say, "rough" versus "decent". Social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions (or stratification) between individuals or groups in Societies or Cultures. [3] Many of Blyton's children's books similarly popularized negative stereotypes regarding gender, race, and class.

Modern reprints of some books have had changes made, such as the replacement of golliwogs with teddy bears or goblins. This response from the publishers to contemporary attitudes on racial stereotypes 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 the case of a story, The Little Black Doll, (the doll wanted to be pink) and which was turned on its head in a reprint. Also removed in deference to modern ethical attitudes are many casual references to slaves and to corporal punishment. Although the books are often stauchly defended by modern conservatives, Blyton had come under criticism in this area during her working lifetime; a story of hers was rejected in 1960 with the publisher’s criticisms including that “There is a faint but unattractive touch of old-fashioned xenophobia in the author's attitude to the thieves; they are 'foreign'. . . and this seems to be regarded as sufficient to explain their criminality. ”[4]

An element of sexism is noted in some of her books, such as in this Guardian article, which suggested the Famous Five depicts a power struggle between Julian, Dick and George(ina), with the female characters either acting like boys or being heavily put-upon. It has been suggested that a new edition of the book will "address" these issues through alterations. [5]. In the Secret Seven books, the girls are deliberately excluded from tasks such as investigating the villains’ hideouts – in Go Ahead, Secret Seven, it is directly stated "'Certainly not,' said Peter, sounding very grown-up all of a sudden. 'This is a man's job, exploring that coal-hole'". [6] In the Famous Five this is less often the case, but in Five On a Hike Together, Julian gives similar orders to George – “You may look like a boy and behave like a boy, but you're a girl all the same. And like it or not, girls have got to be taken care of”. [7] Both of these involve situations that would in reality be dangerous for any child, and where clear gender roles are set out with boys in charge and girls protected, possibly sending out a message for more realistic scenarios. A gender role is defined as a set of perceived behavioural norms associated particularly with Males or Females in a given social group or system

Statistics

Trivia

See also

References

  1. ^ Index Translationum Statistics. The Enid Blyton Society is an appreciation society for the author Enid Blyton. The children's books of Enid Blyton were illustrated by a large number of artists ranging from figures known for other work to humbler commercial artists who in some cases were anonymous Gillian Mary Baverstock ( 15 July 1931, Buckinghamshire, England – 24 June 2007, Yorkshire, England Index Translationum. The Index Translationum is UNESCO 's database of book Translations Books have been translated for thousands of years with no central record of the fact UNESCO. United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on November 16 Retrieved on 2007-07-12. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1191 - Saladin 's garrison surrenders ending the two-year Siege of Acre. This index contains all the titles in all the translated languages. The top five are: Walt Disney books, Agatha Christie, Jules Verne, Lenin, Shakespeare, and the next five: Enid Blyton, Barbara Cartland, Danielle Steel, Hans Christian Andersen, and Stephen King.
  2. ^ The Mystery of Enid Blyton
  3. ^ Druce p. 222: The system of middle-class values (and of automatic value-judgements entailed by such a system) which Blyton presents is simple enough. p. 225: In Blyton, an indifference to dirt, grease, foul smells and untidiness is a defining characteristic of the working class.
  4. ^ When Blyton fell out of the good books - Books - Entertainment - smh.com.au
  5. ^ Row faster, George! The PC meddlers are chasing us! | the Daily Mail
  6. ^ Blyton, Enid; Go Ahead, Secret Seven; Knight Books;(1953)
  7. ^ Enid Blyton - Five On a Hike Together

External links

Sources


Persondata
NAME Blyton, Enid
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Blyton, Enid Mary
SHORT DESCRIPTION English children's novelist
DATE OF BIRTH August 11, 1897(1897-08-11)
PLACE OF BIRTH East Dulwich, London
DATE OF DEATH November 28, 1968
PLACE OF DEATH Hampstead, London
A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story Events 2492 BC - Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founder of the Armenian nation Year 1897 ( MDCCCXCVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common East Dulwich is a district of London, England in the London Borough of Southwark. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. For the town in Argentina, see 28 de Noviembre. Events Year 1968 ( MCMLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Hampstead is an area of London, England, located north-west of Charing Cross. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom.
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