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So many characters
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Enid Blyton's versatility is evident in the over 800 books she wrote
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KID STUFF? Enid Blyton can still be a page turner
Born on August 11, 1897, Enid Mary Blyton has written more than 800 books. The books can be broadly divided into three — the boarding school stories, the adventures and the fantasies.
Boarding school: There are three series — the Malory Towers, St. Clare's and the Naughtiest Girl. Darrel Rivers (the name is inspired from Blyton's second husband Darrel Waters) is the lead protagonist of the Malory Towers series. The books follow Darrel from a nervous first former to responsible head girl in the sixth form. The St. Clare's series follows the adventures of identical twins Pat and Isabel O'Sullivan while Elizabeth Allen is the naughtiest girl in school.
Adventure stories: There are many series in this group, right from the Famous Five, the Secret Seven to the Five Find-Outers, the R series, the adventure series and the secret series.
Some books, like Secret Seven and Find-Outers solve mysteries in their little village, while others go to exotic locations and have extraordinary things happen to them. The R series with Roger, Dinah, Snubby and Barney are so called as all the titles start with R. The series features some of the better-developed characters, including the circus boy Barney and the irrepressible Snubby.
The adventure series has Philip, Dinah, Jack and Lucy Ann with Kiki the parrot providing comic relief. There is also Bill Cunningham, that rare brand of grownup who joins in all the hair-raising adventures.
The Secret series starts off with four children running away from wicked guardians and living on their own till their parents' return. There is also the Adventurous Four, perhaps the only book that mentions the Nazis.
Fantasy: Here you have ordinary children placed in an extraordinary world. The Wishing Chair takes the children to different lands to tangle with wizards and elves.
Different lands come to the top of the Faraway Tree, which the children visit. The land is nothing short of wonderful: right from the land of goodies and take what you want to the not-so-welcome land of temper! There are Toyland tales where toys come alive at night like the big rude doll Amelia Jane, and of course the supremely popular Noddy books.
Others: There are other stories like the circus stories featuring Mr. Galliano's circus, the farm stories about six warring cousins, a story about delinquent boys, The Six Bad Boys, and also a children's version of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress called The Land of Far Beyond.
M.A.C
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