The Land of Possibilities

Tonight Eve and I have reached the last chapter of the last book from the Enid Blyton 'Magic Faraway Tree' series, kindly given to her by my good friend Hets.

MY what an incredible journey it has been! Not only have we laughed, been fearty, indignant, angry and really cared for the characters Silky, Moonface, the Saucepan Man, Jo, Franny, Bessie and the many other people we have come across (real or magical) BUT it has also revolutionised bedtime reading!

We find ourselves no longer restricted by the same colourfully illustrated books, long cared for but essentially tired after repeated use. We have both loved the sheer joyous anticipation of the next chapter, preceded by the cliff hanger of the last. The notion of a good book with enduring characters and life long stories has been introduced into Eve's life and reinforced the love of a good book in mine.

Since starting these books we have enjoyed them on camping holidays, weekends away, in the car, the garden, on the sofa... Eve has turned 5, started school, learned the alphabet, can count to infinity, told her dad to f*** off and been caught 'snogging' a boy.

All this exponential growth has occurred within the back drop of the never ending adventures of the folks of the Faraway Tree and their many different lands, in turn joyous and sinister. Eve can now almost read herself and gets huge pleasure from sounding out the title of the next chapter and folding the corner over to keep the place for the next nights story...

I will miss these books as will Eve but they have acted as a wondrous gateway of endless literary possibilities for her. The WORD is almost her oyster with so much pleasure still to be had, many of these experiences akin to falling in love for the first time. Ahhhh.