9 replies to this topic

[silvy]

Hi
Maybe this topic in not appropiate for BalletTalk at all!!

My 9 year old nephew does not like reading at all - and this shows in his school work, and his teacher caller his parents's attention on this.

I thought of lending him some Enid Blyton stories (which I used to devour as a child his age - of course in their translation into Spanish),but I have read somewhere that this author has been criticized.

As I am not totally sure why this is so, I would welcome some light on this.  Also I would welcome any other recommendation you may have (it will be my task to find out if there is a Spanish translation for your recommendations, then!!! :rolleyes: )

Thanks so much
silvy

[Lovebird]

I loved the Enid Blyton stories! I think I read all of them, quite entertaining and very apropriate for children. I also loved C.S Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, a seven part series about a group of children who have all sorts of magical adventures, the stories of E. Nesbitt especially The Red Amulet, At the Back of the North Wind and The Light Princess by George Macdonald, and The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. Also the Sherlock Holmes stories, which I adored like a mad person, and are detective stories, but quite suitable for children. Any of the Harry Potter stories are also good.

[floss]

Enid Blyton's stories have been slammed by some critics mainly to do with the way gender roles are played out, some elements of racism creeping in to stories and that there is sense of 'superior Britishness' about the characters. Having said that I loved the "Famous Five series" (I would say that most Enid Blyton's books would appeal more to girls than boys) and think that along with access to a diverse range of literature children wouldn't be adversely affected by reading Enid Blyton. Even "Harry Potter" has elements of sexism in it so you can't really isolate children from such things. You could try your nephew on Blyton but it may be a bit old fashioned for him. Your best bet would be to steer him towards books that are about subjects that he likes and is interested in. If he likes football try football stories they are out there you just need to track them down. My son loved the "Goosebumps" books- scary stories- at that age and would read about 4-5  of the books per week.

[Ostrich]

Critics or no critics, I think Enid Blyton mystery and adventure stories are great for children of a certain age.  I also loved the Famous Five stories, as well as the Adventure series (Mountain of Adventure, Valley of Adventure, Circus of Adventure, Sea of Adventure etc.). The Adventure series stories are usually set in some exotic place and are more exciting than the Famous Five stories (at least, I thought so).

[cubanmiamiboy]

Oh, my God, this is a very old thread, but it just brought back memories.  I too devoured Enid Blyton's books when i was about 7 or 8 y.o.  I specially remember the "Mallory Towers" series, set at a boarding school for girls in Cornwall and its  heroine Darrell Rivers.  I remember i found the books in the children section of my local old library, in their spanish translation, (like Silvy stated back in 2004).  It was interesting because at that time, those kind of books were somehow considered "part of the capitalist bourgeoised infamous past", according to a popular official old mantra, and erased from all libraries.  Somehow in my town they were forgotten in the shelves, and managed to stay around, 'till i discovered them.  I also remember her other series "The Famous five", "The Secret Seven", "The Mistery" series and the "St. Clare" series among others...I know they have been very critizied, but hey, i do have wonderful memories of them...they made me dream of another world...I wonder if Silvy's nephew, now 12, ever got to read them...

[dirac]

cubanmiamiboy, on Aug 23 2007, 04:58 PM, said:

Oh, my God, this is a very old thread, but it just brought back memories.  I too devoured Enid Blyton's books when i was about 7 or 8 y.o.  I specially remember the "Mallory Towers" series, set at a boarding school for girls in Cornwall and its  heroine Darrell Rivers.  I remember i found the books in the children section of my local old library, in their spanish translation, (like Silvy stated back in 2004).  It was interesting because at that time, those kind of books were somehow considered "part of the capitalist bourgeoised infamous past", according to a popular official old mantra, and erased from all libraries.  Somehow in my town they were forgotten in the shelves, and managed to stay around, 'till i discovered them.  I also remember her other series "The Famous five", "The Secret Seven", "The Mistery" series and the "St. Clare" series among others...I know they have been very critizied, but hey, i do have wonderful memories of them...they made me dream of another world...I wonder if Silvy's nephew, now 12, ever got to read them...

Thanks for reviving the thread, cubanmiamiboy.  I had actually not heard of Enid Blyton before this thread was begun.  Just another example of BTers broadening my horizons.

[bart]

cubanmiamiboy, on Aug 23 2007, 12:58 PM, said:

[ ... ] at that time, those kind of books were somehow considered "part of the capitalist bourgeoised infamous past", according to a popular official old mantra, and erased from all libraries.  Somehow in my town they were forgotten in the shelves, and managed to stay around, 'till i discovered them.

An interesting comment on tkhe kind of censorship-for-your-own-good that can be found lurking even in freer societies.  Maybe some brave librarian decided to buck the rules, hoping that the books would stay quietly on the shelf until discovered by a kid just as openminded as you.  

[GWTW]

I read a lot of Enid Blyton as a child. I enjoyed them and certainly won't prevent my children from reading them. However, I think it's fair to state that those books are indeed "part of the capitalist bourgoisie infamous past (or not so past)". In a free society, we can read books and enjoy them while recognizing that they were written in a different era in a different context. After all, Blyton's people were never actually nasty to the underprivileged - just full of their own superiority.

[Ostrich]

GWTW, on Aug 24 2007, 03:12 PM, said:

After all, Blyton's people were never actually nasty to the underprivileged - just full of their own superiority.

Speaking of from my own Enid Blyton reading craze, I remember the wonderful feeling of superiority you got - but it was superiority to the adults in the book. "Generationist", you might call it. How great to enter a world in which the kids could outsmart all the adults around them! This, I think, is one of the main attractions Enid Blyton has for children. Her books make you feel so capable, so clever, so able-to-handle-life. And that's a good thing for kids, isn't it?

[cygneblanc]

Oh, I read several series and loved them all (Actually, I still can read them with pleasure ). The kids I know tend to prefer Harry Potter because they think EB's books  aren't frightening enough. Times have changed and I feel very old   because I was really frightened with some EB's books when I was 6-8...