I love Enid Blyton’s The Magic Faraway Tree – but I’m happy there will be a more gender-equal version

As Jacqueline Wilson strives to reshape a childhood classic for the modern world, there are some who believe Enid Blyton’s work should remain as it is, writes Charlotte Cripps

Blyton’s books bear the mark of their time (PA)

I’m always looking at new books for big authors to interview. So, I was intrigued when I came across Jacqueline Wilson’s brand new version of Enid Blyton’s The Magic Faraway Tree, which is out in May.

The original is one of my all-time favourite classics – I love to read it to my children at bedtime. They adore all the different magical lands that can be reached at the top of the gigantic Faraway Tree with its huge slide – the Slippery-Slip that Joe, Beth and Frannie discover when they move next door to an enchanted wood and meet Moon-Face, Saucepan Man and Silky the fairy.

But Wilson – who is making her version gender-neutral – is getting backlash from the Enid Blyton Society, who claim that children need to read the original text to understand changes in society.