Product Description

Jo, Bessie and Fanny move to the country and find an Enchanted Wood right on their doorstep! And in the wood stands the magic Faraway Tree, and in that tree live the magical characters that soon become their new friends - Moon-Face, Silky the fairy, and Saucepan Man. Together they climb through the clouds to the top of the tree and discover the Land of Spells, The Land of Secrets and the Land of Do-As-You-like. There are lots of magical adventures to read about in this bumper 3-in-1 edition.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #106127 in Books
• Published on: 2002-07-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 560 pages

Customer Reviews

magical
I read the magic faraway tree as a child and when browsing found this book and just had to buy it! This is of course a childrens book but, I feel the book is like an original JK Rowling.. the stories throughout the book are so magical, so beautifully written and you just have to keep on reading to see what land appears at the top of the magic tree next.
The book is like a magical escapism from your day to day life and who wouldn't want to live in this tree and go to a different land at the top every day, the characters are so lovely and friendly and you can't help but, simply adore them especially Silky the fairy, what child wouldn't just adore her to be their best friend?
I was disappointed when I came to the end of the book I would have loved to read more & more. This is a book I will treasure and pass on to my own children.

An American re-write
My wife found the book she had in the loft (the first of this series of three) and my 4 year old daughter loved it. She liked the excitement of a story with ups and downs rather than the short attention span nonsense we read small children these days.

I was dissapointed to find however that this book, the combined trilogy has been Americanised. OK it's not quite Idaho but even still the quant 1940's middle class English language is emasculated and the hatchet of political correctness has fallen. The names are different with Bessie becoming Beth and Fannie becoming Frannie (couldn't have an American having to face that the English language differs around the world and it doesn't mean backside everwhere?) A cousin comes to stay called called Rick, might he have been called Dick? The word queer has also miraculously vanished.

Is this a book for sniggering teenagers or 4 year olds for goodness sake. To do this sort of PC editing robs children of the ability to see that words change their meaning and that the word queer wasn't invented as a term for 'people who love people of the same gender' but has been misappropriated.

Do yourself a favour and buy a second hand copy. This deserves 5 stars.

Magical - a must for all 4+ year olds (and parents!)
This book takes me straight back to my own childhood - no televisions (or at least a black & white one with only 3 stations), play station, Buzz Lightyear etc... My four and half year old has had to be rationed to two stories from this book a night - he is totally transfixed by it, staring into space and hanging on every word that is read to him. It's in books like this that you really appreciate Enid Blyton's skill as a story-teller - the Faraway Tree Stories should never be allowed to go out of print.

This particular edition is very good value for money though to be honest the illustrations are not great and don't add much to the book. Don't worry though - your children will love it just the same.