The Faraway Tree

But even things like there was a children's author, Enid Blyton, who wrote so much at the turn of last century.

And she wrote a series of children's books, The Magic Faraway Tree.

the magic wishing chair and just like stories that were meant to invoke things like that.

Or in Australia, we had the rainbow fish possum magic, like these stories.

I do, actually.

For fans of Enid Blyton books, who grew up like me, reading all those books, I watched The Magic Faraway Tree last night, the new movie, with Nicola Cloughlin.

It's phenomenal.

It's beautiful.

What's Her Face from Baby Reindeer, Jessica Gunner, something.

Yes, that would be my recommendation.

It's The Magic Faraway Tree.

If you appreciate a bit of children's...

The only one I know is Penella Featherington from Derry Girls.

Have you watched The Faraway Tree yet? No.

She's in that as well.

I'm

It's never the book.

And I remember Madden and I went to watch The Magic Faraway Tree on the weekend, the Enid Blyton book.

Good old Enid.

We went to watch the film and you know what I loved? We got taken away on this magical journey which in no way impacted what I read in the book.

An author's media consumption reveals the tonal frequencies and structural mechanisms they value most.

She starts by citing her childhood favorite, The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton.

A foundational text of mid-century children's literature.

It's characterized by pure, unbridled escapism and rapid inventive world building.

Yeah.

Um, as a kid, like I loved all the usual, Enid Blyton, The Magic Faraway Tree, Famous Five, Secret Seven, um, the Nancy Drews, then the Hardy Boys.

Like, I loved the detective stuff.

That, just there's something really captivating about them.

So he would read like The Fantastic Mr.

Fox and The Wishing Chair and The Faraway Tree and, and books like that.

And I, I sometimes wonder if this is why I have become a visual storyteller, is because I just lay in bed and saw the images, saw the pictures, like, created the, the world in my mind, a, a visual accompaniment to the, the stories that I was being read.

But when I took-- what brought me into reading for myself was information books because I just loved them as a child.

... was a huge influence.

The Wishing Chair stories and the, uh, The Magic Faraway Tree.

Yes.

So I loved her-