Many thousands of words have been written about Enid Blyton. Much of the criticism levelled at her has been extremely derogatory, but there have been a number of serious attempts to analyse her work. Listed below are a selection of books that Blyton students might find interesting. The out-of-print items, though, could prove elusive.

N.B. I have restricted the list to those books I have read personally, or of which I have knowledge.

A Complete List of Books by Enid Blyton

(published by John Menzies,

foreword by EB) 1950

The Story of My Life

(published by Pitkin,

autobio. with photographs) 1952

Written for children.

Enid Blyton: A Biography (by Barbara Stoney)

(published by Hodder & Stoughton) 1974

The official biography. Indispensible, but like most official biographies, more interesting for what it does not contain.

The Blyton Phenomen: The Controversy Surrounding

the World's Most Successful Childrens' Writer

(by Sheila G. Ray)

(published by Deutsch) 1982

A learned dissertation, but since the section on the controversial story The Little Black Doll misses the point completely, it makes one fear for the rest.

The Enid Blyton Story (by Bob Mullan)

(published by Boxtree) 1987

A superb colourful look at Enid Blyton's work. Worth getting hold of a copy for the illustrations alone.

A must for Blyton enthusiasts

A Childhood at Green Hedges (by Imogen Smallwood

(published by Methuen) 1989

A fascinating series of snapshots of life at Enid's famous home through the eyes of her younger daughter. Not to be missed.

Enid Blyton: A Bibliography of First Editions

and other collectable Books (by Mason Willey)

(privately published) 1993

The first serious attempt at a comprehensive bibliograhy. 'Tis but a poor thing, but 'tis my own.

Enid Blyton: A Comprehensive Bibliography

(by Tony Summerfield)

(published by The Enid Blyton Society) 1997

Essential reading. Described by one pundit as The Bible.

Enid Blyton (by George Greenfield)

(published by Sutton) 1998

The bare bones of Enid Blyton's career by her long serving agent, and as such, it bears the mark of authority.

The Enid Blyton Dossier

(by Brian Stewart and Tony Summerfield)

(published by Hawk) 1999

A veritable feast of illustrations and artwork.

George Greenfield's authoritative precis of EB's life and career