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The Faraway Tree #5
Adventure of the Goblin Dog
Adventure of the Goblin Dog is a stand-alone Magic Faraway Tree adventure by the world's best-loved children's author, Enid Blyton.Discover the magic! Travel to the top of the Magic Faraway Tree with Peter and Mary on their quest to rescue a princess.Explore Fairyland in this truly magical story, where you'll encounter the Goblin Dog, rescue a princess and visit the Land of Storytellers. This is an irresistible story for all who've ever stepped into the Enchanted Wood and a fantastic introduction to the Magic Faraway Tree stories for new readers. This story first appeared in 1936 and was made part of the Magic Faraway Tree world in 1952, featuring different children discovering the Faraway Tree. The Magic Faraway Tree series is one of Enid Blyton's best-loved and most enduring creations.***The Magic Faraway Tree , Enid Blyton and Enid Blyton's signature are Registered Trademarks of Hodder and Stoughton Limited. No trademark or copyrighted material may be reproduced without the express written permission of the trademark and copyright owner.
208 pages, Paperback
Published August 6, 2019
31 people are currently reading
223 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 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 28, 2024
4 stars.
I loved this outing to the Enchanted Wood once again, and although I was slightly disappointed at how little the Faraway Tree featured in this story, Enid Blyton almost never fails to write a story that puts a smile on my face. Unlike the first 3 books in the series, I hadn't read this as a child and it was quite fun to experience a new story in this universe. Again unlike the first 3 books, this one features a single longer adventure where the children essentially visit only one land, as opposed to the several that they do in the earlier books.
I liked Peter and Mary as the main characters, as twins they have a slightly different interaction style / vibe to the three siblings where Jo is very clearly the big brother. They also have a single objective - to rescue the princess and bring her back to Fairyland, a quest that is accompanied by the usual Enchanted Wood-esque hijinks. I thought the Goblin Dog !
I loved this outing to the Enchanted Wood once again, and although I was slightly disappointed at how little the Faraway Tree featured in this story, Enid Blyton almost never fails to write a story that puts a smile on my face. Unlike the first 3 books in the series, I hadn't read this as a child and it was quite fun to experience a new story in this universe. Again unlike the first 3 books, this one features a single longer adventure where the children essentially visit only one land, as opposed to the several that they do in the earlier books.
I liked Peter and Mary as the main characters, as twins they have a slightly different interaction style / vibe to the three siblings where Jo is very clearly the big brother. They also have a single objective - to rescue the princess and bring her back to Fairyland, a quest that is accompanied by the usual Enchanted Wood-esque hijinks. I thought the Goblin Dog !
April 10, 2022
Loved it. Can read it again & again.
June 20, 2024
Adventure of the Goblin Dog is a chapter book by Enid Blyton. I am reading the version narrated by Tuppence Middleton. The book begins with twins, Peter and Mary, who live near Fairyland. While making new friends in the land, they make a new friend, Fenella, who is a princess. After an event with a magic well, the princess goes missing. And the twins decide they want to go and save the princess, so they travel through several magical lands to try and find her.
Just to let you know, while this book continues in the same relative universe as the Faraway Tree, there’s very little in the book that features the Faraway Tree. So there are one or two characters we see that live in the tree (Moonface and the squirrel). However, the vast majority of the book focuses on these two new characters, Peter and Mary, and their travels to save the princess.
This is the first time I have read this book. And… I didn’t have much enjoyment of it, if I’m blunt. I really did not like the first land they visited at the Faraway Tree; the Land of Stupids. I felt like it was a really negative land to experience, and the children were deeply negative while they were there. While I can understand that the point of the land was to make the people of the land seem silly in what they did, the entirety of the text featuring this land was primarily about degrading these people. There was a lot of referring to the people as fat and stupid, and the children mocked them a lot for the decisions these people would make. But to be fair, a variety of the decisions made by the people of the land weren’t as a “stupid” as the children made them out to be. Such as where the characters would be wearing their clothes/ shoes the wrong way. If a person in real life had not been shown how to wear clothes the right way, they might not wear clothes in the right way either. Such as the thing with a character wearing their shoes on the wrong feet. If I had not been shown how the way to wear shoes the right way, I too might wear them on the wrong feet. So, despite the children mocking these people, I think it’s understandable that the people of the land would make errors in such a way. And, let’s be honest, with a variety of the things, they weren’t doing anything wrong, even though they were mocked for it. Such as the eating pudding before the main course; I definitely wouldn’t call it “silly” or “stupid” thing to do. If these people choose to do things that way, nothing wrong with that.
