X is for... ‘X’ marks the spot

Since I cannot think of a children’s character beginning with ‘X’, let’s look instead at something else that often crops up in children’s stories – the search for hidden treasure!

The idea of a marked treasure map was made popular in Robert Louis Stevenson’s book Treasure Island, published in 1883, but he wasn’t the first author to play with this concept. Thirty-four years earlier James Fenimore Cooper’s novel, The Sea Lions, begins with the death of a sailor who leaves behind ‘two old, dirty and ragged charts’, which lead to a location in the West Indies where pirates have buried treasure.

There were, however, some limitations to finding treasure in these early books. It would be helpful to be acquainted with a pirate, and to be ready to set sail on a schooner at the earliest convenience. Even to be on talking terms with a parrot would be an advantage. Luckily the Famous Five came along to show us it was perfectly possible to find treasure closer to home, although you still needed your own island.

In Enid Blyton’s Five on a Treasure Island, published in 1942, the story revolves around Julian, Dick, George and Anne finding a treasure map with the word ‘ingots’ (gold) marked by a red ‘x’. Luckily the map is of an island owned by George’s family, but before they can search for the treasure they hear the island is to be sold, resulting in a race against time.

The idea of marked maps or a code revealing the way to unknown treasure is very powerful. It crops up in adventure films (The Goonies; Indianna Jones) and books time and time again. However the skill is finding a new way to tell the story!

Treasure Island
Published: 1883
Author: Robert Louis Stevenson

Treasure fact one: I used to love making maps of fictional islands.

Treasure fact two: I also made a map of my house detailing squeaky floorboards so I’d know where not to tread when creeping downstairs early in the morning to look at Christmas presents.

Treasure fact three: I used to bury ‘treasure’ in the garden for my dolls to find. I swear some of it is still missing.

Treasure fact four: When my mum and dad moved to our house in the sixties they found a fencing sword behind the coal shed.

Treasure fact five: A recent treasure find was an old horse-shoe when I went for a walk near Glastonbury. I felt very lucky indeed!

F is for... Famous Five

The Famous Five consisted of Julian, Dick, George, Anne, and Timmy the dog. They ate smashing picnics, went off on their own, and had amazing adventures that resulted in lost treasure being found, baddies being delivered to policemen, and no one ever getting hurt.

The characters are rather two-dimensional, and their personality hangs off the attributes Enid Blyton has given them - Julian is dependable and authoritative, Dick is impulsive and rash, George is stubborn and independent, Anne is quiet and gentle. They are rarely allowed to act another way – we don’t see Julian as insecure, Dick as cautious, George as needy, Anne as demanding. In this way the characters are very satisfying to young child-readers as they can predict outcomes and ways of behaviour. For older and adult readers, who are not the audience anyway, the characters are less satisfying for the same reason, although the books fulfil a nostalgic pleasure.

When I was little I called my first cat ‘Timmy’ so we could be the Famous Two. Sadly there was a distinct lack of castles, smugglers, caves, well-spoken apologetic baddies, islands, and gypsy caravans for us to make a real good go at things. Still, we solved the Mystery of the Missing Sock, so there’s some vindication.

I still have all my Famous Five books and love to occasionally dip back into those days, back to when the sun was always shining, and mysteries were around every corner... or, in the case of the Missing Sock, in every drawer.

The Famous Five
Published: 1942 – 1962
Author: Enid Blyton
Illustrator: Eileen Soper

Famous fact one: I used to interview celebrities
Famous fact two: Favourite actor interviews were with Will Smith, Josh Hartnett and Ryan Reynolds.
Famous fact three: Favourite music interviews were with Bananarama, Level 42, and Marti Pellow
Famous fact four: Favourite author/artist interviews were with Martin and Tanis Jordan, Jason Cockcroft, and Jill Barklem
Famous fact five: I also used to make costumes for West End musicals, including The Lion King and Phantom of the Opera

Three A-Z Highlights for 'F'
Katie Mills at Creepy Query Girl posts about the Family at Creepy Manor
Our lovely instigator, Arlee Bird at Tossing it Out, posts about a Faraway Friend
Misha at My First Book talks about Fear

D is for...Darrell Rivers

I badly wanted to be Darrell Rivers from Malory Towers when I was a kiddie. She had it made – a stable family background, a gorgeous fairy-tale of a school, popular with her peers, respected by teachers, good at sports, and a talent for writing stories. Her one fault is a terrible temper, but even that only appears when she catches someone bullying or being unjust or spiteful. As role models go, she’s not a bad one to adopt.

The thing I liked most about Malory Towers is that the school life depicted was very different to my London comprehensive education. They played lacrosse, had midnight feasts, rode horses, and lived at school. We played truant, stayed up past midnight, rode buses, and lived for home time. It was a world apart, really, which made Enid Blyton’s books so enchanting!

Malory Towers
Published: 1946 – 1951
Author: Enid Blyton

School fact one: In my school the make-shift temporary huts used for some lessons were a health hazard. You had to turn the lights on with a block of wood when it was raining as water ran down the wall!

School fact two: We thought the library at the top of the school was haunted.

School fact three: Any school trip to France ended up with teachers and pupils in a Benny Hill style chase around the ferry.

School fact four: The art room was my favourite place.

School fact five: I once climbed out the bathroom window to have a sneaky ciggie on the roof and the window accidentally closed behind me, leaving me stranded. Never again!

Three A-Z Highlights for 'D'!
Niki over at Wool 'n' Nuts shares pictures of her lovely Dog tucking into Dinner!
Steven Chapman explains about that writer's cop out, the Deus ex machina
Plain Jane talks about Delicious Donuts!

Enid Blyton

Enid Blyton was so prolific an author that she must have done nothing else but write books. She produced an estimated 800 books in 40 years, so I make that 20 books a year, so approximately one and a half books a month. For forty years! No wonder everyone has read something of Enid Blyton, you couldn’t get away from her if you tried.


She produced three types of books – the ‘ordinary children have an adventure’ type (Famous Five, Five Find-Outers and Dog, Secret Seven, Adventure series), the boarding school story (Malory Towers, St Clare’s, The Naughtiest Girl) and fantasy stories (Magic Faraway Tree, Wishing Well). She also created Noddy, wrote tons of short stories and was surely surgically glued to her pen.

These type of books worked very well with me. Apart from the fantasy ones (a theme I never enjoyed, even though The Magic Faraway Tree was voted the Nation’s 66th favourite in the 2003 poll The Big Read), I frequently lost myself in the world of midnight feasts, practical jokes, mysteries and adventures. They were easy to read, often repeated key facts and had children my age (or a little older) going off totally on their own, which is very appealing.

You’ll notice time and again in popular children’s literature that the main characters are usually free of adult supervision. In fact, when writing for this age of children (7 – 11 years I think), the first thought you should have is how to bin the adults.

Boarding school stories nicely get rid of parents, mum and dad sadly dying (very early on, so no one is upset) is another good one, as then the hero or heroine lives with mad old uncle, batty old aunt and can do as they please. If there was a blueprint for these types of stories, J K Rowling surely swallowed it, as her Harry Potter books perfectly sum up what children like.

Enid Blyton knew that the way to children’s hearts was to give them power.