Moonface's Story (The Magic Faraway Tree)

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Like the others in the series, The Folk of the Faraway Tree was originally serialised in the old Sunny Stories magazines. This particular book which appeared in 1946 is the third of its ilk and like the others it has a particularly rich and colourful cover on which there are superb illustrations of the characters. Most of the regulars are depicted and they appear to be having the time of their life doing what most of the Enid Blyton characters indulge in to pass the time — eating, drinking and making merry. Although later editions feature some very capable work by other artists I tend to look upon the Wheeler pictures as the real icons. The Old Woman who Lives in a Shoe has her own land, and at one point she takes up residence in Moon-Face's rooms while he's temporarily away. The Enchanted Wood Series is very close to my heart. This was most definitely the first novel I read when I was about 7 or 8, and I was completely mesmerized by Joe, Bessie and Fannie and their adventures in the enchanted woods so much that I just COULD no keep this book down.

Moon-Face pays a visit to the children shortly after Connie arrives and he hands over an invitation to have tea with him and Silky the next day! Now the names Moon-Face and Silky might appear a little curious, and they are, but it's due to the fact that they belong to curious (as in different) people. Moon-Face is short with pointed ears and a big round moon-like head. He is the "Dearest, Darlingest, Kindest, Funniest, Nicest, etc" man you could meet according to Fanny and he lives in the Faraway Tree as does Silky who is a very attractive little elf. Does Connie fully believe yet? No — she still needs more convincing. Line a tin with baking paper and allow it to hang over the sides - this will allow you to pull the buns out easily after baking. I’m quite terrible with knowing the dimensions of my baking tins, so I have no idea what I used - find something that will fit roughly 9-12 hot cross buns in it. It’s hard to choose wrong. Saucepan joins up with them again in their next foray and as he's very prone to accidents there is a need to visit the Land of Magic to put right something that has happened to him. Poor old Saucepan Man — things go from bad to worse and the picture-panels with the couple of lines of script under them show us exactly what happens to the unfortunate individual. The picture-story moves on with visits to more lands and at one stage Moon-Face's little house is invaded by some horrible people from the Land of Quarrels. The next place to arrive above the Faraway Tree is Toyland which brings plenty of excitement and a little problem involving a couple of straying dolls. Eventually the book ends with a perfectly marvelous land where everyone indulges. Indulges in what? You will find out when you get hold of this fourth and last book in the Faraway Tree collection although there is further Faraway Tree adventure which isn't classed as a separate book not that it couldn't be in this day and age because even single Enid Blyton stories are appearing as mini-novels for young readers. What happens in the course of the kids' adventures in the various faraway fairy realms was fun...I ***really*** want to visit the Land of Topsy-Turvy!...but not a patch on the fact that these childrens' mother/aunt, the Responsible Party of Record for their safety, blithely lets them go off for an entire day, no idea where they are, and when they come home and share their adventures, she doesn't reach for the phone to get a shrink STAT but indulgently laughs and allows them to do it again! (After they finish all their chores, of course. Which they do uncomplainingly. Which is how you know this is a novel.) Hair-Trigger Temper: The Angry Pixie has one. Also everyone from the Land of Tempers; it's said that if you lose your temper there, then you're forced to live there for the rest of your life (which is the reason the Angry Pixie never went up there himself).Remove from oven and allow to sit for a few minutes before removing them from the pan by lifting the baking paper. Leave to cool while we make the glaze. In 1997, stories from the novels were adapted into animated ten-minute episodes for the TV series Enid Blyton's Enchanted Lands. The series, entitled Enchanted Lands: The Magic of the Faraway Tree had 13 episodes: Tube Travel: Moon Face has a slide- known as the slippery-slip- all the way from his house at the top to the bottom of the Faraway Tree which runs in a spiral down the middle of the tree to the bottom. You have to bring him toffees next time you visit (at first, no mention of this is made in later books), and a squirrel collects the cushions when you emerge.

Likewise, the characters who inhabit the enchanted wood and the faraway tree were a bit hit and miss for me. Moon-face – a bit weird. Silky – lovely! Mister Whatzisname and Dame Washalot – one note wonders. The Red Squirrel – cute. The Old Sacepan Man – annoying! As for the three children – I never developed different voices for them with my read aloud as I did with the characters of Winnie-the-Pooh because quite frankly they all spoke exactly the same way and had near identical characters. They’re all idealised clone-kids, (good, kind, considerate, hardworking, respectful, etc). Considering how many of these identikit kids Blyton uses in her stories , she must have had a production line churning them out… Famous Five + Secret Seven + Faraway Tree Three = the Fiction Factory Fifteen? It is also noticeable that the family is self sufficient (and mother and father do not have names) but much of that self-sufficience does rely upon the existence of the Enchanted Wood and the Faraway Tree. I mentioned previously about how this could have been a reflection of the Depression in the earlier book, and in this book Dad seems to play a really minor role (Mum is more noticeable) but we do note that everybody tends to work around the house tending to the garden among other things. I also previously questioned whether there was anything that the adults would have seen in the Enchanted Wood, but in both stories we do have characters from the wood coming out to the cottage. Mother even watches the children return home flying on a table. cup milk (I used coconut, but whatever you have will be fine) at room temp + 2 tablespoons for later Jo, Bessie and Fanny, who should be awarded medals for sheer courage in the face of height, eventually reach the top of the Faraway Tree where there is a ladder. They climb that, pass through a cloud, and enter their very first venue — Roundabout Land which, true to its name, goes round and round and round. It's not pleasant because when you are spun all the time you get quite giddy. They have a problem getting off but they manage to exit with the help of some rabbits and after a few dangerous maneuvers which are taken in their stride, they manage to reach the Faraway tree again.In the first novel in the series, Jo, Bessie and Fanny (edited to Joe, Beth and Frannie in revised editions) move to live near a large forest, which the locals call "The Enchanted Wood". One day they go for a walk in the wood and discover it really is enchanted. They encounter a group of elves who have been robbed of important papers by a gnome. They chase the gnome and recover the papers, but the gnome himself escapes up a huge tree whose branches seem to reach into the clouds. This is the Faraway Tree. Another repeated (again and again and again and again) 'gag' is where the Old Saucepan Man miss-hears every second thing said to him. "Can I have that?" "A rat you say? Where? I don't see a rat!" And on it goes. How we ... laughed. Some' feel the youngest sister was fat shamed for helping herself to too many toffees "because she was a very greedy girl"...as most young kids are when face to face with delicious candy. I have 10 grandchildren, and I have to put my foot down all the time and say, "That's enough!" No shame there. That's just the nature of kids. Yes. They are all greedy with candy and want more and more!

