Children's Books > f Children's Books > Enid Blyton

Advantages: Exciting story ,easy and compelling reading,first of a long series
Disadvantages: A bit dated in its language

The famous 5 are 4 cousins, George 11 (really a tomboy named Georgina) and her 3 cousins , Julian 12, Dick 11 and Anne 10. George has a dog she must keep in secret as he was a quite destructive puppy and is banned from her parents house , he is a brown mongrel dog and is called Timothy. This is the first time George meets her cousins and she does not like them to begin with. She is quite happy the way her life is and doesn't want them interfering ...
...unlikely but never mind it is a story and I never questioned it when aged 11)an Island with a ruined castle and even a wrecked ship which is under the sea. A treasure map is discovered by the children and confiscated by Georges strict father who then sells the story to the papers!! The children must try to discover the treasure (if it exists) before the Island is sold (yes even though it was given to George) to developers who are really treasure ... Read review

Advantages: Goes well with the show
Disadvantages: Not the same appeal for me as the old Noddy books

***Background*** Noddy was originally created by Enid Blyton, who also gave us classics like The Famous Five, The Secret Seven and all those Tales Before Bedtime. She created a variety of books for children of all ages and I must admit to being a bit of an addict of her books when I was growing up. These days Noddy has become a bit more politically correct and certain characters have had a bit of a makeover and change of name. In the old days it ...
...it is the Goblins. I understand the need for the change in today's society, although I have to say that I didn't grow up associating this toy with people of a different ethnic background. Make Way For Noddy has become a household name with his adventures being shown daily on Channel 5's Milkshake program for younger children. ***The Book*** This book has 5 stories in it. Each one has a moral in the tale and usually shows how Noddy learns the importance ... Read review

Advantages: fun read for children of all ages
Disadvantages: small writing

Mr Forgetful is number 14 in the Mr Men collection. He is a round shaped man and is a dark blue colour. He wears a little red hat. The cover of the book is white and has a picture of Mr Forgetful and the title in black lettering above this. The back cover of the book is also white and has small pictures showing the other characters in the collection. THE STORY The book starts by telling us that it is a beautiful summer morning and Mr Forgetful ...
...through the window and wakes Mr Forgetful, he then tries to remember what he was dreaming about. Mr Forgetful could not remember what his dream was as he always forgets and never ever remembers anything. Mr Forgetful gets up and goes to have a wash but he has forgotten where the bathroom is and ends up going into the wardrobe. He eventually has a wash and brushes his teeth and then goes downstairs to have his breakfast. He ends up burning his toast ... Read review

Advantages: fun book for little children
Disadvantages: none

'Marvin's Funny Dance' is a wonderful picture book which tells the story of a rather cheeky and mischievous meerkat. It is set in Africa where Marvin lives with his rather large family and he is always expected to conform. However, Marvin is unable to do that especially as he loves to dance and play jokes which always seem to get him into trouble. One day though, his antics actually help to save the day when he helps the family to deal with two bully ...
...'meerkatapault' to pelt them with dung balls to send them on their way. After the plan works, Marvin is a hero and all of the other meerkats want to be like him! My four year old daughter really enjoyed me reading this book with her. She absolutely loved Marvin and found his antics very funny. Early on in the story, we see Marvin dancing and the accompanying description tells us that he 'began wiggling his hips, waggling his toes, rubbing his tummy ... Read review

Advantages: interesting, educational, fun
Disadvantages: Not for all!

Currently ploughing my way through the Sabrina The Teenage Witch book collection, I cane to a stump when I was still awaiting the arrival of the titles I had purchased online, and found myself with nothing to read. I didn't fancy getting into anything too heavy as I knew it wouldn't be a great length of time until they arrived, so I ventured down to the local library to browse their selection. When I stumbled across one particular book, I knew straight ...
...to give a go! It was a title in the Salem's Tails collection - a book collection written about the adventures of the teenage witch's cat, Salem. Salem Saberhagen is now a black American Shorthair cat living with Sabrina and her two Aunts in Westbridge, but once he was a warlock with one dream: to succeed with world domination! Unfortunately for him, the Witches' Council caught him with his mischievous plans and sentenced him to 100 years as a common ... Read review