Blyton was born on 11 August 1897 at 354 Lordship Lane, East Dulwich, London, the eldest child of Thomas Carey Blyton (1870 – 1920), a salesman of cutlery, and his wife, Theresa Mary, née Harrison (1874 – 1950).

Enid Blyton's adventure stories  were inspired by the Isle of Purbeck countryside. She first came to the the area in 1931 and some Dorset landmarks became places in her books - Whispering Island is based on Brownsea Island and Corfe bears a remarkable likeness to Kirrin Castle in the stories.

Some of her Books

• The Adventure series
• The Barney Mystery series
• The Circus series
• The Famous Five series
• The Five Find-Outers
• The Magic Faraway Tree series
• The Malory Towers series
• The Mistletoe Farm series
• The Naughtiest Girl series
• The Noddy books
• The Amelia Jane short stories
• The Secret series
• The Secret Seven series
• The St. Clare's series
• The Wishing-Chair series

• An estimate puts her total book publication at around 800 titles, not including decades of magazine writing
• Blyton's books have sold more than 600 million copies
• More than a million Famous Five books are sold worldwide each year
• Her books have been translated into more than 90 different languages

The Ginger Pop Shop Corfe Castle
The Ginger Pop Shop will be open from March 24 to end of October from 11.30 - 5pm, but may be closed on Fridays out of Dorset school holidays.
The Town House, The Square, Corfe Castle, Dorset, BH20 5EZ (01929) 477214
Website: http://www.gingerpop.co.uk/index.htm

Enid Blyton Society http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk