Children literature! What do you think when you hear this word? Probably your mind is picking some of the childhood storybooks that you have read during your school days.

Enid Blyton is the author of today's selection and if you haven't read Enid Blyton's stories in English, surely your parents must have enjoyed their translations in Pakistani magazines.

Annemarie Blyton's English-language children's stories have been among the world's best-selling books since the 1930s. According to an estimate, more than 60 crore copies of the books written by her have been sold till date. Bulletin books are still very popular today and you can easily give them to your children to read.

Her books have been translated into 90 languages worldwide. Her first book, titled 'Child Whispers', was published in 1922 and was a collection of 24 pages of poems.  She wrote books on every subject, including education, history, fantasy, mysticism and religion.

She is still highly remembered for the stories like Noddy, Famous Five and Secret Seven series, which are still very popular today.

After the commercial success of early novels such as Adventure of the Oceaning Chair (1937) and The Enchanted Wood (1939), Billiton began a literary empire. She wrote fifty books a year, along with writing in his magazine and newspaper. She had no formal plan to write a fiction story; she just wrote stories based on the events that happened in front of her.

Due to the lack of literary flavor in Enid Blyton's writings, some libraries and schools banned her books, and for this reason, the BBC refused to broadcast her from the 1930s to the 1950s. Since her death in 1968, she has been one of the best-selling authors ever. This is the reason why her name will be remembered for centuries.

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Short biography

Enid Billiton was born on August 11, 1897, in East Dulwich, South London, the eldest of three children. After her birth, Enid developed a cough so severe that it seemed impossible for her to survive. But Enid's father loved her very much, so he treated Enid very well and took good care of her. Enid's father used to take her to scenic spots, which sparked her interest in nature. In her autobiography, Enid wrote, "My father loved flowers, birds and wild animals and was also interested in gardening, art, music, literature and the theater." He kept me with him; that's why I also got interested in the arts.

From 1907 to 1915, Enidbleton attended St. Christopher's School in Beckenham, where she became the school tennis champion and captain of the school team. She was not very good at all academic subjects but continued to excel in writing stories and poems and, at that time, started actively participating in poetry and prose competitions.

Blayton's father taught him to play the piano; at some point, she became quite proficient. Blyton considered enrolling at the Guildhall School of Music, but then came to the conclusion that she was better suited to be a writer. After completing her education, Billiton was introduced to children at a nursery school, and recognizing her natural affinity with them, she enrolled in a teacher training course at the same school in September 1916. From here, she started writing stories while living with children.

Publishers rejected drafts of the Bulletin on numerous occasions, but she persisted, and in March 1916, her first poems appeared in a magazine. She completed a teacher's training course in December 1918 and began teaching at Buckley Park School in Kent the following month.

Enid Bulletin Books

If you start listing the books and stories written by Enid Blyton, you might get tired. Enid has written 186 novels or novelettes, 282 character books, 997 short story books, 272 educational books, 362 entertainment books, 235 sequels and 297 contribution books—so many that it would take you years to read them. If the stories, poems and plays in these books are counted, then this number becomes 10 thousand 900 and if many stories or poems are included in the books again and again, then their total number becomes 7 thousand 500. She remained a big writer in children's literature and will be greatly remembered for her works.