Celebrating Enid Blyton
Enid Blyton was most well known for her children’s book series “The Famous Five”
With the news we shared on Facebook last week about “The Famous Five” being picked as number one classic children’s book, I had to test my Enid Blyton knowledge. It turns out she grew up in my hometown of Beckenham, Kent. What other surprises might we find?
The author born in August in East Dulwich, London, in 1897 before her family moved to Beckenham, Kent. She was educated at the local St Christopher’s School. After school, she went to stay with family in Sussex and was encouraged to train as a teacher.
It was as a teacher she started to write her books for children and became a popular author.
Fast facts about Enid Blyton
There is a wealth of information of the author, I have condensed the most surprising:
- Early writing was mostly poetry and her first published book was a book of 23 poems
- Wrote 3 books on teaching that were highly revered
- Could write 10,000 words a day, on her typewriter, starting in the morning, taking a lunch break and finishing at 5pm
- Wrote popular books under the name Mary Pollock, this led unknowing critics to remark ‘Enid Blyton had competition’
- Said she didn’t know where her stories came from, and rarely plotted and planned her books.
- Wrote over 600 books in her lifetime
Blyton’s personal life seemed to be a little troubled and she lost contact with both of her parents. She was married twice and had two daughters, Gillian and Imogen.
The author continues to be celebrated, in a recent survey of 2,000 people, of all ages, by cartridgesave.co.uk, Enid Blyton’s classic Famous Five took the top spot – the first of which was published in 1942.
Read more about the author at the Enid Blyton Society
This research was conducted by www.cartridgesave.co.uk/printwhatmatters/gift-of-books/ read more here
