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Six Cousins #1
Six Cousins At Mistletoe Farm
After a fire at their home, Cyril, Melisande and Roderick are hastily sent to stay with their aunt, uncle and cousins on their farm. The three arrivals are somewhat spoiled and affected, and find it very tough to live on a working farm with their cousins Jane, Jack and Susan who have their own faults. Sensible Aunt Linnie helps the cousins to fit in a little and even the home cousins learn a thing or two.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1948
13 people are currently reading
309 people want to read
About the author
Enid Blyton
5,132 books6,299 followersSee 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
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
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
April 11, 2017
Enid Blyton is now not very PC - and I can understand why. Her values are middle class conservative and she is quietly racist. However, it cannot be denied that she wrote wonderful stories.
This novel is classic Country meets City - three city children of various age groups vs three country children. It is clear where the author's sympathies lie, but the interaction between them is described remarkably realistically. In the end, they end up transforming one another for the better (which means they absorb traditional conservative values, all of them).
A childhood favourite.
This novel is classic Country meets City - three city children of various age groups vs three country children. It is clear where the author's sympathies lie, but the interaction between them is described remarkably realistically. In the end, they end up transforming one another for the better (which means they absorb traditional conservative values, all of them).
A childhood favourite.
October 11, 2017
It's that time again: books from ma's house!
This is one of many Enid Blyton books I owned, and I really loved this book in particular as a kid. Really loved it. So much, the pages are falling out of it.
Basically, the jist is that three city kids go to live with their three cousins on a farm after their house burns down, where they get up to loads of shenanigans involving poaching, poetry and getting over a totally rational fear of fire. I really wanted to live on a farm, have amazing high teas with massive pies and get a cocker spaniel after reading this as a youngster. And possibly take up a side hobby in poaching. None of those things happened. I was bitter.
The character development for all the children is a lot more complex than most Enid Blyton books, and the story is very much a character driven affair with no 'adventures' as such. Mainly, I just remember really hating Aunt Rose. She was one spoilt, selfish cow who didn't care about her children at all.
This is one of many Enid Blyton books I owned, and I really loved this book in particular as a kid. Really loved it. So much, the pages are falling out of it.
Basically, the jist is that three city kids go to live with their three cousins on a farm after their house burns down, where they get up to loads of shenanigans involving poaching, poetry and getting over a totally rational fear of fire. I really wanted to live on a farm, have amazing high teas with massive pies and get a cocker spaniel after reading this as a youngster. And possibly take up a side hobby in poaching. None of those things happened. I was bitter.
The character development for all the children is a lot more complex than most Enid Blyton books, and the story is very much a character driven affair with no 'adventures' as such. Mainly, I just remember really hating Aunt Rose. She was one spoilt, selfish cow who didn't care about her children at all.
May 4, 2025
I'm on a run of comfort reads again and I enjoyed this very much as a child. As an adult it's quite a good read also. It has grown up themes to it and the characters are much more complex than usual.
Three country children who live on Mistletoe Farm have their three town cousins to stay as their house has burnt down. At first there's a great clash of wills and personalities but eventually things smooth out and they start to get on.
There's great detail about living on a farm and the work that was never ending. The Mistletoe Farm family are a tight unit and everyone has to pull their weight. It's a shock for the city cousins when they realise they too have to pitch in and help. But they also teach the others a thing or two about themselves.
A lovely reread from childhood that I could partially relate to as we always kept a few animals and all had our own jobs to do as well.
Three country children who live on Mistletoe Farm have their three town cousins to stay as their house has burnt down. At first there's a great clash of wills and personalities but eventually things smooth out and they start to get on.
There's great detail about living on a farm and the work that was never ending. The Mistletoe Farm family are a tight unit and everyone has to pull their weight. It's a shock for the city cousins when they realise they too have to pitch in and help. But they also teach the others a thing or two about themselves.
A lovely reread from childhood that I could partially relate to as we always kept a few animals and all had our own jobs to do as well.
March 26, 2008
This is an odd Enid Blyton, with far more complex character development than most of her other books.
