Category Archives: Characters

Five Have Plenty of Character by Vanessa Tobin

Five Have Plenty of Character: A Personality Guide to Enid Blyton’s Famous Five is a self-published book written by Vanessa Tobin. The name tells you exactly what it is, an examination of the characters of the Famous Five. The blurb … Continue reading

Rate this:

Posted in Book reviews, Characters, Other Authors | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

My top five St Clare’s villainesses by Chris

I suppose the St Clare’s books were mainly aimed at girls, and I probably wouldn’t have read them as a child had I not had five sisters, four of them older than me, and so I inherited their copies. For … Continue reading

Rate this:

Posted in Characters | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

The Famous Five’s other companions

Recently I wrote about the Famous Five’s sidekicks, but I didn’t include every child they met on their adventures. There were several who, although they either appeared in a significant chunk of the book, or contributed to the adventure, for … Continue reading

Rate this:

Posted in Characters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Five Have Plenty of Fun part 2 – Quentin and Elbur

Last week I started my review of Five Have Plenty of Fun, but all I really covered was Berta (aka Lesley, Leslie and Jane) and the similarities I spotted between that book and some others by Blyton. Despite the fact … Continue reading

Rate this:

Posted in Book reviews, Characters | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

A guide to the Famous Five’s sidekicks

We all know about the main Famous Five cast, but what about the various friends that show up throughout the series? They never had any long-term sidekicks, no Robin, no Samwise Gamgee or Watson, but in several stories they had … Continue reading

Rate this:

Posted in Characters | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Five Go to Mystery Moor part 2 – George and Henry

Last week I reviewed the main story of Five Go to Mystery Moor, and now it’s time for the comments, nitpicks, questions and so on that I always seem to have these days. I have an awful lot which relates … Continue reading

Rate this:

Posted in Book reviews, Characters | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Miss Grayling’s Girls 7 – the rest of her teachers

I seem to preface an awful lot of posts with ‘It’s been a while since the last one of these’ lately. I have a terrible habit of enthusiastically starting a series of posts and then running out of steam despite … Continue reading

Rate this:

Posted in Characters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Miss Grayling’s Girls 6 – her best teachers

This should really be titled Miss Grayling’s Ladies, I suppose, but as all the other parts have girls in the title I stuck with consistency and not accuracy! Previous parts, about the various girls that attend Malory Towers, can be … Continue reading

Rate this:

Posted in Characters | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Five Go to Smuggler’s Top part 3: a focus on Uncle Quentin

Unlike the 70s TV series in the books Uncle Quentin doesn’t turn up at the end of every adventure (only a slight exaggeration) to resolve everything. Normally he is to be found skulking around Kirrin Cottage slamming doors and shouting when other people are noisy. I have reviewed … Continue reading

Rate this:

Posted in Characters | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

What would Enid Blyton’s characters be unwrapping for their Christmas?

When I wrote my Enid Blyton Gift Guide I started wondering what the children in her books would be unwrapping on Christmas day. It was a very different world in the 1940s, 50s and 60s especially in the idyllic bubble … Continue reading

Rate this:

Posted in Characters | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Jack Arnold, part 2

Previously I looked at Jack’s origins and all his clever ideas for running away. Jack the captain Being the oldest and most responsible Jack is quickly declared captain of the little group. The children obey him without question and, in … Continue reading

Rate this:

Posted in Characters | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Jack Arnold

I had initially intended to just feature Jack Arnold as my character of the week a few Mondays ago (and in fact I did) but I wrote so much for what should have been a 2-3 hundred word paragraph that I realised … Continue reading

Rate this:

Posted in Characters | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Miss Grayling’s Girls 5 – the successes

So far I have introduced Miss Grayling and the role she plays at Malory Towers, looked at some failures, experiments and girls who almost messed up their schooling. Now I’m going to have a look at the girls who can … Continue reading

Rate this:

Posted in Characters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Miss Grayling’s Girls 4 – the ones who almost messed it up

Not every girl fits neatly into ‘success’ or ‘failure’. Some are distinctly one or the other by the end, some change back and forth through the years and some are a grey area all the way through. Some of these … Continue reading

Rate this:

Posted in Characters | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Miss Grayling’s Girls 3 – the experiments

Not every girl fits neatly into ‘success’ or ‘failure’. Some are distinctly one or the other by the end, some change back and forth through the years and some are a grey area all the way through. A few girls … Continue reading

Rate this:

Posted in Characters | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Miss Grayling’s Girls 2 – the failures

As I said in my previous post not every girl at Malory Towers is a success, though there have only been two real failures. GWENDOLINE MARY LACY Gwen is Malory Towers longest-lasting non-success and unfortunately she doesn’t turn things around … Continue reading

Rate this:

Posted in Characters | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments

Miss Grayling’s Girls – an introduction

Miss Grayling is the headmistress at Malory Towers. She is ultimately responsible for all the girls at her school, down to accepting their applications to be pupils and expelling them if they cannot be kept on. She is quiet, dignified … Continue reading

Rate this:

Posted in Characters | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

Philip Mannering’s animals – an essential A-Z guide

Philip has a magic way with animals and can tame just about anything to want to live in his pockets. He never keeps anything as banal as a cat or dog, but it would not be unusual to see a … Continue reading

Rate this:

Posted in Characters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Blyton’s Fathers

A while back I wrote a post about Blyton’s mothers and then I had a sudden thought – what about Blyton’s fathers? Given that it’s Father’s Day this Sunday, it seemed like a good time to write about them. Her … Continue reading

Rate this:

Posted in Characters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Blyton’s Funniest Animals

Now we all know that Enid Blyton wrote about a lot of animals, in fact almost every story she wrote had an animal of some kind in it. The great thing about her books is that she made every kind … Continue reading

Rate this:

Posted in Characters | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments