This series of three books was written by Enid Blyton, with the first book being written in the 1930s and the latter two a few years later. They are still very popular with children and are in print despite the fact that Enid Blyton is out of fashion at the moment. They can be read by children of all ages from three upwards. The three books are:-
- The Enchanted Wood
- The Magic Faraway Tree
- The Folk of the Faraway Tree
All three cover similar material, children who visit an enchanted wood and find a magical tree growing in it at the top of which are different lands which can be visited. They are really good enjoyable reading material and most children will love them. There are some wonderful ideas in the book such as Mr Watsisname's real name which the author of this article remembers from her own childhood!
The Current Edition
The current edition of the books is nicely produced in easy to handle paperbacks, with reasonably sized text that is not too small. The line drawn illustrations are a little naive and unfortunately a bit twee. However as there aren't too many of them this is not a real problem.
Problems With the New Edition
The real issues with the current paperback edition are to do with its availability and certain editorial amendments. The book is not currently available in bookstores outside the United Kingdom (which seems pretty silly in this international age) and has to be ordered specially from a United Kingdom bookstore. Furthermore the editor seems to have had considerable political reservations about the books and has not only changed details in the story but has changed several of the names of the characters.
It's very unusual for any editor to find it necessary to do this with a reprinting of a book and it's a great pity that she has seen fit to do so. It is already known that a number of children who were read the original version and then bought the new edition have been very disappointed to find they were reading about children with different names.
It is quite reprehensible to change the details about Dame Slap - she is now Dame Snap and Rick is instead of being slapped made to stand in the corner of the room. This could so easily have been turned into a teaching point to help children reading the books learn about why hitting and slapping people is wrong. There is no indication anywhere on the books to show that amendments have taken place and it really is very disappointing that this has been done to what is now a classic series.
Buying the Books
If buying one or all of these books for a child it is therefore a good idea to check whether that child has had access to the original edition (which is easy to do - the names of the children in the currently in print version are Joe, Beth and Frannie). These are now quite expensive and are not going to be new books, but it might be worth considering obtaining them instead if the purse strings will stretch to the cost. Obviously if the child hasn't had access to the books as previously published, then the series as available now is excellent and most enjoyable.
The three Faraway Tree Books are in print and published by Egmont.
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