Start thinking about the importance of developing your child's power to visualize stories in his or her mind.
Yes, picture books are fab, but there is also something powerful in a short story with very few illustrations.
Good news for parents - Enid Blyton's Popular Rewards series of books - which consists of dozens and dozens of books - will help you children enter a new world.
In this book, you have as many as eighteen great stories from the uncrowned Queen of Children's Literature herself - Enid Blyton.
Admittedly, Enid Blyton is not everyone's favorite children's author these days. But stop listening to boring grown-ups.
The voices of young boys and young girls have spoken clearly over the past 50 or so years. Namely, Enid Blyton remains one of the most loved children's authors and she is one of the most translated authors the world over.
To put it differently: place a child in a room with an Enid Blyton book. Then watch what happens.
Yes, this experiment has been replicated world over - with the same result.
The child and the book become almost like one.
They merge.
They are inseparable.
The principal problem that you may face as a parent is that once you start adding books from the Popular Rewards series to your home library, there is no way to know where will you end.
Enid Blyton is not to be missed and Twelve Silver Cups and Other Stories is as good a way to start as many other Popular Rewards editions.
The illustrations are relatively few and far between, in fact there are around 3-4 illustrations per story, all in black and white.
All the stories have a moral and are excellent for discussing relevant issues with your kids.
For example, story no. 11 ("It Was Only a Little Thing") provides children with great insight into what happens when a small incident (John's failure to listen to his Dad's instructions) develops into a major traffic accident (no victims, fortunately!).
Story 12 (The Blown-Away Rabbit), meanwhile, is a fantastic and fun tale of a friendship between a duckling Waggle-Tail and a bunny named Bobbin that is tested through two difficult situations.
Enid Blyton's short stories are an unmissable treat, even if some of the stories have aged somewhat.
Twelve Silver Cups is available from bookstores in the US:
The Book Depository (free worldwide shipping)
and other countries:
Do you know if the text in this book is the original or the modern updated version? Usually the copyright bears the year. I am a big fan of enid blyton myself and now enjoy them with my daughter but want original text. On a sidenote, I don't know if you have had the chance to check out Beverly Cleary? Loving her books.
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