One portion of the book that I did really enjoy was the interactions with the Cuckoo character, and spending time with her. I thought she was a lovely, pleasant character to experience, and I would have liked if we had learnt more about her and what she’s like. And, all things considered, I think it was an interesting way for the author to introduce these new characters, the twins, to the Faraway Tree. In theory, I don’t think I would have minded reading more adventures into Fairyland and the magical areas. Apart from the Cuckoo character, there were several other characters I would have liked to see more of, and to read the adventures of. But my main issue with the book is the deeply negative portions, such as the “Land of Stupids” and the way a lot of characters would treat each other. It’s just a personal preference, though. And… To be blunt, I’m not sure about the ending… I didn’t really like it, and the way the goblin dog was treated by everyone, and then “rewarded” in a bad way. There was just something that felt off about it for me. But, again, that’s probably personal preference.
The narrator of the audiobook version I listened to is Tuppence Middleton. I think she did a pretty good job at it. I enjoyed hearing her use a variety of voices for a variety of characters. She gave it a pretty good performance, and even used a lot of different tones for emotional levels of the characters. I think I’d enjoy hearing more of her narration work in future. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for more audiobooks narrated by her.
Overall, I didn’t like the majority of the book itself, because of the negativity, and the ending. Especially the way main characters would treat others. Though I definitely appreciated the work the narrator did; I enjoyed her performance.
Just to let you know, while this book continues in the same relative universe as the Faraway Tree, there’s very little in the book that features the Faraway Tree. So there are one or two characters we see that live in the tree (Moonface and the squirrel). However, the vast majority of the book focuses on these two new characters, Peter and Mary, and their travels to save the princess.
This is the first time I have read this book. And… I didn’t have much enjoyment of it, if I’m blunt. I really did not like the first land they visited at the Faraway Tree; the Land of Stupids. I felt like it was a really negative land to experience, and the children were deeply negative while they were there. While I can understand that the point of the land was to make the people of the land seem silly in what they did, the entirety of the text featuring this land was primarily about degrading these people. There was a lot of referring to the people as fat and stupid, and the children mocked them a lot for the decisions these people would make. But to be fair, a variety of the decisions made by the people of the land weren’t as a “stupid” as the children made them out to be. Such as where the characters would be wearing their clothes/ shoes the wrong way. If a person in real life had not been shown how to wear clothes the right way, they might not wear clothes in the right way either. Such as the thing with a character wearing their shoes on the wrong feet. If I had not been shown how the way to wear shoes the right way, I too might wear them on the wrong feet. So, despite the children mocking these people, I think it’s understandable that the people of the land would make errors in such a way. And, let’s be honest, with a variety of the things, they weren’t doing anything wrong, even though they were mocked for it. Such as the eating pudding before the main course; I definitely wouldn’t call it “silly” or “stupid” thing to do. If these people choose to do things that way, nothing wrong with that.
One portion of the book that I did really enjoy was the interactions with the Cuckoo character, and spending time with her. I thought she was a lovely, pleasant character to experience, and I would have liked if we had learnt more about her and what she’s like. And, all things considered, I think it was an interesting way for the author to introduce these new characters, the twins, to the Faraway Tree. In theory, I don’t think I would have minded reading more adventures into Fairyland and the magical areas. Apart from the Cuckoo character, there were several other characters I would have liked to see more of, and to read the adventures of. But my main issue with the book is the deeply negative portions, such as the “Land of Stupids” and the way a lot of characters would treat each other. It’s just a personal preference, though. And… To be blunt, I’m not sure about the ending… I didn’t really like it, and the way the goblin dog was treated by everyone, and then “rewarded” in a bad way. There was just something that felt off about it for me. But, again, that’s probably personal preference.
The narrator of the audiobook version I listened to is Tuppence Middleton. I think she did a pretty good job at it. I enjoyed hearing her use a variety of voices for a variety of characters. She gave it a pretty good performance, and even used a lot of different tones for emotional levels of the characters. I think I’d enjoy hearing more of her narration work in future. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for more audiobooks narrated by her.
