Enid Blyton wrote one f*** of a lot of books.

[seeformiles]

Such wholesome characters

 

[seeformiles]

I loved this book as a kid:

 

[Happy Tree]

 

[Lotte]

I loved this book as a kid:

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Yes! I loved all the bits about the hidden passageways in the wall and the mysterious metal experiments.

 

[seeformiles]

Yes! I loved all the bits about the hidden passageways in the wall and the mysterious metal experiments.

That’s what got me too. However, reading it again recently, the protagonists are awful snobs e.g. Daddy does something “Hush Hush”, deference to royalty and a distinct disdain for the working classes

 

[Lotte]

I read St Claire's and Mallory Towers avidly as a kid, mostly for the midnight feasts and outdoor swimming pool envy - but even then, I remember thinking the "heros" could be awful petty bitches and there was some class snobbery going on. As a younger kid I loved the Magic Tree books as well. I think they're fine for kids of a certain age and they will move on to something more interesting soon enough - isn't repetition of vocabulary useful in learning - one of the reasons small children like stories over and over - up to a certain point too?

Yeah, Gwendolyn was a dickhead but they never gave her a chance, even when she tried to be better, and poor old Zerelda was harmless. OK, she had delusions of grandeur but she was a nice girl and had a good sense of humour. The scene where Maureen gets bullied by the entire class, where they're all lying to her about how talented she is, was uncomfortable reading. I'm sure everyone's known an Alicia as well - the kind of person who's fun when she's your mate but an absolute monster if she decides she hates you, and she was pretty quick to turn on Darrell. Sally might be boring, but at least she's loyal.

The Chalet School was a bit Borg at times, but it didn't have the nasty edge that MT/St Clares did (apart from in Eustacia, where everyone except Madge acted like a cunt for some reason).

On the subject of classism, I always felt a bit sorry for Ern Goon in The Five Find-Outers books, where he was never allowed to be part of the group due to being working-class. The CS also has class issues, but at least Rosamund Lilley and Biddy O'Ryan are both well-liked and the girls don't look down on Ros because she's working-class (unlike that whore Joan Baker).