March 29, 2015
I would've enjoyed this book much more if Jack and Jane weren't absolutely annoying hypocritical mean kids. I don't get why Enid Blyton keeps writing these horrible children and then passing them off as wholesome. It's very discouraging.
July 2, 2022
Six Cousins at Mistletoe Farm and Six Cousins Again are books that most decidedly have not been aimed at children; it is for women particularly Mothers and wives.
It is the story of Linnie and of Rose...
Linnie is the very hard working wife of a farmer with three children. The linchpin of her house as well as their very large farm.
Despite the farmhouse having no basic comforts such as electricity, Linnie works extremely hard to keep the house going with good meals and her support at all times for her husband. This strong bond is what keeps the farm prosperous.
On the other hand Rose is a town person who needs the good things a town/city has to offer. She is totally unsuited to being a farmer’s wife, but that can be remedied with time and patience, sadly Rose lacks the fortitude and disregards her husband who works very hard to keep things going. She does not bother about the money she wastes on frivolous things but after some extremely rude shocks, Rose does change...
As an adult I did learn a great deal from these two books.
It is the story of Linnie and of Rose...
Linnie is the very hard working wife of a farmer with three children. The linchpin of her house as well as their very large farm.
Despite the farmhouse having no basic comforts such as electricity, Linnie works extremely hard to keep the house going with good meals and her support at all times for her husband. This strong bond is what keeps the farm prosperous.
On the other hand Rose is a town person who needs the good things a town/city has to offer. She is totally unsuited to being a farmer’s wife, but that can be remedied with time and patience, sadly Rose lacks the fortitude and disregards her husband who works very hard to keep things going. She does not bother about the money she wastes on frivolous things but after some extremely rude shocks, Rose does change...
As an adult I did learn a great deal from these two books.
December 3, 2012
I don't think anyone could argue that this is Great Literature, but it is a book I remember with great affection because it showed me something I'd never realised before.
There is a housekeeper who looks after the children, and through the whole book the reader sees this woman through the children's eyes - and comes to know her as a character.
Right near the end of the book another adult character arrives at the farm. He's never met the housekeeper before, and sees her asleep in a chair in the kitchen. He is immediately dismissive of her - which made me instantly want to leap to her defence, and an instant later think about the differences between his point of view and the children's point of view.
Suddenly I learned something about writing!
There is a housekeeper who looks after the children, and through the whole book the reader sees this woman through the children's eyes - and comes to know her as a character.
Right near the end of the book another adult character arrives at the farm. He's never met the housekeeper before, and sees her asleep in a chair in the kitchen. He is immediately dismissive of her - which made me instantly want to leap to her defence, and an instant later think about the differences between his point of view and the children's point of view.
Suddenly I learned something about writing!
February 25, 2021
A deeper, longer and more complex read than you'd expect from Enid Blyton. I feel that this was geared towards older children. On the face of it, it's business as usual as six very different kids have to come together and have to learn to live together on a working farm; shades of her popular FAMILY series here. But Blyton takes the opportunity to go deep into character building, teaching spoilt kids humility and showing humble kids that they don't always need to be quite so humble. There are plenty of life lessons along the way, such as not judging a book by its cover, and even a little bit of the author's traditional mystery-solving at the climax. It really impressed me.
December 4, 2020
Useta like it, only slightly embarrassed.
April 21, 2021
I accidentally found it at home back as a kid and I am glad I did! This is love!
August 11, 2018
Nostalgic
August 20, 2011
Jack, Jane and Susan of Mistletoe Farm are dismayed when they learn that their three town cousins, Cyril, Melisande and Roderick, are to stay with them indefinitely after their house burns down. An inevitable town mouse/country mouse conflict arises, but both sets of cousins eventually find that they can learn a lot from each other.
Surly Jack receives a few lessons in chivalry from Cyril, who in turn learns to drop his pretentious dandy affectations. Jane, a dye-in-the-wool tomboy, begins to care more about her appearance as she becomes a young woman, and vain, fussy Melisande learns to care less about hers. Finally there are the youngest, Susan and Roderick, who manage to get past their first impressions of each other and become great friends.
Sharp edges begin to be worn away and life at the farm before the town cousins arrived becomes a distant memory. Will the harmony be disrupted by the return of Aunt Rose, the social butterfly, who disapproves of her children's new country manners?
