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Family #1
The Caravan Family
NA
112 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1945
9 people are currently reading
145 people want to read
About the author
Enid Blyton
5,214 books6,358 followersSee also:
Ένιντ Μπλάιτον (Greek)
Enida Blaitona (Latvian)
Энид Блайтон (Russian)
Inid Blajton (Serbian)
Інід Блайтон (Ukrainian)
Enid Mary Blyton (1897–1968) was an English author of children's books.
Born in South London, Blyton was the eldest of three children, and showed an early interest in music and reading. She was educated at St. Christopher's School, Beckenham, and - having decided not to pursue her music - at Ipswich High School, where she trained as a kindergarten teacher. She taught for five years before her 1924 marriage to editor Hugh Pollock, with whom she had two daughters. This marriage ended in divorce, and Blyton remarried in 1943, to surgeon Kenneth Fraser Darrell Waters. She died in 1968, one year after her second husband.
Blyton was a prolific author of children's books, who penned an estimated 800 books over about 40 years. Her stories were often either children's adventure and mystery stories, or fantasies involving magic. Notable series include: The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, The Five Find-Outers, Noddy, The Wishing Chair, Mallory Towers, and St. Clare's.
According to the Index Translationum, Blyton was the fifth most popular author in the world in 2007, coming after Lenin but ahead of Shakespeare.
See also her pen name Mary Pollock
Ένιντ Μπλάιτον (Greek)
Enida Blaitona (Latvian)
Энид Блайтон (Russian)
Inid Blajton (Serbian)
Інід Блайтон (Ukrainian)
Enid Mary Blyton (1897–1968) was an English author of children's books.
Born in South London, Blyton was the eldest of three children, and showed an early interest in music and reading. She was educated at St. Christopher's School, Beckenham, and - having decided not to pursue her music - at Ipswich High School, where she trained as a kindergarten teacher. She taught for five years before her 1924 marriage to editor Hugh Pollock, with whom she had two daughters. This marriage ended in divorce, and Blyton remarried in 1943, to surgeon Kenneth Fraser Darrell Waters. She died in 1968, one year after her second husband.
Blyton was a prolific author of children's books, who penned an estimated 800 books over about 40 years. Her stories were often either children's adventure and mystery stories, or fantasies involving magic. Notable series include: The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, The Five Find-Outers, Noddy, The Wishing Chair, Mallory Towers, and St. Clare's.
According to the Index Translationum, Blyton was the fifth most popular author in the world in 2007, coming after Lenin but ahead of Shakespeare.
See also her pen name Mary Pollock
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 24, 2021
Looking at my 2021 reads so far (since we are heading towards the end of the year), I realised that I hadn’t read/re-read a single Blyton book in 2021, which is quite rare for me. So, to remedy that I picked up the first of a series I’ve been planning to read for a while, and one I hadn’t read as a child, the Family Series, its first entry being The Caravan Family which turned out to be a really simple, charming book.
In The Caravan Family (1945), we meet three children, Mike, Belinda and Ann who have been living with their mother and Granny while their father has been away the past two years (given the time, most likely in the war, though this not specified). Now that Daddy is back, the family decide to find a home of their own, dreaming of the lovely little cottage (which they’ve even named Cherry Cottage), with Ann wanting to have cows (which is strange since it turns out she is scared of them). The family look but fail to find anything suitable, the one ‘perfect’ cottage they find (on a hill with lovely views and running up the walls) turning out to be beyond their means. As they go on, Daddy’s remark that they might ‘find a home around the very next corner’ turns out fortuitous as they come upon two old caravans in a field. To Ann this seems the right answer; ‘How I wish we lived in a Caravan’, and while their mother is somewhat reluctant, they soon begin to approve the idea and buy the two Caravans. Granny, initially horrified, begins to see that this won’t be so bad at all (till they find a ‘real’ home)—with running water and stoves which not only cook but heat up the caravans—and she too, warms to the idea. And so begins the process of repairing, cleaning and decorating the caravans and turning them into a home.
The caravans are ready and the family move in, starting a life very different to what they’ve been living. All three children are excited about it, and do their chores eagerly. To their mother’s surprise, their appetites improve and they enjoy every moment of country life, heading down to the farm for eggs and milk, doing their chores and immersing themselves in the country atmosphere. Soon it happens that the farmer whose field they’ve been living on needs it back for his own use, so they must take their caravans and move on. Horses are bought (Davey and Clopper) and they set off, starting another part of their adventure.
This is a book with a really simple plot—simply a family buying a caravan and living and travelling in it, but it was full of charm and a delightful read all through (this is a very short book; just about half-an-hour to forty minutes).
The family preparing the caravan and turning it into a home was lovely to ‘watch’—as the children and Granny pick curtains and rugs, blankets and eiderdown; bright, happy colours are chosen for the outsides (yellow and red) and the things they need are fitted in. Their first evening there is also lovely with the children enjoying a tea with fresh eggs from the farm, and going to sleep to the song of a nightingale.
Blyton’s knowledge of nature and animals shines through in the book as she describes the lovely honeysuckle, moon daisies and yellow sorrel, ripening blackberries; yellowhammers and nightingales; bats and bees; and of course, the farm animals—cows, geese, horses, and dogs. I liked how she incorporated titbits of information without it seeming too much like a lesson—we learn about hay-making, milking and butter-making, and also cows and their four stomachs (to my shame, I only very recently discovered that they didn’t have upper teeth—this is brought up here as well, with poor Mike thinking Buttercup the cow has lost all her upper teeth).
The three children Mike, Belinda and Ann are done well—likeable and good-natured but also believable; they take to their chores in their caravan life happily and willingly, though we learn that earlier they were lazy and untidy; Belinda is afraid of bats, and Ann of cows and geese but as our story progresses, they learn to overcome that fear (I liked that Daddy says—‘it is because you don’t know enough about them that you are afraid of them’—true indeed for many, may be most of our fears.) (Mike’s observation that ‘boys must look after their sisters’ may jar a little with modern readers.)
Being a Blyton book, of course, there is food—fresh eggs and jam, butter, milk and cakes, but I somehow felt there was less of it than I had expected (in some of those Findouters’ books, they really gorge).
This was a lovely read about the simple pleasures of everyday life (which is not without its hard work), and of the calm one gets from immersing oneself in nature. Needless to say, I absolutely loved it.
The original illustrations by William Fyffe can be seen on the Blyton Society Page here: https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/b....
The childrens’ further adventures take them on boats and cruises, to the seaside and a farm again, and I can’t wait to get to them.
In The Caravan Family (1945), we meet three children, Mike, Belinda and Ann who have been living with their mother and Granny while their father has been away the past two years (given the time, most likely in the war, though this not specified). Now that Daddy is back, the family decide to find a home of their own, dreaming of the lovely little cottage (which they’ve even named Cherry Cottage), with Ann wanting to have cows (which is strange since it turns out she is scared of them). The family look but fail to find anything suitable, the one ‘perfect’ cottage they find (on a hill with lovely views and running up the walls) turning out to be beyond their means. As they go on, Daddy’s remark that they might ‘find a home around the very next corner’ turns out fortuitous as they come upon two old caravans in a field. To Ann this seems the right answer; ‘How I wish we lived in a Caravan’, and while their mother is somewhat reluctant, they soon begin to approve the idea and buy the two Caravans. Granny, initially horrified, begins to see that this won’t be so bad at all (till they find a ‘real’ home)—with running water and stoves which not only cook but heat up the caravans—and she too, warms to the idea. And so begins the process of repairing, cleaning and decorating the caravans and turning them into a home.
The caravans are ready and the family move in, starting a life very different to what they’ve been living. All three children are excited about it, and do their chores eagerly. To their mother’s surprise, their appetites improve and they enjoy every moment of country life, heading down to the farm for eggs and milk, doing their chores and immersing themselves in the country atmosphere. Soon it happens that the farmer whose field they’ve been living on needs it back for his own use, so they must take their caravans and move on. Horses are bought (Davey and Clopper) and they set off, starting another part of their adventure.
This is a book with a really simple plot—simply a family buying a caravan and living and travelling in it, but it was full of charm and a delightful read all through (this is a very short book; just about half-an-hour to forty minutes).
The family preparing the caravan and turning it into a home was lovely to ‘watch’—as the children and Granny pick curtains and rugs, blankets and eiderdown; bright, happy colours are chosen for the outsides (yellow and red) and the things they need are fitted in. Their first evening there is also lovely with the children enjoying a tea with fresh eggs from the farm, and going to sleep to the song of a nightingale.
Blyton’s knowledge of nature and animals shines through in the book as she describes the lovely honeysuckle, moon daisies and yellow sorrel, ripening blackberries; yellowhammers and nightingales; bats and bees; and of course, the farm animals—cows, geese, horses, and dogs. I liked how she incorporated titbits of information without it seeming too much like a lesson—we learn about hay-making, milking and butter-making, and also cows and their four stomachs (to my shame, I only very recently discovered that they didn’t have upper teeth—this is brought up here as well, with poor Mike thinking Buttercup the cow has lost all her upper teeth).
The three children Mike, Belinda and Ann are done well—likeable and good-natured but also believable; they take to their chores in their caravan life happily and willingly, though we learn that earlier they were lazy and untidy; Belinda is afraid of bats, and Ann of cows and geese but as our story progresses, they learn to overcome that fear (I liked that Daddy says—‘it is because you don’t know enough about them that you are afraid of them’—true indeed for many, may be most of our fears.) (Mike’s observation that ‘boys must look after their sisters’ may jar a little with modern readers.)
Being a Blyton book, of course, there is food—fresh eggs and jam, butter, milk and cakes, but I somehow felt there was less of it than I had expected (in some of those Findouters’ books, they really gorge).
This was a lovely read about the simple pleasures of everyday life (which is not without its hard work), and of the calm one gets from immersing oneself in nature. Needless to say, I absolutely loved it.
The original illustrations by William Fyffe can be seen on the Blyton Society Page here: https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/b....
The childrens’ further adventures take them on boats and cruises, to the seaside and a farm again, and I can’t wait to get to them.
January 13, 2018
I try to re-read all six books at least once a year. Any Blyton fan worth his or her salt knows that the best adventured include a caravan and the countryside. This book has it in spades. Mike, Belinda and Ann are the said family who together with their parents, spend the summer in two gaily painted caravans. They learn to be country children and and learn country ways like milking a cow, churning butter and collecting eggs and firewood. It's a charmingly written book that delights in its simplicity. Like every other Blyton book, Mummy and Daddy have no names, although aunts and uncles do. Ans nothing really tragic ever happens. Every adventure has a little moral to it and the story always ends happily.
March 20, 2024
Simple and short classic Enid Blyton reminded me of the famous five in their caravan
October 13, 2019
I think this Book is perfect for all ages and it is one of those books in which once you start reading you can never stop. This book has exciting adventures of 3 children and their 2 parents.
and a summary is
The Caravan Family of the title, start their lives living with Granny. It isn't long before mummy and daddy start looking for a house of their own, 'A dear little house in the country', but each one they see proves too expensive, and the family despair of ever finding a home of their own Daddy cheers her up by putting his arm around her and uttering the immortal words, 'Don't give up hope! Why, you may find a home round the very next corner. It was right around the corner and their home was 2 Caravans. The very beginning in which the family actually find, clean and move into their new properties on wheels, and half way through when the farmer in whose field they are staying needs to use the field and tells them they must move on. Then they Bought 2 horses Davey and Clooper from the farmer and went to their Uncle Ned Farm and it was about time of Haymaking and Uncle Ned didn’t have horses to cut the grass so Father lend him Davey and Clooper. And then So on they had so much fun.
and a summary is
The Caravan Family of the title, start their lives living with Granny. It isn't long before mummy and daddy start looking for a house of their own, 'A dear little house in the country', but each one they see proves too expensive, and the family despair of ever finding a home of their own Daddy cheers her up by putting his arm around her and uttering the immortal words, 'Don't give up hope! Why, you may find a home round the very next corner. It was right around the corner and their home was 2 Caravans. The very beginning in which the family actually find, clean and move into their new properties on wheels, and half way through when the farmer in whose field they are staying needs to use the field and tells them they must move on. Then they Bought 2 horses Davey and Clooper from the farmer and went to their Uncle Ned Farm and it was about time of Haymaking and Uncle Ned didn’t have horses to cut the grass so Father lend him Davey and Clooper. And then So on they had so much fun.
October 23, 2020
A change of pace for me and Blyton, as I mostly focus on her mystery stories. This one's written for much younger readers and is a near-plotless affair about a five-member family who need to move house and end up living in a pair of old-fashioned gypsy caravans instead. The book sums up an idyll of an English summer, with all of the top qualities of the life and the English countryside brought to life with no detractions. The children are the focus of the story and even though they have no mystery to solve their new life is a kind of adventure in itself as they spend their time learning their roles and adapting to the situation. I loved every moment of this feel-good story, which must be one of Blyton's shortest ever.
June 16, 2021
No matter how old you are, 'The Caravan Family' would not disappoint you. For some reason I find it very nostalgic and loved every moment with the caravan family from farmer's land to uncle Ned's house and even after that. Enid Blyton is truly a magician to write such sweet little stories that sooth your mind no matter at which point you are in your life journey. I would say it's a must read for every child.
May 27, 2015
Ended very suddenly. Seemed rushed
December 29, 2017
It was a simple and great story for the children to read......
December 1, 2020
I was in the perfect mood to read this. My 30 year old self appreciates this
July 21, 2018
I liked the way dad said their home might be just around the corner and mum laughed but it actually was. I Liked the way that granny got massively exited about what she could do with the caravans when she saw them. I think it is a good book and it's appropriate for all ages.
June 28, 2020
Some of the language has obviously dated and I do wish she didn't bring prayer or God into every book in this series. But otherwise my 5yr old enjoyed it :)
July 24, 2021
The family live in a caravan until its time to go back to school again. Very short story for young readers, but as always the scenes of country life are so enjoyable
Read
November 24, 2024was feeling nostalgic, childhood throwback🥹
September 20, 2025
I thought this was just the most adorable book to read.
Really very lovely indeed. And well written.
Really very lovely indeed. And well written.
April 7, 2015
I've started reading these to my 4 year old daughter and am really loving re-reading them! The stories are beautifully simple - very little happens but the descriptions are gorgeous and the stories are gentle but interesting enough to hold the attention. I'm so excited to read all of the adventures!
January 2, 2013
Wonderful Stories for Children
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 2, 2014
My first novel
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews