One of the most amazing things that I can do- is to close my eyes…. and dream. Dream about flowers, dream about laughter and love and hear the tinkling of little silver bells and smell homemade cake and brownies and dance around with my friends, play with the snowflakes and chase the butterflies, look up and see puffs of white clouds floating past a deep blue sky ………
I am 27 years old- a woman living in the ‘real’ world with all its troubles and blah blah…. BUT I have a secret, a secret weapon that allows me to reinvent happiness when I’m down, to bring a smile to my face when tears threaten to take over. It just lifts up my spirits and makes me soar! For a brief moment I still believe in fairies and goblins and the goodness and magic too! All those lovely, lovely characters …lemme see…there was Noddy and his clan, then there was that naughty girl who always got into trouble, there were all these toys that came alive at night, …..and my favourite; the Enchanted Forest….wow with the magic tree and creatures…… Of course later there were Famous Five and Secret Sevens…….they all look at me and remind me of the wonderful time we had together.
For those who have lost me, I am talking about the characters of the Enid Blyton books. Characters that became my best friends and stayed with me forever. I really don’t remember when I read my first Enid Blyton book. Maybe the fist time I heard her stories was when I was been read to by my mother. Let me tell you about some of the books that have remained special for me…
My very best little boy in the whole world is Noddy. He was one of the first ever book characters that got me hooked. Noddy books were lovely with hardbound covers in shiny blue and red. Inside was a riot of colours….. Reading a new Noddy adventure was so exciting that I often stayed up beyond permissible hours just to finish the story( around 20 pages!) Noddy-the wooden boy with a jingly blue hat and head that nods away! Noddy lives is Toyland with his interesting toy friends (of course none of them know they are ‘toys’ or that there is anything other than being a toy and living in Toyland) . Of his friends, the ones I remember are Big Ears - the wise lovable elf with …big ears (what else…!) then there is Mr Plod, the policeman who helps everyone in Toyland, Bumpy the dog, Martha the Monkey, Mr Sparks …….I cant remember the names of all the toy population in Toyland now can I? I do remember Noddy’s car though…he drives it all over town and Mr Plod often warns him about speeding! Noddy was born in 1949 out of the wonderful imagination of Ms Blyton. He became so famous that he’s a household name even now. Children and adults all over the world love Noddy and his gang- In France Noddy is known as Oui Oui (Yes Yes. Because of his nodding….duh!). And Noddy recently made his publishing debut in the People’s Republic of China the Chinese translation of Enid Blyton’s original 24-book series. Even in India, the animated series ‘Noddy’ hit main stream channels like Pogo a few years back. ( boy I was thrilled to see him! )
An Equal favourite of mine is The Faraway Tree - another series by Enid Blyton. One of the stories out of the series I remember is “Enchanted Wood”. It’s a delightful story where three children discover a magical forest and meet new friends Silky the Fairy, Moon Face and the Saucepan Man who all live in the magical Faraway Tree. They would take the kids and climb up the tree and enter land of fun and excitement. For a while I thought that the big tree in my garden ( it was a huge Pomegranate tree) was the very same enchanted tree…! More than 40 years old, this book has been marketed today in its newest version- a CD with Kate Winslet’s narrations.
Then there was Elizabeth from The Naughtiest Girl series. Elizabeth was not bad…I always loved her pranks and in the end she usually became all good again…till the next adventure where she turned naughty once more. Elizabeth is sent away to boarding school after being taught at home by a strict governess. But she thinks that if she’s naughty enough – she’ll be sent home and so she is determined to be as naughty as possible but ends up settling down and enjoying school life. Liz finally becomes popular and makes lots of friends…
And then there were Peter and Molly who are brother and sister who get hold of a magical wishing chair. In the book Wishing Chair , they are taken on trips through a magical, imaginary world by the Wishing Chair, which has wings and an unpredictable mind of its own. Accompanied by their brownie friend Jinky, they have adventures in astonishing places, meeting strange folk and overcoming puzzles and obstacles.
I don’t remember their names but I do remember reading about animals and farms and toys and fantasies. I especially remember the ‘Golliwogs’ in many of Enid Blyton’s tales and also when the entire household is asleep how the toys in the nursery come alive ……
When I grew a bit…I couldn’t be seen with these ‘kiddie’ books and moved on to Famous Five. Any respectable child had to have read the adventures of Julian, Dick, Anne, George (Georgina) and Timmy the dog. Each adventure of these five took me to a world of excitement, fun and freedom. I was introduced to the very English world where one has milk and cookies and picnics and tea with sandwiches. Where girls wear can-cans and boys bow ties. Where one says grace before supper and neatens up to become prim and propah!
Malory Towers, St. Clares, Secret Seven…..I have read them all. But my favourite are the ones mentioned above. I have enjoyed reading these books so much and I really do believe that a lot of who I am today is because of these books. I’m grateful to my parents to have introduced me to books and to have done so through the greatest writer for children ( in my opinion) ..Ms Enid Mary Blyton. A woman who has authored 700 books that have been translated into more than 40 languages. Around 4 million copies of her work have been sold worldwide. I thank her for all that she bought into my world!