Overall, I didn’t like the majority of the book itself, because of the negativity, and the ending. Especially the way main characters would treat others. Though I definitely appreciated the work the narrator did; I enjoyed her performance.
March 5, 2025
I decided to read this book because I bought a poster with 100 books to read in your lifetime and the first book was on the poster. It was adorable and a refreshing change that I wanted to carry on with this series. However, I struggled with this book with the new characters.
This time it’s Peter and Mary’s quest to rescue a princess, explore Fairyland in this truly magical story, where they’ll encounter the Goblin Dog, rescue a princess and visit the Land of Storytellers. This is an irresistible story for all who’ve ever stepped into the Enchanted Wood.
This series is still adorable and brave. Each of these children have a very distinctive personality and weaknesses and strengths. I loved that we got to see some characters from previous books but also loved the introduction of Goblin Dog, he was so sweet. Again, I am gutted I didn’t read this book as a child, and I wished I had to see it from a child’s perspective and an adult perspective.
Just like the series so far and with it being a children’s book, there was nothing to dislike with this book, I knew that it would be obvious and a bit predictable and knowing that nothing was going to happen to our beloved characters.
Overall, I enjoyed it, and I will carry on with this series even if I’m nearly 25-years-old.
This time it’s Peter and Mary’s quest to rescue a princess, explore Fairyland in this truly magical story, where they’ll encounter the Goblin Dog, rescue a princess and visit the Land of Storytellers. This is an irresistible story for all who’ve ever stepped into the Enchanted Wood.
This series is still adorable and brave. Each of these children have a very distinctive personality and weaknesses and strengths. I loved that we got to see some characters from previous books but also loved the introduction of Goblin Dog, he was so sweet. Again, I am gutted I didn’t read this book as a child, and I wished I had to see it from a child’s perspective and an adult perspective.
Just like the series so far and with it being a children’s book, there was nothing to dislike with this book, I knew that it would be obvious and a bit predictable and knowing that nothing was going to happen to our beloved characters.
Overall, I enjoyed it, and I will carry on with this series even if I’m nearly 25-years-old.
January 29, 2026
29/01/2026
3 ⭐
I was sad that we didn't have our core little trio in this one, but it was so cool to see an adjacent fraway story from a different perspective!
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3 ⭐
I was sad that we didn't have our core little trio in this one, but it was so cool to see an adjacent fraway story from a different perspective!
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January 5, 2024
Continuing on with my Enid Blyton nostalgia challenge, this is one i never read as a child. Although it's a Faraway Tree book, it is not set in the Faraway Tree and contains none of the usual characters of the series, it is set in the same area as the Enchanted Wood.
I felt the author tended to use a lot of negative terms in the story, like stupid, fat and ugly. In my opinion not really behaviour you want to be reinforcing in children.
It's a shorter read than previous Faraway Tree books, the audiobook was only about 3 hours long.
I felt the author tended to use a lot of negative terms in the story, like stupid, fat and ugly. In my opinion not really behaviour you want to be reinforcing in children.
It's a shorter read than previous Faraway Tree books, the audiobook was only about 3 hours long.
December 4, 2025
audiolibro. su storytel sembra il quarto della saga ma in realtà si capisce subito che è diverso essendo incentrato su una singola storia. abituata alle micro avventure in effetti ha fatto un po' strano anche perché non ci sono tutti i personaggi conosciuti tanto che avevo pensato che fosse il primo della saga invece no. Però come ogni volta il modo in cui riescono ad uscire dai pasticci è simpatico e tutta la trama non sembra così assurda come nella serie principale dove gliene capitano di tutti i colori qui si limita all incipit forse.
February 18, 2026
The adventure of three children through the Faraway Tree into several exotic lands... and the unexpected help of a good goblin dog. Enid at her best for younger children.
Maria Carmo
Lisbon 17 February 2026
Maria Carmo
Lisbon 17 February 2026
April 29, 2019
Fun for kids.
March 29, 2020
One of the bedtime stories read for my son. I enjoyed it as much as he did.
December 16, 2025
I really liked it. It was really magical.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews