They climb further and it's all very exciting wondering who lives behind the little doors which they glimpse as they progress towards the top. The magic tree had all these queer characters that were somewhat funny, and accompanied the children to their adventures atop the magic faraway tree. Together they visit the strange lands (the Roundabout Land, the Land of Ice and Snow, Toyland and the Land of Take What You Want) atop the tree and have the most exciting adventures – and narrow escapes. Frankly I do not care if Fanny means something in one country that it doesn't mean in another - look at all the different meanings that we discovered 'Suri' had when someone decided to name their child that.

While I like the name Beth too, I don't see the issue with an old-fashioned children's book maintaining an older style of name. They discover that it is inhabited by magical people, including Moon-Face, Silky, The Saucepan Man, Dame Washalot, Mr. Best of all is the discovery that strange new lands can be found in the clouds at the very top of the Faraway Tree itself - from the Land of Spells to the Land of Treats to the Land of Do-As-You-Please. Yes, he wears saucepans and kettles because he sells them for a living and instead of owning a little barrow or stall he has chosen to live a very uncomfortable life indeed with all his wares strung round his body but presumably he takes them off when he goes to bed.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. It is then that they are introduced to the Slippery-Slip which is a hole in the floor of Moon-face's little house. Like the Secret Seven series they would belong more in the classification of books for younger readers but there is a factor in these tales that separates them from other fairy/fantasy stories. The excitement comes from the adventures in the magic lands, and the short chapters offer a great number of them, including the land of ice and snow, the land of toys, the land of take what you want, the land of birthdays, the rocking land (not music related), and the land of the red goblins. 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.

Her books were terrific page-turners in the way no others were' Michael Morpurgo, author of War Horse. Her spirit lives on in her books and she is remembered as one of the most-loved and celebrated children's authors.

Folio commissioned Hokyoung Kim for the artwork, while the late author’s wife, Wendy Benchley, provides a fascinating new introduction. D. James, Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, the full 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series by George R. Up they go and the very first person they encounter is an extremely angry pixie who accuses them of peeping in his window.

Winnie-the-Pooh was my choice and then to follow it, for her pick, we’ve just had The Enchanted Wood. There are references to the Faraway Tree characters in several of the Enid Blyton books and it is nice to come across them because it keeps the characters alive and it is a little like coming across old friends when one reads about Chinky who starred in the Wishing Chair stories, visiting the Land of Goodies at the top of the Faraway Tree or the Saucepan Man visiting Big Ears' house for hot scones in Cheer Up, Little Noddy.The children make several new friends: Moon-face; Silky (a fairy) and the Saucepan man, who help let them know when an interesting land is at the top of the tree, and help them navigate the various lands. As for the three children – I never developed different voices for them with my read aloud as I did with the characters of Winnie-the-Pooh because quite frankly they all spoke exactly the same way and had near identical characters.

I didn't think much of Kate Winslet being the narrator before starting to listen, by this I mean I hadn't cared much either way about who the narrator even was. 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. Enid Blyton is arguably the most famous children s author of all time, thanks to series such as The Wishing-Chair, The Faraway Tree­, The Mysteries, The Famous Five and The Secret Seven. 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.

Yet in the fourth book by Blyton, Up The Faraway Tree, Silky is introduced to Robin and Joy as a pixie: ″So Joy knocked—and the door flew open, and there stood little Silky the pixie. I grew up with the Famous Five (which had been converted into a TV series), and am familiar with Noddy.