A311 BLISHEN, EDWARD. "Who's Afraid of Enid Blyton?" Where, July 1967. (Reprinted in Culpan, Variety Is King, pp. 79-82.)
Argues that Blyton's banality dampens the imagination. He suspects that Blyton's supporters find "her bland insipid world, with its strict nursery basis, a comforting one."
A312 CADOGAN, MARY, and CRAIG, PATRICIA. You're A Brick, pp. 336-47.
Sees "a decline in the adventure story which culminates in the books of Enid Blyton." Analyzes Blyton's appeal to children and uses Six Bad Boys ("perhaps [her] nastiest story") as an example of her techniques and her use of the "happy family" motif.
A313 CULLINGFORD, CEDRIC. "Why Children Like Enid Blyton." New
Society 9 (August 1979):290-91.
Maintains that "the attraction lies precisely in the predictability
that teachers often so object to."
A314 DIXON, BOB. "The Nice, the Naughty and the Nasty: The Tiny
World of Enid Blyton." CLE, o.s., no. 15 (1974):43-61. (Reprinted
in Catching Them Young, pp. 56-73.)
Examines Blyton's ideological basis, as pronounced in her prefaces
and as exemplified in the Famous Five series. An editorial comment
by Kenneth Sterck follows. Brian Alderson responds in CLE, o.s.,
no. 17 (Summer 1975):101-3.
A315 DOHM, JANICE. "The Work of Enid Blyton." In Ford, Young Writ
ers, Young Readers, pp. 99-106. (Also in Journal of Education and
reprinted in Culpan, Variety is King, pp. 83-88.)
Analyzes the reasons for Blyton's popularity.
A316 INGLIS, FRED. Promise of Happiness, pp. 186-91.
"No book which aims to deal ambitiously with children's reading
can simply condemn the novels of Enid Blyton and have done with
her. . . . Enid Blyton invites children to hold her hand on a walk
through an adventure recounted with such flatness both of diction
and of representation that any reader could be sure that no threat
either to experience or to technique lurked in any sentence."
A317 McKELLAR, PETER. "Enid Blyton." In Meek, Cool Web, pp. 222-25.
(Reprinted from Imagination and Thinking: A Psychological Analysis
[London: Cohen & West, 1957].)
Blyton describes her writing process.
A318 RAY, SHEILA. The Blyton Phenomenon. London: Andre Deutch,
1982, 246 pp.
The first half of the book concentrates on the history of the
public's reception and rejection of Blyton's books, whereas the second
half examines the question of why children like her books and ana
lyzes critical consideration of her Noddy and nursery stories, pp.
132-39; her fantasies, pp. 140-51; her holiday adventure stories, pp.
152-70; her detective fiction, pp. 171-77; her circus stories, pp.
178-84; her family stories, pp. 185-94; and her school stories, pp.
195-200. Includes a bibliography of criticism and Blyton's books.
A319 SHAVIT, ZOHAR. "The Portrayal of Children in Popular Literature.
The Case of Enid Blyton." In Escarpit, Portrayal of the Child, pp.
315-32.
Finds that Enid Blyton and Carolyn Keene exemplify the way
writers of popular children's literature manage to create temporary
illusions of "an exclusive children's world."
A320 STONEY, BARBARA. Enid Blyton. London: Hodder & Stoughton,
1974, 252 pp.
Concentrates on biography rather than criticism.
A321 TINDALL, GILLIAN. Review. New Statesman (27 September
1974):434.
Reviews Barbara Stoney's biography of Enid Blyton, finding it
"never quite gets to grips with the peculiar element of Enid Blyton's
tractive but positively repulsive to many adults."
A322 TUCKER, NICHOLAS. "The Blyton Enigma." CLE, o.s., no. 19 (Winter
1975):191-97. (Reprinted in Culpan, Variety is King, pp. 72-78.)
Surveys reviews of Barbara Stoney's unflattering biography and
takes up a cudgel in Blyton's defense. She was "on the child's side"
and also "mastered her craft as a novelist." Explores other reasons
for her popularity with children despite critical disapproval.
A323 -----. The Child and the Book, pp. 105-16.
Provides fascinating insights into Blyton's appeal for children:
the child heroes, the reliance on clich‚ and simplification that allows
the stories to "move at a truly spanking pace," her identification with
the child's own "egocentric, quasi-magical views about life," the
"theme of children having everything their own way." Maintains that
Blyton was sometimes a "more skillful writer for children than she
has been given credit for," and suggests further avenues of approach
to her work.
A324 WELCH, COLIN. "Dear Little Noddy." Encounter 10, no. 1 (January
1958):18-22. (Reprinted in New Zealand Libraries 21, no. 9 [1958].)
A parent complains of lack of depth in the highly popular
Noddy books. "In this witless, spiritless, snivelling, sneaking doll the
children of England are expected to find themselves reflected."
A325 WOODS, MICHAEL. "The Uses of Blyton." New Society, 19 Septem
ber 1974, pp. 731-33.
Surveys teachers' views of Blyton's books. Finds hostility softening.
A326 WRIGHT, PETER. "Five Run Away Together--Should We Let Them
Back?" English in Education 14, no. 1 (Spring 1980):16-22.
Argues that Blyton's books provide children with "a sense of
security . . . a resting place," and that many of her questionable
attitudes "are being defused by the passage of time."