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Amelia Jane #1

Naughty Amelia Jane!

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Look out! Amelia snips the tail off pink rabbit, squirts Tom the soldier with water and gets up to mischief at the beach. The other toys try to teach the terror of the toy cupboard to be well-behaved, but will they succeed?

186 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1939

49 people are currently reading
660 people want to read

About the author

Enid Blyton

5,134 books6,310 followers
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

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5 stars
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538 (28%)
3 stars
532 (28%)
2 stars
121 (6%)
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31 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
Profile Image for chev ۫ ꣑ৎ.
289 reviews372 followers
June 6, 2022
Funny yet interesting, the doll Ameljia Jane is here to stir up trouble (again!)
5/5 Chev's picks

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12 reviews1 follower
Read
October 26, 2011
This is story about a mischievous doll named Amelia Jane. All the store-bought toys in the nursery are always well behaved, but homemade Amelia Jane is always up to tricks.

Amelia Jane can never be good for more than one week. She often plays nasty tricks on the other toys and gets them all into trouble. As a result, the toys always try to teach Amelia Jane a lesson by playing some tricks on her, but Amelia Jane never learns. With every trick she plays, someone always ends up hurt, and sometimes even she gets upset.

After each trick Amelia Jane plays she promises to be good, but never remains true to this promise. Through the actions of Amelia Jane it is very easy to highlight the dangers of being naughty and playing tricks, which would be helpful when teaching children about right and wrong. Also, no matter how naughty Amelia Jane has been, the other toys in the nursery always help her when she is in trouble or frightened, teaching the lesson 'treat others as you would like to be treated'.

Overall it is a very good book, with lots of lessons hidden in each chapter.
Profile Image for Alice Biggerstaff.
36 reviews1 follower
September 24, 2019
I couldn’t put this book down as a child, I loved finding out what Amelia Jane would get up to next!
Profile Image for C.X. Blake.
Author 2 books4 followers
May 10, 2022
amelia jane can get a whopping that gorl literally needs some manners. send her to professor umbridge yall
Profile Image for Tara  Book Queen.
95 reviews7 followers
June 22, 2022
She's so naughty, read this to Nina and I'm hoping she doesn't get any ideas 😂
Profile Image for Nurdhiya Adriana.
5 reviews1 follower
October 14, 2021
This book was so fun to read.Her pranks are just(wow).And i already read all the books.This book was very SWAG.Amelias pranks was SWAG. Okay thank you for reading my review.🥰
Profile Image for Akcherrybomb .
229 reviews18 followers
August 1, 2022
An Enid classic from my childhood. A naughty dog who always plays tricks on the other toys.
Profile Image for Jennifer (JenIsNotaBookSnob).
997 reviews14 followers
November 3, 2019
I need to note that the copy I purchased no longer has the Golliwog character in it. He's been replaced with a toy soldier named Tom.

I hadn't realized how controversial Enid Blyton's books were. I've managed to somehow, accidentally, buy just cleaned up versions of Enid Blyton where names and characters have been changed a bit. Thus, I always enjoyed Blyton and was none the wiser..

Then I was reading a Famous Five book, came across a character named Sooty and got concerned and then found the rest of the story via Google.

Before I get into all of that- if I wouldn't have known about Enid Blyton, I would have liked Amelia Jane. The stories get very repetitive, it's always Amelia doing the same ridiculous nonsense. Amelia Jane is very, very naughty. It is interesting that, much like Toy Story, the toys come to life when no one is around and then drop limp when someone shows up. There is also a cowboy doll in one of the stories.. Hmm..
Amelia Jane is much like Horrid Henry- she is consistently bad only behaving for very brief periods of time.
While reading this, it put me in mind of a book that does this better. If you like this, but, want something a little less mean and controversial- I highly recommend the "My Naughty Little Sister" books by Dorothy Edwards. I'm not sure if Dorothy was a better person or not, but, a brief google search turned up nothing shocking. The character is a little girl instead of a doll and she does get into trouble, but the story is so much more charming.

Anyhow, I generally try not to learn too much about famous authors because honestly a huge percentage of them weren't great people. I want to be able to enjoy the book distinct from the author because otherwise there will be very little older books left to read. HOWEVER, Enid Blyton mixes her views up in her stories, many of which have been doctored. If you are buying reprint Enid Blyton books for a child, I suggest a quick scan through the book at least to make sure your getting the version you expect. I was looking forward to buying some vintage versions of her works because I buy a LOT of vintage juvenile fiction. Definitely won't be buying these as the Golliwog character looks like the worst kind of blackface.

I don't believe in censoring as a general rule, however, entry level chapter books like Amelia Jane are sort of expected to be relatively 'clean'.
Profile Image for Susan.
140 reviews1 follower
August 10, 2018
This is one Maggie's favorites. Why? Because Amelia was naughty but she does truly have a good spirit.


I read this with my 8 year old daughter. We are huge fans of the Faraway Tree and when we saw this Enid Blyton book at a friend's house, we knew we needed to read it. A similar storyline to Toy Story yet their is a mischievous handmade doll who knowingly wreaks havoc in the toy room. Honestly Amelia Jane's antics are slightly outdated but my daughter enjoyed them anyway. The language is simple enough that she helped me read. The above review was written by my daughter.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for The Bauchler.
537 reviews15 followers
November 14, 2020


This brief review is of the series.

There’s a casual reliance on violence to solve problems and some surprisingly clever storylines.
With an eponymous anti-hero who is refreshingly, genuinely unlikeable.

There is a cycle of conflict which provides the mechanism for each story. She plays tricks on the toys, the toys gang-up on then ostracise and finally punish her, so she misbehaves more by playing tricks on the toys…

She becomes a figure of pathos - she is lonely.

If a kid reads it I’d hope they ahve the emotional maturity to understand that this is what is important to take away from the story.

Not that violence is permissible to solve issues.

Profile Image for Myaa.
146 reviews
March 7, 2015
I remember reading this book as a child and enjoying it. This is one book which thought me not to judge a book by its cover because when my mom first gave it to me, I said "mom, this looks so boring" and I was obviously wrong. I have always been a big fan of Enid Blyton and have always enjoyed her most of her books like 'Thirteen O'Clock' and '12 silver cups' but the Amelia Jane series is very different. This is the sort of book any growing up child should read. It has very simple grammar and the book has something very catchy about it, and if you have never read it, now is the time.
Profile Image for Ruthliz.
29 reviews8 followers
September 20, 2013
I thought Naughty Jane would completely reform or be taken away by the children so that the other dolls could love in peace.
But I still like the fact she scars her hand and she will always remember that she got it by being naughty and mean
6 reviews
Read
November 10, 2012
Enid Blyton used to be my fav author whn i was 10..!!!
Profile Image for beckys_book_blog .
575 reviews40 followers
May 12, 2021
This is another series of books where we have read every one!

My daughter loves Amelia Jane and finds it very funny to read about all the naughty things she gets up to! Luckily the other toys always stop her causing too much mischief and try to teach her to be good. She even comes to their rescue sometimes!

My daughter loves to think her toys come to life when she's not there to watch so she loves reading about what happens when these toys are left alone in their playroom! A great classic series to read together and another good early chapter book. There are lots of lovely illustrations throughout these books too which my daughter loves.

Synopsis from Amazon:

Amelia Jane has an uncanny knack for getting herself into mischief and into trouble with the rest of the toys in the playroom – from snipping off pink rabbit's tail to tipping a bucket of sea-water over Tom the toy soldier on a trip to the seaside. But really, Amelia Jane has a brave and adventurous heart of gold - and when the toys need rescuing from naughty goblins or big waves, it's Amelia Jane to the rescue!
Profile Image for Thomas.
280 reviews4 followers
December 30, 2021
Read ATY 2022: book with handwriting on the cover
atrcious book basically naughty girl does horrible things jsut becuase she is practically a sadist and after it goes wrong shows breif remorse before going back, while sorroudned by stock characters that never come in to their own. It reaches it's zenith with an inncoecnt cat spanked for what she did not only horrible ( she even enjoys listening) but unncesary as the humans manage to miss much more obvious things.
63 reviews
January 1, 2022
I needed to read one more book to reach my goal. And it's the last day- so I needed something quick.

My little sister-in-law recommended this book.

Well. I gave it a second star for her sake.

Moral of the story- people don't change... I guess?

Beware of the pride cycle.

Also, it has a racist line. So there's that.
Profile Image for Scott.
Author 25 books43 followers
May 12, 2022
Each chapter is a new story about a doll called Amelia Jane who is always naughty. The other toys seek revenge and Amelia learns a lesson… until the next chapter.
I bought these in a secondhand bookshop for my daughter so will only read the first three in this series.
Think Toy Story mixed with (Denis the Menace).
Profile Image for Maria Carmo.
2,056 reviews51 followers
April 4, 2024
This ancester of Toy Story has a witty main character who infuriates everybody; the big doll Amelia Jane. Her adventures are all around her mischiefs, and the way in which she infuriates other toys... But, at the end, they must always forgive her, as she also demonstrates courage and compassion.

Maria Carmo,

Lisbon, 4th April 2024
Profile Image for Ali.
1,089 reviews7 followers
March 17, 2018
I would give this doll away but Amelia Jane’s redeeming feature is that she does accept her mistakes and consequences. She doesn’t seem to learn lessons from them which makes these stories enjoyable to children. These stories popular with kids who like that she is not perfect.
57 reviews
May 3, 2019
Franny: I really like this book because it brings silly toys to life and they go on adventure all around the city. She plays lots of tricks on the other people bu never gets caught by humans. I give this book 4 stars because they could have put more in about the humans.
Profile Image for Louise Cowell.
246 reviews2 followers
May 27, 2020
Just a good old Enid Blyton book with short chapters which are short stories within themselves so can be read 1 at a time or in a whole sitting. While the edition I read was from 80s and maybe wouldn’t be the same now a days for political/stereotyping reasons, I enjoyed this book.
Profile Image for Abigail.
130 reviews
January 20, 2024
I lovedd reading this as a young girl. I was a pretty good kid so I used to live vicariously through her antics. I wouldn't worry about her behaviour rubbing off on a child that reads this because I mainly remember learning through her mistakes... what not to do, how to resolve issues etc.
6 reviews
April 23, 2024
I'm 16 and well so I can't think of it as a kid. It is a nice story and as Blyton has been one of my fav writers since the five series, I absolutely love anything by her. It is quite nice for kids under 10 years of age.
Profile Image for Dionee.
14 reviews
February 9, 2018
read this as a child and it was very good but Amelia Jane scared me alot.
Profile Image for Siri.
15 reviews
December 5, 2021
It was a very funny book and I really enjoyed reading it .
Profile Image for Rose.
18 reviews
January 12, 2022
I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!!! This is a very exciting book and very fun too and it’s very very very very very good
1 review
July 16, 2022
Great book.
I loved how Amelia never leant the lesson all the other toys were trying to reach her.
I recommend it to little girls and teen girls.
Profile Image for Smile.
25 reviews
August 14, 2022
As a child I really loved it. I read it in my own language and as a small kid with fantasy this book gave so much happiness to me. Till to this date I keep this book so close to me
Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews

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