Although Blyton's bias seems to lean more heavily on the country siblings, it's clear that she feels both sets of kids have their faults, along with some serious growing up to do. These twin novels (the sequel being 'Six Cousins Again',) break away from the likes of Famous Five and Secret Seven in that they are mostly character-driven, and I think this style suits Blyton better. These books are actually a surprisingly good read, and it's a shame they seem to have been pushed into obscurity by her more prolific series.
If you tried Famous Five and found them dull or one-dimensional, you'd do well to at least give Six Cousins a try.
Surly Jack receives a few lessons in chivalry from Cyril, who in turn learns to drop his pretentious dandy affectations. Jane, a dye-in-the-wool tomboy, begins to care more about her appearance as she becomes a young woman, and vain, fussy Melisande learns to care less about hers. Finally there are the youngest, Susan and Roderick, who manage to get past their first impressions of each other and become great friends.
Sharp edges begin to be worn away and life at the farm before the town cousins arrived becomes a distant memory. Will the harmony be disrupted by the return of Aunt Rose, the social butterfly, who disapproves of her children's new country manners?
Although Blyton's bias seems to lean more heavily on the country siblings, it's clear that she feels both sets of kids have their faults, along with some serious growing up to do. These twin novels (the sequel being 'Six Cousins Again',) break away from the likes of Famous Five and Secret Seven in that they are mostly character-driven, and I think this style suits Blyton better. These books are actually a surprisingly good read, and it's a shame they seem to have been pushed into obscurity by her more prolific series.
If you tried Famous Five and found them dull or one-dimensional, you'd do well to at least give Six Cousins a try.
July 4, 2022
HAHAHA how to even rate this.
This might be the pinnacle of what I like to call Blyton morality- you musn't be frivolous or care about your appearance or be into art or poetry in a way that is central to your identity or be a "momma's boy" but instead you must be sensible and sturdy and no nonsense but neat and pretty.
I thought both the kids and the aunt and uncle offered too little sympathy to these literal children who lost a home to a fire lol. It was actually ludicrous at times. Especially with Rodrick.
I initially thought I didn't remember this book but it all came back to me. I remember Richard meeting Melisande and Jane quite starkly.
This and the cherry tree/ willow tree farm series made me want to be a farm girl so bad.
This might be the pinnacle of what I like to call Blyton morality- you musn't be frivolous or care about your appearance or be into art or poetry in a way that is central to your identity or be a "momma's boy" but instead you must be sensible and sturdy and no nonsense but neat and pretty.
I thought both the kids and the aunt and uncle offered too little sympathy to these literal children who lost a home to a fire lol. It was actually ludicrous at times. Especially with Rodrick.
I initially thought I didn't remember this book but it all came back to me. I remember Richard meeting Melisande and Jane quite starkly.
This and the cherry tree/ willow tree farm series made me want to be a farm girl so bad.
June 22, 2025
This is one of Blyton's young adult, more long form books. Which I adore. They touch on more mature themes, and unusually for Blyton, the adult characters are fleshed out too, and not just the stereotypical archetypes is her other books.
I do love it, but I can not give it a perfect 5 star rating as there is some sexism and some stiff upper lipness that does seep through. Not a lot, but comments on how girls shouldn't be princesses but should always appear clean and tidy on a farm, but no such comments for boys. The children are looked down on and criticised for crying or showing sadness and expected to put a jolly face on it all.
There is a poacher, and everyone turns a blind eye as he's a good sort of bloke. The uncle is often harsh and uncaring. And much is made of Aunt Linnie having to carry buckets of hot water up the stairs every night, and yet her husband doesn't notice and never tries to help her.
The children are, as always, the focus of the book, with the country cousins vs the town cousins. But again, interestingly, country children aren't portrayed as perfect. They have their flaws too, and in the end, both sets of cousins are rhe better for having met and lived with each other.
I do love it, but I can not give it a perfect 5 star rating as there is some sexism and some stiff upper lipness that does seep through. Not a lot, but comments on how girls shouldn't be princesses but should always appear clean and tidy on a farm, but no such comments for boys. The children are looked down on and criticised for crying or showing sadness and expected to put a jolly face on it all.
