Fanservice: Our heroes are captured by evil snowmen. Their solution is to stoke the fire in the room in which they're held prisoner. It gets so hot that Fanny wishes at one point that she could "take everything off". Cue the curiosity of young boy readers... Rhymes on a Dime: The Saucepan Man had tendencies to randomly break out in rhyming songs, for no reasons whatsoever. Some' feel the youngest sister was fat shamed for helping herself to too many toffees "because she was a very greedy girl"...as most young kids are when face to face with delicious candy. I have 10 grandchildren, and I have to put my foot down all the time and say, "That's enough!" No shame there. That's just the nature of kids. Yes. They are all greedy with candy and want more and more! The three children make friends with colourful characters like Moon-Face, Mister Watzisname, Silky, and the Saucepan Man, feasting with them on Pop Biscuits and Google Buns and sliding down the slippery-slip which spirals down inside the trunk. Climbing the tree involves dodging the dirty washing-water which Dame Washalot pours down the trunk at regular intervals and avoiding peeping in at the Angry Pixie, who throws things at those who poke and pry.

Exactly What It Says on the Tin: The Angry Pixie is a pixie with a Hair-Trigger Temper, Dame Washalot is a woman who enjoys washing clothes to the point that she'll clean the leaves of the Faraway Tree if she has nothing else to wash, and Moon-Face is a man with a round, moon-like face.If you could climb a magical tree like the one in the book, what kind of magical land would you want to visit? The big threat this book is from the land of tempers, two of its denizens escaping and taking over Moonface and Silky's houses. Where have our friends vanished to meantime? And then, then!, she allows one of them to SPEND THE NIGHT in parts unknown to her! Now times were different in 1943, but that one's just not on. No responsible adult has *ever* let a kid spend the night somewhere without knowing 1) where and 2) who and 3) when and how Sweetums will be going there and coming home. The Faraway Tree is a series of popular novels for children by British author Enid Blyton. The titles in the series are The Enchanted Wood (1939), The Magic Faraway Tree (1943), The Folk of the Faraway Tree (1946) and Up the Faraway Tree (1951). Leave in the mixer for another 4-5 minutes, gradually adding in your sultanas at the end. I found I had to manually work the sultanas through at this stage to ensure they would be properly distributed.

Celyn enjoyed me reading it to her. It's a great book for younger children - plenty to smile about. Easy to follow. And above all cheerful/upbeat if you don't think about it too hard.

The Faraway Tropes:

A little confusingly in this book, the children's mother appears to know about the tree with magical lands above it, and is neither surprised, concerned or shows any interest in going along to see for herself. One of the things I find stretches belief the most is when the adult characters believe in the magical happenings, but show no curiosity about them. Only One Name: You never find out the children's surname, and none of the Faraway Tree residents appear to have surnames. Or in the case of Mr. Watizname and Dame Washalot, any first names. The lands at the top are sometimes extremely unpleasant – for example, the Land of Dame Slap (altered to Dame Snap in revised editions), an aggressive school teacher; and sometimes fantastically enjoyable - notably the Land of Birthdays, the Land of Goodies, the Land of Take-What-You-Want and the Land of Do-As-You-Please.

takes you to the different worlds at the top of the tree too. So you'll see what it's like to be Topsy-Turvy, with policemen walking around on their hands. Or how about spending a day, in the land of toys. Or even better, the Land of Goodies, where chocolate muffins grow on trees. The three children who star are possibly more remembered for their association with the Tree itself rather than for their magnetic personalities but that's not being derogatory. Jo with his sisters Bessie and Fanny are the anchors from where all the adventures begin and they are pleasant kids whose make-up could be compared to other Blyton characters such as Molly and Peter in the aforementioned Wishing Chair tales. It's desirable to have at least one naughty child in the group and as Blyton heroes are generally very good and kind to animals and humans one or two other kids with slightly more deviant personalities are introduced at a later stage. Once again the children go on five ad

