A review by roseslibrary2023
The Enchanted Wood by Enid Blyton
5.0
5 Stars
The book achieves what it sets out to do: an escapism from reality and being a combination of childhood fantasies. I read this book as a child and it left such a positive impression that I re-read it when I was a teenager and now as an adult.
The book is imaginative and I love the concept of the tree with the different lands that appear at the top. I used to imagine what life would be like living in the tree with all the other magical characters. Its a great bedtime story to wind down to and it will always be one of my favourites.
However, the book plot is arguably quite "safe"- even when it gets a bit dicey, everything always works out for the characters. I've seen other reviews identify this as well. I think its a valid criticism as part of growing up is understanding that your actions have consequences and not everything works out in your favour. Childhood books are an excellent way to teach children this, so it would have been good to see some of this in the novel. This also means the characters don't develop and stay the same throughout.
I also find this cover of this book quite creepy, I'm glad its been changed since! I own this book with an updated version.
I would recommend this book. My rating is very high because of my nostalgia, I couldn't give it less than 5 stars despite its plot faults.
The book achieves what it sets out to do: an escapism from reality and being a combination of childhood fantasies. I read this book as a child and it left such a positive impression that I re-read it when I was a teenager and now as an adult.
The book is imaginative and I love the concept of the tree with the different lands that appear at the top. I used to imagine what life would be like living in the tree with all the other magical characters. Its a great bedtime story to wind down to and it will always be one of my favourites.
However, the book plot is arguably quite "safe"- even when it gets a bit dicey, everything always works out for the characters. I've seen other reviews identify this as well. I think its a valid criticism as part of growing up is understanding that your actions have consequences and not everything works out in your favour. Childhood books are an excellent way to teach children this, so it would have been good to see some of this in the novel. This also means the characters don't develop and stay the same throughout.
I also find this cover of this book quite creepy, I'm glad its been changed since! I own this book with an updated version.
I would recommend this book. My rating is very high because of my nostalgia, I couldn't give it less than 5 stars despite its plot faults.