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sean67's review against another edition
3.0
Noddy takes off from a wood carver ala Pinocchio I guess but for Noddy things are different. He does run around starkus for a while before getting some clothes and assistance along his road to being a respectable member of society in Toyland - the first of the Noddy books which I'm sure I read as a child, but it was interesting to read now with a different view. Another plonker of a cop though, with the name Plod it is no wonder they didn't like Blyton much.
b00kr3vi3ws's review against another edition
4.0
I had a bunch of Noddy books even before I could read. My mom would read them to me and there was a phase where I wouldn’t eat until my mom read out a Noddy Book or so I am told. There were a couple of books that I knew by heart and would pretend to read out from them.
Noddy is a fun pal to have as a child.
Noddy is a fun pal to have as a child.
lucyp747d4's review against another edition
3.0
My son became obsessed with the new Noddy on Netflix so when I saw the old books in a car boot sale a couple of years ago I knew I had to get them. He is at the age now where he will fully immerse himself in a story and will happily sit there and listen for a long time.
He enjoyed this story and learning how Noddy came to be and I enjoyed reading it to him. The colourful illustrations gave us plenty of talking points and we're both excited to see what adventures Noddy and Big Ears have on the next book.
He enjoyed this story and learning how Noddy came to be and I enjoyed reading it to him. The colourful illustrations gave us plenty of talking points and we're both excited to see what adventures Noddy and Big Ears have on the next book.
oblomov's review against another edition
3.0
Year of New Authors
A refugee from an oppressive regime flees to an unknown land. When a friendly local takes him under his wing, he's taught the ways of this new country and offered financial assistance. All is going well as our little hero makes friends and even builds a home, but the law becomes involved, threatening to tear away his safety and new life. Facing asylum court, will the Judge be unwilling to overlook his physical differences, or will they grade him on the worthiness of his character? For kids!
Any gammons still reading this? Here, I'll make you arseholes feel better: in the original edition I read, there is a segregated town filled with the controversial Golliwog toys, those things that made you bellow that the 'PC brigade' had taken over when they were taken off marmalade jars in the early 2000s. Happy now? Well, on page 21 there's also a picture of one in a mixed relationship, living in the multi-cultural Toy Village, pictured right (right is the hand you cup round your mouth when booing footballers, the left is probably spilling your Stella):
Ok, now they've gone, good. This is my first Enid Blyton, despite being a fully grown man. While I obviously knew of Noddy (and its nightmarish animations from my youth), anything I heard of Blyton was usually about the modern discomfort surrounding her early works and their ensuing editing, such as Big Ears becoming Big Beard at some point, and the Golliwog toys being replaced with goblins when they're being mean, or black baby dolls in newer cartoons.
Knowing all that, I was expecting the painfully uncomfortable worst when I opened this older version of the story, and I found it to be utterly... Kind of alright?
My synopsis might be over dramatic, but it is accurate to the plot, including the 'asylum court' scene, and it's a nice tale of someone being taken in and accepted for what they do, rather than what they look like. The story itself is harmless, even progressive if you want to read it that way, it's just the questionable toys that raise an issue for a modern audience. Blyton at the very least presents the 'Gollies' in the most neutral way possible, as just another of the many types of toys living their lives (the clockwork mice also have their own segregated town, for instance), and not as inherently evil things as I thought she'd presented them (though I heard that's subject to change in her later books, which I will be unlikely to read, because this is Noddy and, again, I'm a grown man, I only read this for my year of new authors). Regardless, I think absolutely nothing is lost to the story in replacing them with a better toy for modern child readers, both because they were a horrible stereotype and children nowadays would have no idea what the hell they are (thankfully), so any kick back on the new edits seems very bizarre to me.
Another product of a glad-to-have gone age, and simutaneously a lovely example of championing refugees. Hmm.
A refugee from an oppressive regime flees to an unknown land. When a friendly local takes him under his wing, he's taught the ways of this new country and offered financial assistance. All is going well as our little hero makes friends and even builds a home, but the law becomes involved, threatening to tear away his safety and new life. Facing asylum court, will the Judge be unwilling to overlook his physical differences, or will they grade him on the worthiness of his character? For kids!
Any gammons still reading this? Here, I'll make you arseholes feel better: in the original edition I read, there is a segregated town filled with the controversial Golliwog toys, those things that made you bellow that the 'PC brigade' had taken over when they were taken off marmalade jars in the early 2000s. Happy now? Well, on page 21 there's also a picture of one in a mixed relationship, living in the multi-cultural Toy Village, pictured right (right is the hand you cup round your mouth when booing footballers, the left is probably spilling your Stella):
Ok, now they've gone, good. This is my first Enid Blyton, despite being a fully grown man. While I obviously knew of Noddy (and its nightmarish animations from my youth), anything I heard of Blyton was usually about the modern discomfort surrounding her early works and their ensuing editing, such as Big Ears becoming Big Beard at some point, and the Golliwog toys being replaced with goblins when they're being mean, or black baby dolls in newer cartoons.
Knowing all that, I was expecting the painfully uncomfortable worst when I opened this older version of the story, and I found it to be utterly... Kind of alright?
My synopsis might be over dramatic, but it is accurate to the plot, including the 'asylum court' scene, and it's a nice tale of someone being taken in and accepted for what they do, rather than what they look like. The story itself is harmless, even progressive if you want to read it that way, it's just the questionable toys that raise an issue for a modern audience. Blyton at the very least presents the 'Gollies' in the most neutral way possible, as just another of the many types of toys living their lives (the clockwork mice also have their own segregated town, for instance), and not as inherently evil things as I thought she'd presented them (though I heard that's subject to change in her later books, which I will be unlikely to read, because this is Noddy and, again, I'm a grown man, I only read this for my year of new authors). Regardless, I think absolutely nothing is lost to the story in replacing them with a better toy for modern child readers, both because they were a horrible stereotype and children nowadays would have no idea what the hell they are (thankfully), so any kick back on the new edits seems very bizarre to me.
Another product of a glad-to-have gone age, and simutaneously a lovely example of championing refugees. Hmm.
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