6. Fantasy food in The Magic Faraway Tree
The first of The Faraway Tree series, The Enchanted Wood was published in 1939 with The Magic Faraway Tree (1943), The Folk of the Faraway Tree (1946) and Up the Faraway Tree (1951) following over the next couple of decades. These novels are certainly Blyton’s foray into the fantasy genre of children’s literature and fantastical food is in abundance, think Toffee Shocks, Google Buns and Silky’s Pop Cakes! With all the stories taking place in an enchanted forest where a huge, magical tree is placed, Blyton moves away from the literal navigation of adventure on solid ground and positions it in the abstract setting of clouds and make-believe worlds somewhere beyond the far-reaching branches of the eponymous tree. It is here that Jo, Bessie and Fanny embark on their explorations with fantastical tree-top characters such as Moon-Face, Mr Watzisname, Silky and the Saucepan Man.
As Hunt suggests: “the conventional explanation for the supposed preponderance of fantasy in children’s books is a romantic one: that children are in some way closer to the unknown, the unseen and the mystical” (269). When discussing Lewis Carroll and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865), Hunt explains that within children’s book history, Carroll was one of the first writers of childhood literature to avoid didacticism and instead attempts to liberate children’s imaginations through apparent nonsense (45). If we think again of the first Golden Age of children’s literature (which began at around the time Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was first published: 1865), the beginning of The Faraway Tree series in 1939 ingratiates itself comfortably within the fantasy genre, where a child’s imagination is permitted to take root in the wonderment and delight of mystical events. As much as Blyton appears to base her island adventure novels on the Robinsonade genre, I would argue she is making full use of the fantasy categorisation in children’s literature to provide her young readers with a fantastical world of make-believe. Much of how she does this is through the use of food and this is particularly prevalent in the story The Land of Goodies.
The Land of Goodies was first published in 1943 and is quite literally a world of treats and delights which the children reach when they climb up the magic tree for their next fix of adventure! Whilst certainly drawing on the tropes of fantastical children’s literature, The Land of Goodies also resonates with the earlier form of fairy tales for children: “Look at that house!’ cried Jo. Its walls are made of sugar – and the chimneys are chocolate – and the window sills are peppermint cream!” (Blyton, 18). An obvious similarity to Hansel and Gretel which was first published in 1812, Blyton immerses her characters in a fantasy world where not only abundant treats are freely obtainable but these sweets construct the very land they navigate: “when the children picked the fruit it was really little lollipops, all neatly growing together like a bunch of grapes” (23). As Knuth argues: “children’s authors to this day borrow freely from folk materials...Carroll and other writers mined and adapted folklore and brought new forms into being, such as fantasy! (4) and I would suggest Blyton is utilising these literary forms to illustrate her own war-time fantasy for children. Unlike Hansel and Gretal, a fairy tale with frightening themes, where the house made of gingerbread and sweets is used to lure the children into the witches grasp, the abundant edible treats which structure The Land of Goodies is more innocuous, straightforward fun. The food presents pleasure and greed rather than apprehension and fright. Hansel and Gretal shows food as both of these things as well as enticement towards much sought after food: breadcrumbs left along the path for the children to follow and the edible house (which they are excited by) but also need to eat because of hunger and the instinctive human act of eating to survive. As Daniel argues: "the exoticism and richness of the sugary food in the fantasy {Hansel & Gretal} represent their ability to avoid the hunger of the peasants' daily life (64). The horror comes from the witch's desire and dedication to turn Hansel and Gretal into food themselves: fattening them up ready for a cannibalistic feast! Blyton may have borrowed the fantastical idea of a world where houses (and in her case, everything else) is constructed with edible delights, but she abandons the idea of cannibalism and 'children as food'; war-time austerity was nothing compared to the famine of peasants in the early nineteenth century.
In The Land of Goodies, Blyton expertly transports her readers to a place where sugary treats are copious and hunger is banished: “The Land of Goodies was really a very extraordinary place. Everything in it seemed to be eatable. Look that tree is growing muffins!” (Blyton,20). With a war-time austerity diet in full swing in the 1940s, it's of no surprise that such luxurious immersion in a food heaven proved so popular to child readers then; its pure decadence continues to tickle the literary taste buds of children today. A utopian, edible world of sugary delights! Blyton was a clear pioneer of fantasy food in children’s literature - who wants to bet Roald Dahl was familiar with these stories before writing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? "Do you like my grass and my buttercups? The grass you are standing on, my dear little ones, is made of a new kind of soft, minty sugar that I've just invented! Try a Blade! Please do! It's delectable! (Dahl, 80). Adventure plus fantastical, edible fancies will surely remain a steadfast success within children's literature in years to come.
Knuth, Rebecca, Children's Literature and British Identity, (4)
Hunt, Peter, Children's Literature, (45, 269)
Daniel, Carolyn, Voracious Children: Who Eats Whom in Children's Literature, (64)
Blyton, Enid, A Faraway Tree Adventure, The Land of Goodies, (18, 20, 23)
Dahl, Roald, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, (80)
My son receives a weekly subscription to The Week Junior, a children's magazine which provides simplified articles on the week's 'hottest topics'. I found it interesting to see that in the 'book section' of the magazine, where they recommend great books for children to read, Enid Blyton's The Magic Faraway Tree was included! Further proof of the long-standing appeal Blyton provides to children today.
As Hunt suggests: “the conventional explanation for the supposed preponderance of fantasy in children’s books is a romantic one: that children are in some way closer to the unknown, the unseen and the mystical” (269). When discussing Lewis Carroll and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865), Hunt explains that within children’s book history, Carroll was one of the first writers of childhood literature to avoid didacticism and instead attempts to liberate children’s imaginations through apparent nonsense (45). If we think again of the first Golden Age of children’s literature (which began at around the time Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was first published: 1865), the beginning of The Faraway Tree series in 1939 ingratiates itself comfortably within the fantasy genre, where a child’s imagination is permitted to take root in the wonderment and delight of mystical events. As much as Blyton appears to base her island adventure novels on the Robinsonade genre, I would argue she is making full use of the fantasy categorisation in children’s literature to provide her young readers with a fantastical world of make-believe. Much of how she does this is through the use of food and this is particularly prevalent in the story The Land of Goodies.
The Land of Goodies was first published in 1943 and is quite literally a world of treats and delights which the children reach when they climb up the magic tree for their next fix of adventure! Whilst certainly drawing on the tropes of fantastical children’s literature, The Land of Goodies also resonates with the earlier form of fairy tales for children: “Look at that house!’ cried Jo. Its walls are made of sugar – and the chimneys are chocolate – and the window sills are peppermint cream!” (Blyton, 18). An obvious similarity to Hansel and Gretel which was first published in 1812, Blyton immerses her characters in a fantasy world where not only abundant treats are freely obtainable but these sweets construct the very land they navigate: “when the children picked the fruit it was really little lollipops, all neatly growing together like a bunch of grapes” (23). As Knuth argues: “children’s authors to this day borrow freely from folk materials...Carroll and other writers mined and adapted folklore and brought new forms into being, such as fantasy! (4) and I would suggest Blyton is utilising these literary forms to illustrate her own war-time fantasy for children. Unlike Hansel and Gretal, a fairy tale with frightening themes, where the house made of gingerbread and sweets is used to lure the children into the witches grasp, the abundant edible treats which structure The Land of Goodies is more innocuous, straightforward fun. The food presents pleasure and greed rather than apprehension and fright. Hansel and Gretal shows food as both of these things as well as enticement towards much sought after food: breadcrumbs left along the path for the children to follow and the edible house (which they are excited by) but also need to eat because of hunger and the instinctive human act of eating to survive. As Daniel argues: "the exoticism and richness of the sugary food in the fantasy {Hansel & Gretal} represent their ability to avoid the hunger of the peasants' daily life (64). The horror comes from the witch's desire and dedication to turn Hansel and Gretal into food themselves: fattening them up ready for a cannibalistic feast! Blyton may have borrowed the fantastical idea of a world where houses (and in her case, everything else) is constructed with edible delights, but she abandons the idea of cannibalism and 'children as food'; war-time austerity was nothing compared to the famine of peasants in the early nineteenth century.
In The Land of Goodies, Blyton expertly transports her readers to a place where sugary treats are copious and hunger is banished: “The Land of Goodies was really a very extraordinary place. Everything in it seemed to be eatable. Look that tree is growing muffins!” (Blyton,20). With a war-time austerity diet in full swing in the 1940s, it's of no surprise that such luxurious immersion in a food heaven proved so popular to child readers then; its pure decadence continues to tickle the literary taste buds of children today. A utopian, edible world of sugary delights! Blyton was a clear pioneer of fantasy food in children’s literature - who wants to bet Roald Dahl was familiar with these stories before writing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? "Do you like my grass and my buttercups? The grass you are standing on, my dear little ones, is made of a new kind of soft, minty sugar that I've just invented! Try a Blade! Please do! It's delectable! (Dahl, 80). Adventure plus fantastical, edible fancies will surely remain a steadfast success within children's literature in years to come.
Knuth, Rebecca, Children's Literature and British Identity, (4)
Hunt, Peter, Children's Literature, (45, 269)
Daniel, Carolyn, Voracious Children: Who Eats Whom in Children's Literature, (64)
Blyton, Enid, A Faraway Tree Adventure, The Land of Goodies, (18, 20, 23)
Dahl, Roald, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, (80)
My son receives a weekly subscription to The Week Junior, a children's magazine which provides simplified articles on the week's 'hottest topics'. I found it interesting to see that in the 'book section' of the magazine, where they recommend great books for children to read, Enid Blyton's The Magic Faraway Tree was included! Further proof of the long-standing appeal Blyton provides to children today.
This was such an enjoyable read. I absolutely loved following the adventures in The Faraway Tree Stories when I was a child and have kept my collection! I think you chose a very fitting chapter to discuss Blyton illustrating war-time fantasy food where food is pleasurable and to be savoured. In The Folk of The Faraway Tree there is a chapter called The Land of Tea Parties which reminds me of the Mad Hatter's tea party in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I definitely see it as Blyton's take on the fantasy categorisation in children’s literature!
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