Enchanting escapades

A touch of magic, the pull of exciting adventure, pixies and lands waiting to be explored — Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree series will now wow you on the big screen too.

The Folk of the Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton

October 22, 2014, marked a new high. On this day, it was decided that Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree series would make its way into movie theatres. With Director Sam Mendes acquiring the rights to the series, the books that entertained us will now come alive on the big screen.

Magic on the tree The tree is so tall that its topmost branches reach into the clouds. It is wide enough to accommodate small houses in its trunk — houses of magical folk like Moon-Face, Silky, Saucepan Man and Dame Washalot.

When siblings Jo, Bessie, and Fanny move into a house nearby, they discover the forest and the tree. The tree gives them adventure and magic. They even discover a ladder leading them into the clouds! Silky, Moon-Face and Saucepan Man become their friends instantly. The angry pixie, Dame Washalot and Watizisname initially stay aloof, but come around eventually. Their adventures atop The Land of Topsy-Turvy and The Land of Do-As-You-Please are unforgettable.

Published between 1939 and 1951,

The Enchanted Wood, The Magic Faraway Tree, The Folk of the Faraway Tree and Up The Faraway Tree have sold more than 50 million copies and generations have grown up reading them . Now that the movie is here, it may be time to revive the magic through the books. Did you know?

The Faraway Tree made its first brief appearance in Yellow Fairy Book .

In 1948, the first part,

Up The Faraway Tree was published in

Sunny Stories Magazine in picture-strip form. The complete story was eventually put together as a picture book in 1951.

In 1952, a four-part story appeared in Sunny Stories Magazine . The story, The Faraway Tree, was also included in Enid Blyton’s Omnibus published the same year. It was a special book that contained four other stories featuring popular characters.

In 2002, Dean published a collection of six books featuring original novels from popular series. The Faraway Tree Collection is the first in the series.

There have been a couple of Faraway Tree games over the years, including the jigsaw puzzle produced by BeStime as part of their numbered series throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and a card game.