I was Enid's paper and butcher's boy

[Anita Bensoussane]

Unfortunately, I only have one of the books I bought back then, Treasure at the Mill by Malcolm Saville. The others eventually fell apart from constant use, the binding was very poor.

I've found the same thing - that the pages in Armada paperbacks often come loose over the years (and in some Puffins as well), whereas Dragons, Knights and Piccolos tend to stay intact.

I chose mostly Enid's books and a few Savilles. I really ought to write an article on this as I can remember vividly the display in WH Smiths where I bought them.

I'd be very interested to read an article like that, John. My sister and I used to love choosing paperbacks from WH Smith when we were children. There was always plenty of choice and we'd go for the most exciting covers and titles first, rather than attempting to read series in order.

Does anyone remember Cornish Cream by John Denton or Saracen's Tower by Ralph Hammond? I had those, they were early Armadas.

I picked up Saracen's Tower from a charity shop as an adult but I haven't yet got round to reading it!

I would love to hear about Phil's experiences delivering to Enid, too.

It might be worth admin emailing Phil - email addresses are supposed to be given when people post on the message board - well they are on enidblyton.net, anyway.

I'm busy catching up with jobs after having family to stay but I agree that it may be worth emailing Phil as soon as time allows.

Edit: I've now sent him an email, just in case he has further memories he'd be happy to share.

[Boodi 2]

My sister and I used to love choosing paperbacks from WH Smith when we were children. There was always plenty of choice and we'd go for the most exciting covers and titles first, rather than attempting to read series in order.

I did the same, which is probably the reason I have read none of the series in chronological order, so glad to hear that I was not the only one!!!

[Anita Bensoussane]

I did read the series in order later on, but part of the pleasure of buying a new book as a child was being free and spontaneous and letting the mood of the moment decide!

[Lucky Star]

Yes I was exactly the same. I bought whatever I felt like buying once I was in the shop. And I spent a mighty long time choosing; my Mum used to leaver me in there, go shopping and when she returned I was still choosing. Nowadays I deliberately read all of the series in their proper order as I find that I can see the gradual development of characters and plots much better that way.

[Katharine]

I think I read the majority of Enid's books in the 'correct' order. I mostly got them all as Christmas or birthday presents.

I can only remember buying two books as a child, one was 'Noddy Gets into Trouble', which is actually a paperback version of the original. I bought it on a family holiday in Great Yarmouth - I don't remember actually buying it in a shop, but do remember it being beside my bed in the caravan. Actually that's one series I've not read in order, and there are still a few titles that I don't have yet.

The other book was the 'Treasury of Verse', published in 1979. I would have been 12/13 when I bought that, so obviously hadn't grown out of Enid Blyton by the time I hit my teens. I got it from John Menzies - I'd spotted it on an earlier trip, and it was fairly expensive, so I did deliberate for a while as to whether I should get it. Either I waited until I'd saved up enough pocket money or else used some birthday or Christmas money to get it. It was certainly worth the money.

I got several Enid Blyton books at school fetes and the rest as presents - it was a great thrill on Christmas morning having possibly 5 or 6 similar shaped parcels to open, knowing they'd be some of the Enid Blyton books I'd put on my list, and wondering which ones they were, and which to read first.