Unfortunately, the demand for Blyton's work is still high enough that not even Amazon.com offers her works for free while other classics are often provided freely as e-books by Amazon. The prices Amazon charges for Blyton books, however, are sometimes next to free:
Naughtiest Girl In The School by Enid Blyton -- $2.99
Magic Faraway Tree (The Faraway Tree) by Enid Blyton -- $3.99
Five On A Treasure Island (Famous Five Series) by Enid Blyton -- $4.33
The Sea of Adventure (Adventure Series) by Enid Blyton -- $5.00
Blyton had some experiences early in life such as rarely occur, which provide the rich material for the books she was later to write. One experience in particular came from her father who not only nursed her through a life threatening illness but also taught her all about birds, plants and wild animals on the nature walks they would take in Beckenham, England. Another was a house she was invited to share with George and Emily Hart after graduating as Head Girl of her school in Beckenham. The Hart home of Seckford Hall in Woodbridge in Suffolk, England, was old and had secret passageways and haunted rooms that fed her avid storytelling propensities (i.e., natural inclinations).
Blyton's storytelling propensities showed up every night when she lay her head down to sleep. Instead of being greeted by sleep, she would be greeted by a whirl of stories in her head, each independent of the others but each a full narrative in its own right. At one point, Blyton had thought she would enroll at the Guildhall School of Music to continue her studies in piano but decided, undoubtedly in part because of the stories in her head, that she was better suited to be a writer of stories. In order to support herself, since she no longer lived in her parents' home, she took the advice of Ida Hunt, who let Blyton live on her farm in Woodbridge with her, and trained to be a teacher. Her first teaching experience was with kindergarteners from whom she learned that she had a deep affinity with and understanding of children. Blyton turned her early failures at securing a publisher for her submissions into an opportunity to gain "determination, character, self-reliance" since, as she saw it, "it is partly the struggle that helps you so much, that gives you determination, character, self-reliance—all things that help in any profession or trade, and most certainly in writing."
While Blyton wrote in early years on many subjects, including history, Greek and Roman mythology, nature and animals, religious topics and even drama, it is perhaps her children's stories for which she is most loved. The first story for children she`wrote that was published appeared in England's teaching periodical Teacher's World and was called "Peronei and his Pot of Glue." It is interesting to note that the "peronei" are a set of leg muscles in the outer side of the calf that allow for foot movement and allow the ankle to turn outward. One has to wonder about the symbolism this indicates for Peronei and his pot of gold. Though Blyton's books are not free e-books at this juncture, it is still possible to enjoy the adventures of The Secret Seven, The Famous Five or the character Noddy for a reasonable price with a free Desktop Kindle or Cloud or reading App for mobiles Androids or other devices from Amazon and a $3 to $5 Amazon e-book to read on it.
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