One-off Novels

The series follows the adventures of Jo, Bessie and Fanny (renamed Joe, Beth and Frannie in later reprints), three siblings who have just moved to the countryside with their parents. While out exploring, they discover an enchanted forest, where the eponymous Faraway Tree grows. It's easily the biggest tree in the entire forest, and is home to various fairy folk who live inside the trunk. Saucepan joins up with them again in their next foray and as he's very prone to accidents there is a need to visit the Land of Magic to put right something that has happened to him. Poor old Saucepan Man — things go from bad to worse and the picture-panels with the couple of lines of script under them show us exactly what happens to the unfortunate individual. The picture-story moves on with visits to more lands and at one stage Moon-Face's little house is invaded by some horrible people from the Land of Quarrels. The next place to arrive above the Faraway Tree is Toyland which brings plenty of excitement and a little problem involving a couple of straying dolls. Eventually the book ends with a perfectly marvelous land where everyone indulges. Indulges in what? You will find out when you get hold of this fourth and last book in the Faraway Tree collection although there is further Faraway Tree adventure which isn't classed as a separate book not that it couldn't be in this day and age because even single Enid Blyton stories are appearing as mini-novels for young readers. So when I began reading The Enchanted Wood, all I had read was its title. Yep, you got me right. I hadn't even read the blurb. I mean, I had thought of reading it but then I thought, eh, it's an Enid Blyton book. I'll love it either way. So I didn't read it and jumped into it without a single thought in my mind. And guess what? I was not disappointed despite that! What do I see? Yes — three children, and I know their names — Jo, Bessie and Fanny! And now, having found my characters, I must find my "setting." What do I see? I see a dark, mysterious wood — the Enchanted Wood. There I see a giant of a tree — it is the strange Faraway Tree, a tree that touches the sky...",

Mr. Watzisname cannot remember his name. He sleeps and snores all the time. During a particular story at the Land of Secrets, Mr. Watzisname discovers his name, then forgets it almost immediately as it is so long; The children learn of other inhabitants. There's one chap who's forgotten his name, and there's a large owl and also a washer-woman who lives near the top. When I first read about this resident laundress I visualized her balancing on a broad branch with a kind of cauldron in which she did all her washing. The woman whose name is appropriately Dame Washalot would have possessed her own house in the tree-trunk and probably washed the clothes inside but how on earth would she get rid of the water? The children receive the answer to this question — particularly Bessie! And his best friend is The Saucepan Man, who's covered in pots and kettles. Can you imagine the noise he makes when he moves around? I've always been really adventurous, so I loved reading about the incredible things that happened in this book. It's a bit like dreaming, because there's loads of magical things that go on Remove from oven and allow to sit for a few minutes before removing them from the pan by lifting the baking paper. Leave to cool while we make the glaze.

Keep in touch

Like the characters in The Family at Red-Roofs, Jo, Bessie and Fanny who reside in the cluttered and dirty town abandon the family home and are taken to new surroundings in the wider-open spaces near a mysterious forest which according to their father is known as The Enchanted Wood. The children visit the wood and are introduced to the strange noise the trees make — "Wisha-wisha-wisha!" A little further on they encounter some Brownies who are holding a meeting and Jo spots a sneaky looking gnome who is about to steal one of the Brownie's bags. He foils the gnome by tripping him up and the children chase after him but he disappears up an enormous tree known locally as "The Faraway Tree." The Brownies appear on the scene and thank the children for their kindness but when Jo wonders what it would be like to climb the tree he is warned against it. The tree is so tall that it reaches to the clouds where strange and often dubious lands pass by after settling for a while above the topmost branches. The children would be well advised to keep clear of the place for their own safety. Rereading a childhood favourite can sometimes prove hazardous. Often, what so appealed to our younger selves we later find riddled with plot holes, become distanced from the young protagonists, or find them just generally unsuited for an adult readership. For this reason I had stayed away from my once beloved Enid Blyton, for so long. The first title of the main trilogy, The Enchanted Wood, was published in 1939, although the Faraway Tree and Moon-Face had already made a brief appearance in 1936 in The Yellow Fairy Book. A picture-strip book, Up the Faraway Tree, was published in 1951. Over the years, the Faraway Tree stories have been illustrated by various artists including Dorothy M. Wheeler (first editions), Rene Cloke, Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone, and Georgina Hargreaves. [1] The Enchanted Wood [ edit ] First edition, 1939 First edition, 1943 First edition, 1946