Tales of Toyland and Other Stories

by Enid Blyton

An Enid Blyton classic.

Genres: Childrens, Classics

184 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

See also:
Ένιντ Μπλάιτον (Greek)
Enida Blaitona (Latvian)
Энид Блайтон (Russian)
Inid Blajton (Serbian)
Інід Блайтон (Ukrainian)

Enid Mary Blyton (1897–1968) was an English author of children's books.

Born in South London, Blyton was the eldest of three children, and showed an early interest in music and reading. She was educated at St. Christopher's School, Beckenham, and - having decided not to pursue her music - at Ipswich High School, where she trained as a kindergarten teacher. She taught for five years before her 1924 marriage to editor Hugh Pollock, with whom she had two daughters. This marriage ended in divorce, and Blyton remarried in 1943, to surgeon Kenneth Fraser Darrell Waters. She died in 1968, one year after her second husband.

Blyton was a prolific author of children's books, who penned an estimated 800 books over about 40 years. Her stories were often either children's adventure and mystery stories, or fantasies involving magic. Notable series include: The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, The Five Find-Outers, Noddy, The Wishing Chair, Mallory Towers, and St. Clare's.

According to the Index Translationum, Blyton was the fifth most popular author in the world in 2007, coming after Lenin but ahead of Shakespeare.

See also her pen name Mary Pollock

Reviews

[Curlyhair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this as a child and loved it. I recently found this in a box in my loft, so decided to read again. I did enjoy it, but obviously not as much as I did way back when. Good short children’s stories and the one long one set in Toy Story Land, which is definitely my fav.

[Brit McCarthy · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's funny how a throwaway line in an otherwise innocuous children's book can leave such an unpleasant taste in your mouth. It's hard to see such a blatant display of racism and also to know it was considered normal, while all the while it was completely unnecessary and added absolutely nothing to the story. Not funny haha, of course.

I kept reading afterward, but it is really the only thing that left an impression on me about this book. It was half stories of two toys who have ditched a child's bedroom and run off to Toyland, and the other half were...some other random stories in the usual Blyton vein? I can't even remember.

I didn't realise that this was part of what I would experience in this readthrough of the Blyton Rewards series, but I guess it's part of why I wanted to do it - to see for myself. It's important to make informed judgments, especially when the author has been dead for so long.

[Annabelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading is my heaven. And if literacy were a ticket to the Pearly Gates, then every character in Toyland was my welcome committee. Some books just happen to come into your lives at the right moment, and at the perfect age. I learned to read at age seven. At eight Mama gave me this gem, my first book by Enid Blyton. Unlike my later books by Blyton, the pages were of poor newsprint quality, and the illustrations were in black and white, but no other Blyton book has come close when it comes to the age-appropriate diversity of stories and quality of storytelling found in this one. I first heard about golliwogs, pixies, and sentient, talking toys here. So too, English words which were more commonly used by the British (cross, horrid). I have read this book from cover to cover countless times, and while nostalgia may dictate my sentiments, the overriding verdict puts a premium on the stories, which wholly captivated me then, and remember as fondly now.

[Kiki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading it when I was 9, I absolutely loved the town/village life of the two main characters - Jolly and Tiptoe. The story was written so descriptively that I imagined the scene taking place as I read it, which made me love the story and became one of my top childhood novels. However, reading it back older now, I found that the author had named one of the three (if I am not mistaken) dolls that I will not specify as I'm not sure is racially offensive, the n slur. Has totally let down my expectations. It's a shame though because I had very good opinions on the book.

[Stacey Bookerworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

A touch outdated but its easy to see why Enid Blyton's books have stood the test of time. A lovely tale full of delightful characters.

[Shivani Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first book I ever remember

[Sarah A · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book greatly as a child. Just reread it as an adult to my daughter. She enjoyed parts of it as much as I did but other parts were unfortunately too old fashioned for her to understand so I ended up doing a lot of explaining which always detracts from the ongoing story. This is a good fun book but as with all older kids books, needs to be read with some adaptions and some caution.

[Michelle Wiles · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a child, Enid Blyton was my favourite author. I have recently had the opportunity to read her books again, or in some cases, for the first time. It was a real treat to be able to read this lovely collection of stories. The edition I have was actually published in 1980 and has a different cover, but is still the same book.

A lovely read for all ages.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this as a child. I wish I didn't lose my copy as I could have passed it on to my kids.