It’s a privilege to be able to write about Blyton’s iconic characters and invent new children and magical creatures of my own for new readers to enjoy.” “I read the three original Enid Blyton books many times as a child, marvelled at all the adventures and wished I could be Silky’s best friend and share Moonface’s toffee shocks. “I had such fun writing a brand-new Faraway Tree book,” says Wilson in the announcement. Wilson seems perfect for the role – she’s already given us retellings of What Katy Did, Five Children and It and The Railway Children, and she was “a huge fan” of the books as a kid. So I’m delighted to hear that there’s going to be a new Faraway Tree story, by the mighty Jacqueline Wilson – the first in 75 years, and the first by an author who is not Blyton. And every time, as we’ve begun it, I’ve watched that spark of imagination kindle in their eyes, as the children (in my day Jo, Bessie and Fanny, now Joe, Beth and Frannie) enter the wood, and hear the “wisha, wisha, wisha” of the trees whispering their secrets to each other. For each of them, The Enchanted Wood has been the title that moved them across from picture books to chapter books as a bedtime story. After all, I’m not the target audience any more, and all three have been entranced by it. Photograph: Hodder Children's Booksīut! I could see how much she loved the stories, and so I read them again to my middle child, and then again to my youngest, and I found myself reluctantly acknowledging the Faraway Tree’s charms once more.

The Magic Faraway Tree by Jacqueline Wilson, to be published in May. The Saucepan Man in particular was a little creepy and as ever with Blyton, there’s editorialising to be done while reading out loud, if you don’t want the girls to be told to stand aside for the boys. Then I read the books to my eldest child – and found myself not as charmed as I’d hoped. I wanted to creep past the Angry Pixie, watch Dame Washalot empty her buckets of water over Mr Watzisname (how much washing did she really need to do?), and make friends with Silky and Moonface. I imagined biting into a Hot Cold Goodie, or sucking a toffee shock. I dreamed of using a Slippery-Slip – the huge slide which goes down the centre of the tree. Or flying on a dandelion seed in the Land of Giants. I read them first growing up, and revelled in the thought of the different magical lands that could be reached at the top of an enormous tree – the Land of Take-What-You-Want! the Land of Goodies! Imagine being able to ask for an ice cream of any flavour, and going for sardine, as Connie did. I am a veteran reader of Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree books.

Enid blyton the magic faraway tree