ryan and the magic faraway tree

I forgot how, I forgot why but we were sitting at the dining table and talking about stories when I excitedly told Ryan, “When you grow up, you are going to read Enid Blyton’s books!”

Ryan: “Har, what is Enid Blyton?”
My mom: “No, he is not going to read Enid Blyton.”
Ryan: “No, I am not going to read Enid Blyton!”
Me: *aghast* “Huh why??”
My mom: “Haiyah, their generation where got read Enid Blyton one!”
Ryan: “I DON’T WANT ENID BLYTON AH YI I DON’T WANT!”
Me: “You are just parroting your grandmother. You don’t know what you want yet.”
Ryan: “NO! I TELL YOU I DON’T WANT!”
Me: “Then what will they read?”
My mom: “Harry Potter lor…”
Me: “What?!?! That piece of shit compared to Enid Blyton?!?!? NO I WILL NOT ALLOW IT!”
Ryan: “I DON’T WANT ENID BLYTON!!!!”

As you can probably see, my frustration was not with the respective authors but with my mom’s uncanny ability to effortlessly tweak Ryan’s needs and wants to her heart’s desire. I guess I should have gotten used to it, seeing how Ryan worships his grandmother since the day he was born. But it irritated me because this whole ‘exploring new things’ is best introduced at his age. As my close friends know, I tend to shut and slag off things and places I’ve never tried. But I’m 28 years old, I’m allowed to be jaded and cynical. Ryan’s only 4, there are plenty of years ahead for him to do that.

Enid Blyton’s works was a huge part of my childhood. I don’t remember how I got into it, probably I borrowed it from the school library or something. I think a few of my friends had certain titles as well and I devoured them like Starbucks iced latte. Oh I can’t begin to explain what and how I felt for those magical stories! They were most likely the reason why I love reading and day-dreaming. I wanted to be part of the Famous Five and the Secret Seven. I wished I had a wishing chair or that I lived in a caravan traveling with a circus. I imagined things I’d say to Mr. Pink-Whistle, Mr. Twiddle and Mr. Meddle. I wanted to smack Amelia Jane for being so mean and earnestly promised myself that I’d never be as cruel. I was pretty much in a world of my own, still am actually.

I glared at my mother with a ‘hmmphhh!’ and turned to Ryan.

“I am going to tell you the story of the Magic Faraway Tree.”
“Har what is the Magic Faraway Tree? Is it scary?”
“No it is not scary. It is a story by Enid Blyton and it is so magical and amazing and I promise you that you will love it!”

And so I began. It was only a summary of the story, for it has been well over 14 years since I read it. As I predicted, the boy was hooked.

“I want Enid Blyton.”

Yay.

This past week whenever I offered to tell him a story, he would ask for the Magic Faraway Tree. I told him that I would get him the book so we could read it together. Last night at Tropicana City Mall before watching Transformers 2, I dropped by Borders to purchase the Faraway Tree series. It is a hard cover compilation of 3 books, costs RM39.90 and has the same illustrations as the books I read so many years ago. It will be my present for the boy’s upcoming birthday in early August, and in it I shall write,

“To Ryan, Happy 4th Birthday and may you have many great adventures to come. Love, Ah Yi.”

Of course I am going to read it first.

comments

Comments

  1. Ryan has such a nice Ah YI. I grew up with Enid Blyton, Famous Five and Secret Seven too. It’s such a pity that nowadays most kids don’t read these anymore. I think these books are classic and it should be introduced to every child!

  2. i love mr whatzisname! reminds me of my grandpa with his grumpiness, hehe.

  3. ShaolinTiger says

    Yah, OMG loved Secret Seven too much.

  4. kimberlycun says

    enid blyton ftw. i used to mix strawberry jam with hot water to drink because enid said it’s good!

  5. Mellissa says

    Enid Blyton is so awesomeeeee! THE MAGIC FARAWAY TREEEE! Moon Face! ๐Ÿ˜€

    “I tend to shut and slag off things and places Iรขโ‚ฌโ„ขve never tried” – like Guitar Hero?!

  6. eiling: i know!! it should be made mandatory!

    nurulazreenazlan: haha and all the short stories also!

    ST: yeah they have a secret password thing also right

    kim: did it taste good? cos it doesn’t sound very appealing when you are an adult

    mell: i’ve officially tried guitar hero ok!!

  7. I will read Snow Crash to him!

  8. Faraway Tree! I grew up wanting to build a Slippery Slip in my future home…

  9. zomg! enid blyton is awesome! I basically grew up on them lol and till now still do read them to sleep :X

  10. Do you know I used to hide in our school library when it was closed and read the Enid Blyton books? There was a store room near the stairs where the new books were kept and labelled before display on the regular shelves, and ahem, I pulled some strings so the librarian would let in me there, and boy oh boy did I read to my heart’s content. ๐Ÿ˜€ Ah the wonders of politics ๐Ÿ˜‰

  11. such a shame that it’s so hard to find the old publisher version with the hardcover… i can only find 3-in-1 here, which i ended up buying coz of desperation!!! ooooohhhh the enchanted wood…….

  12. enid blyton is bloody good shit i grew up reading her nearly exclusively

  13. During my childhood, those “children story” I read are reproduction of moral story from ancient philosophy. Scary isn’t it :p

  14. Enid was my childhood staple read too.

  15. to the idiot whose comment i deleted: don’t feel compelled to ever return to my blog no matter how long it has been, and go fuck yourself on the way out.

  16. i LOVE enid blyton as well … first book i bought was the naughtiest girl in the school. keke. i LOVE the magic faraway tree & wishing chair series! The Mallory Towers & St Claire series made me wish i was in boarding school. :p thanks for this post suanie … brings back the good ole memories ๐Ÿ˜€

  17. omg. enid blyton! It’s the bomb. we all grew up with those..my first enid blyton books were the short stories compiled into one like ‘hole in her pocket; and other short stories..the entire collection.
    and then I moved on to a big collection of Famous Five of course and Mallory Towers etc.
    Naughtiest Girl in school was my fave too. OMGOMG ENID BLYYONNNNNNNN for the win

    i still have majority of my enid blyton books at home ๐Ÿ™‚ hehee ut none can beat the Faraway Tree ! : ) Mr. moon Face ๐Ÿ™‚ hehehe

  18. VidaDomo says

    Enyd Blyton’s Famous Five was definitely part of my childhood too…
    One of the things that amazed me most from those books was reading that those kids were drinking ‘ginger beer’. How the hell could their parents allow them to drink beer before 18??? :D:D

  19. Those were pretty much the first books I started reading when I was a kid.

    I used to borrow them from my school library and I read the entire collection. But I didn’t have anybody to discuss them with, so pretty much up until I was 12, I thought the author was Gnid Blyton because it sure looked like it on the book cover.

    And up until I was 15, long after I stopped reading Enid Blyton, did I learn that Enid was a SHE not a HE.

    But then again, up until recently when he died, I always though Sidney Sheldon was a woman.

  20. enid blyton is the woman to whom i owe imagination and a love of words.

    but i still <3 harry potter ๐Ÿ˜›

  21. You sound like the Grandma here heh heh heh…

  22. i think you absolutely did the right thing. my bro and i grew up with enid blyton too. when i was older, my primary english teacher (who now holds a phd in english lit, gulp) said that it wasn’t good writing. she is a great teacher in every sense of the word, so i listened and stopped reading EB. but all the same, EB’s books are earnest, magical, exciting, and play a great part in developing a child’s imagination… and they’re definitely so much better than the airhead/violent nonsense in a majority of kids’ books these days.

    ryan’s very lucky to have you! ๐Ÿ™‚

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