Posted by Jock on December 23, 2005 at 13:43:26 from 84.64.131.122 user Jock.
In Reply to: Re: Approaching Ransome (was Enid Blyton beats AR hands down) posted by Joy of Christmas on December 23, 2005 at 12:48:24:
She also knew her audience well in a way that perhaps Ransome did not, since she was a trained Froebel kindergarten teacher.
There is a certain quality in her nursery books such as "The Faraway Tree" and the "Noddy" series, which her books for older children just don't have. Maybe with "The Famous Five" and "The Secret Seven" she was punching above her weight and not quite getting away with it?
However, I don't think AR got everything right. My eledest son has always been an avid reader. He gobbled up SA and SD, picked up WH only to throw it away in disgust because his favourite characters had been relagated to the back row. A good child psychologist would not have made this mistake.