There is a poacher, and everyone turns a blind eye as he's a good sort of bloke. The uncle is often harsh and uncaring. And much is made of Aunt Linnie having to carry buckets of hot water up the stairs every night, and yet her husband doesn't notice and never tries to help her.
The children are, as always, the focus of the book, with the country cousins vs the town cousins. But again, interestingly, country children aren't portrayed as perfect. They have their flaws too, and in the end, both sets of cousins are rhe better for having met and lived with each other.
March 27, 2025
It's a side of Blyton that I wasn't familiar with, a book about family relations that has more complex iteration between the characters than in the regular adventure or mystery books she wrote. I mean, it doesn't try to be War and Peace, it's still a children's book, but it has some nuance in the characterization.
The story follows six children—three city cousins and three country cousins—forced to live together after a family mishap forces the city family to move to the countryside. There are challenges in adjusting to farm life, learning to get along despite contrasting personalities and lifestyles, and discovering the value of family, hard work, and resilience. I liked that, even though Enid Blyton's sympathy seems to be with the rural values, she did not really make the cousins into good rural children and bad city children. Both sets of kids had their virtues and defects.
Quite an enjoyable read, and a bit different from Enid's most popular series.
The story follows six children—three city cousins and three country cousins—forced to live together after a family mishap forces the city family to move to the countryside. There are challenges in adjusting to farm life, learning to get along despite contrasting personalities and lifestyles, and discovering the value of family, hard work, and resilience. I liked that, even though Enid Blyton's sympathy seems to be with the rural values, she did not really make the cousins into good rural children and bad city children. Both sets of kids had their virtues and defects.
Quite an enjoyable read, and a bit different from Enid's most popular series.
April 3, 2024
I loved this book as a child.
Now I'm rereading it with my own and there has been A LOT of stopping for conversations on such things like sexism, fattism, shaming others, peer pressure to act in ways according to traditionally assigned gender roles, and emotional repression (and those are just the things I remember!).
BUT if you can side-step - or in our case, wade through - all of that, then it's still a very good book about a group of very different children who all benefit from having to live together.
Now I'm rereading it with my own and there has been A LOT of stopping for conversations on such things like sexism, fattism, shaming others, peer pressure to act in ways according to traditionally assigned gender roles, and emotional repression (and those are just the things I remember!).
BUT if you can side-step - or in our case, wade through - all of that, then it's still a very good book about a group of very different children who all benefit from having to live together.
September 22, 2025
I loved this book as a child, and reading it now with adult eyes and a break of some 20 years, I love it even more. All of the characters are clearly defined, even in so short a book, and watching as the cousins figure out how to live together and influence each other is great reading. It's the sort of cozy read you can sink into without any drama other than that presented by the characters interacting. And who wouldn't love the dogs in this book?!
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October 15, 2023I'm glad I added all these books to my Goodreads after all because I'm starting to realise I could easily write a thesis on Blyton. This is one of her family books which I generally enjoyed almost as much as her various mystery or adventure stories, because old-fashioned middle-class English farms were quite as exotic to me as smuggler sagas. I'm itching to reread this now.
May 19, 2020
No action, No adventure, No school, yet easily one of the best Blytons. Excellent character development and story combine for an emotional story about 3 country cousins and their 3 town cousins who come to stay.
November 30, 2020
My go to author when my brain needs to rest at the weekend. This is the tale of 6 cousins who all need to learn from each other when they have to share their home. There’s also a poacher, a hermit and a couple of dogs thrown into the mix. Perfect Saturday morning read.
August 24, 2023
i know Enid Blyton is conservative and not really looked up to anymore and i didn't entirely love the way certain things were explored now that i read this back (Jane's appearance conflict) but man, this duology just feels like home.
April 29, 2024
One of my favourite Blyton books, always a pleasure to read!
July 21, 2025
One of the much better Blyton novels. Loved it, and looking forward to the sequel.
November 22, 2015
After all this time, I still remember "Six COusins at Mistletoe Farm". I read this book a long, long time ago. I used to go to a Portuguese school when I was younger, and, as a young book curious bilingual girl who had barely finished *really* teaching herself how to read in English, a feat I've always been proud of, I remember feeling extremely compelled by the meagre section that existed in our little nook of a library.
