Reviewing and editing the text of Enid Blyton’s books has been an ongoing process, beginning in her own lifetime and continuing now and, we anticipate, into the future. At Enid Blyton Entertainment (owners of the Enid Blyton estate and copyright, and part of Hachette UK), our intention is to keep Enid Blyton’s books and stories at the heart of every childhood, as they have been for generations. To do so, we work to ensure that there are no offensive terms in the books – changing words where the definition is unclear in context and therefore the usage is confusing, and where words have been used in an inappropriate or offensive sense – while retaining the original language as far as is possible. This enables a very wide international audience of children to enjoy the books, while also understanding that they were written and set in the past.
There are six original books in this boarding school series. The first book was originally published in 1941, with the rest coming out in the following four years. In 2000, two new titles by Pamela Cox were published, The Third Form at St. Clare’s and The Sixth Form at St. Clare’s, followed by a further title, Kitty at St. Clare’s, in 2008. Pamela’s books were slotted in as books 5, 6 and 9 in the reading order for the series. The texts are the original ones wherever possible, with some minor editorial amendments made where necessary to bring the text in line with the editorial standards above.
In new editions of Enid Blyton books, we do not change language for the sake of modernising it. The books’ period setting is part of their charm and is enjoyed by readers of all ages. Any historic changes previously made to new editions, which come under the category of ‘modernisation’ in this context, have been or are being restored to the original text at the point of reprint.
