Enid Blyton

The Famous Five: A New Musical review – lashings of vim

This co-production with Chichester Festival theatre nails the atmosphere and the performances, if not Enid Blyton’s knack for a good plot

Clare Brennan

09, Oct, 2022 @10:30 AM

The Famous Five review: forget shipwrecks and spies – the fate of humanity now lies in their hands

Brisk direction, plucky performances and complex lyrics propel this original adaptation, as the hunt for a source of renewable energy comes under threat

Gareth Llŷr Evans

30, Sep, 2022 @12:28 PM

‘Childhood holidays everyone wishes they had’: the Famous Five return in a musical

Enid Blyton’s adventurers roam the stage in a new show that considers the climate crisis, gender identity and the impact of the pandemic on children

Arifa Akbar

20, Sep, 2022 @8:11 AM

‘I avoid them whenever possible’: the children’s authors who don’t like kids

Raymond Briggs is the latest in a long line of writers revealed to have had little interest in children

Louisa Young

13, Aug, 2022 @2:27 PM

Jacqueline Wilson is a perfect pick to reinvent Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree

I was spellbound by these stories as a girl, and they have gone on to enchant my children. Who better to renew the magic for a fresh generation?

Alison Flood

11, Jan, 2022 @3:04 PM

‘A bit pushed’: Enid Blyton letters reveal strain of work and motherhood

Exclusive: author writes of pressures of looking after own children and answering ‘thousands of personal letters’

Dalya Alberge

26, Nov, 2021 @4:14 PM

English Heritage recognises Blyton and Kipling’s racism – but blue plaques to stay

Blue plaques left unchanged, but charity website details Blyton’s ‘old-fashioned xenophobia’ and Kipling’s ‘imperialist sentiments’

Alison Flood

17, Jun, 2021 @1:36 PM

Five great British walks with a literary twist

From Boswell and Johnson bickering in Scotland to the coast that inspired Enid Blyton’s Famous Five

Peter Fiennes

14, Jun, 2021 @6:00 AM

Malory Towers review – midnight feasts and horrid sneaks make for a ripping Blyton yarn

The CBBC adaptation of Enid Blyton’s boarding-school classic bowls along so smoothly and sweetly, it’s hard not to love it

Lucy Mangan

06, Apr, 2020 @5:00 PM

'Downton for kids': BBC brings forward Malory Towers adaptation

Enid Blyton’s girls’ boarding school adventure provides tales of hope in times of crisis

Tara Conlan

20, Mar, 2020 @2:51 PM

Enid Blyton had racist views. But I still read her | Sian Cain

Criticising past authors for their views doesn’t mean we must consign their books to the scrapheap, says Guardian books editor Sian Cain

Sian Cain

03, Sep, 2019 @4:59 AM

The week in theatre: Uncle Vanya; There Is a Light That Never Goes Out; Malory Towers – review

Rupert Everett’s astute direction of Chekhov results in a meeting of minds, and a luddite history is given a modern edge