Enid Blyton wrote the Faraway Tree Stories in the early part of the 20th Century and they were published between 1939 and 1946 in England.

In the books, three children Joe, Bessie and Franny move to the country and discover an Enchanted Wood at the bottom of their garden. Here the trees whisper amongst themselves the secrets of the forest and the children soon make friends with brownies, elves, fairies, talking animals and the folk of the faraway tree.

In the forest, the children discover an enormous tree with branches that seem to reach into the clouds and when they climb the Faraway Tree they find it is inhabited by fantasy folk.

There is the Angry Pixie who lives in a house with a tiny window and has a habit of throwing cold water or any liquid over people who dare to peep inside.

There is Dame Washalot and you must dodge her soapy laundry water or it will drench you as she empties it down the tree.

There is also Mr Watzisname and the Saucepan Man.

There is the little fairy named Silky who is the prettiest little elf it is possible to see with her fine as silk hair like a golden mist. She’s as kind as can be and is friends with everyone, including the wise old Owl who also lives in the tree. Sometimes the Owl takes notes from her to the children.

Silky makes lovely Pop biscuits. Put one in your mouth and feel it go pop at once. You’ll find your mouth full of sweey honey from the middle of the biscuit.

Close to the top of the Faraway tree lives Moonface. He has slippery slip which treefolk use to slide to the base of the tree.

They sit on cushions and slide down inside the hollow trunk....weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

When they reach the bottom a trap door opens and throws them out into the soft green grass! A red squirrel collects the cushions and returns them to the beaming Moonface.

At the very top of the tree the children discover a ladder which leads them up through the clouds and into changing magic lands, such as the Land of Dreams or the Land of Spells.

If it's the Land of Spells you'll find all sorts of curious shops and stalls and all kinds of people selling spells-tall magic wizards, green eyed witches and a variety of fairy folk.

There are spells to make a crooked nose straight, and spells to grow blue daffodils. Spells to make a cat sing and a spell to make a broomstick fly. What spell will you buy?

One of the land you can visit is the Land of Treats.

Oh! and what treats! Circuses, pantomimes and clowns. There are roundabouts with live animals to ride on such as a golden pony! And guess what? There are balloon rides too.
There's even an ice-cream stall where you can find ice-creams in every flavour you could ever imagine. Yum.