My school went from first to ninth grade, but I recall, maybe wrongly, that most of the books *felt* as though they were meant to be for people older than me. All the books were big and heavy and dusty and old, but I loved to look through that wee little bookcase. The only author I recognised was Enid Blyton...
I'd never been too much of a fan of her books. The Famous Five, even back then, had always stricken me as being overly thought out and unrealistic. But still now, and I might be buyist, I remember feeling very attached to this few books that I read over and over, and I doubt have been appreciated properly since I've left. The plot is much more pure and simple; it's about some children who have to move into their aunt and uncle's when their own family looses money. These kids are spoilt and initially feel out of place, but end up growing up and into its fabrics.
The book can be sexist at times, I still remember when a female character is chastened for having dirty nails; a dishonour to her family. But it's simple and involving, and the rotten children changing their ways doesn't even feel forced, or coerced into not being themselves, but real growth, which, really, even now is so hard to come across. I enjoyed how everyone had flaws and personality. Inside the ever present two dimensional characters that live in children's books, each person was their own self, and everyone grew from the experience. Nobody was precious from the get go, and everyone learnt something from the clash between such different families.
I definitely recommend this; it's part of growing up.
My school went from first to ninth grade, but I recall, maybe wrongly, that most of the books *felt* as though they were meant to be for people older than me. All the books were big and heavy and dusty and old, but I loved to look through that wee little bookcase. The only author I recognised was Enid Blyton...
I'd never been too much of a fan of her books. The Famous Five, even back then, had always stricken me as being overly thought out and unrealistic. But still now, and I might be buyist, I remember feeling very attached to this few books that I read over and over, and I doubt have been appreciated properly since I've left. The plot is much more pure and simple; it's about some children who have to move into their aunt and uncle's when their own family looses money. These kids are spoilt and initially feel out of place, but end up growing up and into its fabrics.
The book can be sexist at times, I still remember when a female character is chastened for having dirty nails; a dishonour to her family. But it's simple and involving, and the rotten children changing their ways doesn't even feel forced, or coerced into not being themselves, but real growth, which, really, even now is so hard to come across. I enjoyed how everyone had flaws and personality. Inside the ever present two dimensional characters that live in children's books, each person was their own self, and everyone grew from the experience. Nobody was precious from the get go, and everyone learnt something from the clash between such different families.
I definitely recommend this; it's part of growing up.
January 29, 2015
The sequel of this book was one of the first Enid Blyton books I ever read. And I was totally addicted to the book. This book I managed to read only after 4 years. But loved the book just for the characters who I liked so much from the second book. Now after 20 years, the book still has the very same magic. I was down with cold yesterday and the book gave me hours of delight and relief. This is a simpe fun story set in a farm that talks of relationship between a set of city bred cousins and their country counterparts. The city children learn to adapt to the hard life in the country while the country children learn the cultured ways of the city. It is full of that lovely Enid Blyton feeling that is so relaxing to read.
June 30, 2024
I picked this up in a free bookshop because it was the exact same edition as the one I grew up with and loved as a child. I had to give up a lot of my Enid Blytons when I emigrated (but at least they went to a wonderful home with an English teacher friend who has a library in her classroom). I didn't even plan on rereading it; I just wanted to *have* it, but of course I picked it up to glance at the first page and couldn't put it down. That's Blyton for you. She might have some (or a lot of) outdated attitudes, including classism, racism, sexism...but damn does she tell a good story.
November 22, 2017
Another fantastic Enid Blyton book suitable for children of all ages. The six cousins have to face many challenges to get along, but as always, things work out in the end. Haven't read this one in many years, but it is definitely a childhood favorite.
January 1, 2015
Three siblings used to town life are forced to stay with their country cousins in Mistletoe Farm, a large, rambling farmhouse. There is a lot of squabbling and bickering among the cousins before they finally settle down and learn from each other.
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April 20, 2010A childhood favourite...
May 24, 2010
Read it as a kid... loved it... one of my all time favourites...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews