You mean Great Auks, Anna, but yes, I agree that while reading Enid Blyton as a child I learnt a lot about nature as well as things like folklore, proverbs and sayings, myths and legends, history and general knowledge. And I absorbed the information effortlessly, while enjoying a ripping yarn!Anna Moss wrote:It seems almost as if they are trying to imply that Enid's work is not beneficial. Personally, I have learnt many things e.g about puffins' extinction (Island of adventure, I think) and much more.
I've just had a look at some of the 1950s radio programmes, thanks, Nigel. It seems that children listened to Larry the Lamb, Jennings, Sherlock Holmes, The Water Babies, etc. I honestly can't see why Noddy, Mary Mouse, Mr. Pink-Whistle and Enid Blyton's short stories about fairy folk, animals, nursery toys and naughty children wouldn't have gone down just as well with small boys and girls as Larry the Lamb! If Jennings proved popular, why not serialise The Naughtiest Girl in the School? Fatty is often compared to Sherlock Holmes and I'd have thought the Find-Outers stories would have been more suitable than the Holmes ones for an audience of children. As for The Water Babies, I read that as a child and tried it again as an adult, and I found it pretty dull on both occasions! The Land of Far-Beyond would have been perfect for the Sunday schedule. The BBC missed out on some gems by ignoring Enid Blyton after, it appears, having judged her on a mere handful of fairly early books.
Anita