Apart from breaks to play golf and spend time with her children, Enid's working week was consumed with writing new stories, correcting proofs and answering the hundreds of letters she was, by now, receiving weekly. She explained that her characters evolved organically and her stories seemed to naturally form, she described herself as "merely a sightseer, a reporter, and interpreter." Over the years, the Faraway Tree stories have been illustrated by various artists including Dorothy Wheeler, Rene Cloke, Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone and Georgina Hargreaves. Faraway Tree Books, Stories and Games Enid Blyton is one of the most-loved authors in children's publishing. With over 700 titles published, Enid Blyton's stories remain timeless classics, adored by children throughout the world. The second thing to note is that if you read this book as a child then all four children in the modern edition will have changed their names! If you pay attention reading this book (published 1939) you will see a good number of ideas re-used later by authors such as Roald Dahl and JK Rowling. Whether Enid Blyton was copying them in turn from some earlier writer I can't say. Suffice it to say that things like Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, and Willy Wonker's whole meal in a single strip of chewing gum may well have their root in the Faraway Tree's ... roots.Some of the worlds in the Faraway Tree shows up in another Blyton book, The Wishing Chair. Such as Topsy-Turvy Land and the Land of Goodies. The Voiceless: The third book had Connie losing her voice after trying to eavesdrop in the Land of Secrets. The following adventure have the children trying to find a way to restore her voice in the Land of Enchantments. The main characters are Jo, Bessie and Fanny (updated in recent revisions to Joe, Beth and Frannie), who are three siblings. Fanny is the youngest, Bessie is next in age and Jo is their big brother. They live near the Enchanted Wood and are friends of the residents of the Faraway Tree. Other characters include:

I still remember all the characters vividly. There was Joe, Bessie and Fannie, the three siblings; and then there were the magic tree dwellers, Mr Watzisname, Moon Face, Sauce-pan man and my favorite character, Silky. The three children who star are possibly more remembered for their association with the Tree itself rather than for their magnetic personalities but that's not being derogatory. Jo with his sisters Bessie and Fanny are the anchors from where all the adventures begin and they are pleasant kids whose make-up could be compared to other Blyton characters such as Molly and Peter in the aforementioned Wishing Chair tales. It's desirable to have at least one naughty child in the group and as Blyton heroes are generally very good and kind to animals and humans one or two other kids with slightly more deviant personalities are introduced at a later stage. Dame Washalot, who spends her time washing her clothes and throwing the dirty wash-water down the tree. If she has no clothes to wash, she washes the dirty laundry of other people and even the leaves of the Faraway Tree; The mechanics of the Faraway Tree are a mystery. It seems incredibly easy to climb and in all the rushing about nobody every seems in danger of falling off. The branches appear to be twenty feet wide and flat... There's a ladder up into the clouds at the top of it and this leads to ever-changing magic lands that swing into position one after the next. The book starts off with a family moving to the countryside. The three children, Joe, Beth and Fanny are very excited about the idea of countryside. They think up of all the fun that they will have there. So when they spend their first evening out in the woods, they are nothing but surprised. Because you know, the trees whisper there. Or at least, the sound is as if they whisper! And that is how their adventure starts! Or well, when they find the faraway tree but it's sort of the same. They wouldn't have found the tree if not for the enchanted wood.

The Faraway Tropes:

Soon after Enid Blyton was born in 1897. Throughout the 40 and 50s, Enid wrote books at a colossal pace: adventure stories, mysteries, magical stories, farming stories, stories for younger children, best-selling series like The Famous Five and Noddy...her writing knew no bounds! Silky the fairy is so named because of her long, golden hair. She is one of the regular companions of the children when they go up the Tree to other worlds; They meet lots of other people, like Silky the Fairy, and The Saucepan Man Who've all made their homes inside the trunk. The topmost branches of the Faraway Tree reach up into the clouds, and are used to access various magical 'lands' that appear amongst the clouds. The lands themselves vary from nice lands, like 'The Land of Birthdays' or 'The Land of Take-What-You-Want', to not so nice lands like 'The Land of Punishments' or 'The Land of Tempers'. Each land moves away from the tree to make way for the next one, the length of time a land will stay seems to vary. Some lands will only stay for an hour or so, but other lands will stay for days, and even the time that will elapse between one land leaving and the next arriving is undefined.