Of Magic Lands and Queer-Looking Folks

I was recently reminded of these children's books that I adored as a kid in grade school. These were among the first novels that I read and fell in love with that I borrowed them from the school library again and again and again. One of my sisters even thought that the book was ours because she always sees it at our place. 

The Magic Faraway Tree and The Folk of the Faraway Tree were actually the second and third books in a 4-book series written by Enid Blyton. I didn't know it at that time and I didn't really care because the novel stood on its own. The series included The Enchanted Wood, The Folk of the Faraway Tree and Up the Faraway Tree.

Both books tells the adventures of 3 siblings (Jo, Bessie and Fanny) in the Enchanted Wood. There they came across an enormous magic tree where queer-looking, yet friendly, folks live such as:

• Moon-Face - the rounded faced guy who also lives in a round house with round furniture
  
• Saucepan Man - as his name suggests, he always carries a bunch of saucepan and kettles in this body.
  
• Silky - the silky golden haired fairy
  
• Dame Washalot - this character washes clothes all the time. Residents and guests of the Magic Faraway Tree walking up and down the tree should be alert for any sound of dirty water being thrown down the tree to be able to go under cover to prevent getting wet.
  
• Mr. Watzisname - the guy who do not know his name.
  

What's more is that magic lands rests at the top of the tree every once in a while where the main characters meet more curious folks. One time there was the Land of Topsy Turvy where everyone were standing on their hands. Then there was also a Land of Spells where you can find various magic spells from making a cat sing to making things bigger or smaller.

I truly enjoyed reading these novels. It surely made my imagination run wild. And if I knew how to draw, I would have put my imagination in paper. But unfortunately, I am not really gifted in that area.

It would be nice if I could find paperback copies of these books that I can share with my boy when he's ready for this type of stories. I hope he enjoys it as much as I did.