In childhood, and even as an adult if one keeps a sense of the inner child alive, one can truly enjoy books that have no purpose other than to provide pleasure. Many children's books can seek to educate, teach lessons about daily life or provide warnings of paths not to follow. However, the most engaging children's literature creates characters who become involved in often entirely unrealistic adventures, engaging in uncommon activities and displaying unusual abilities. Characters such as The Saucepan Man, Pippi Longstocking or even Professor Sherman of Krakatoa are figures of fun who remind us to maintain a sense of play in our routine lives.
Enid Blyton's The Magic Faraway Tree (Mammoth, 1943)
Enid Blyton, the British writer, made a name for herself creating a host of fantasy characters, among them Noddy, Mr Pink-whistle, Mr Muddle, Amelia Jane, the four children from the Island of Adventure series and the array of creatures in her other series, The Magic Faraway Tree. In this book, Dick goes to stay in the country with Jo, Bessie and Fanny. There they discover the magic tree that leads them to a summer full of adventures with the Saucepan Man, Moon-face and Silky the elf. At the top of the tree, they climb through the clouds to many different lands, among them the crazy Land of Topsy-Turvy where they walk upside down.
Most fun of all is the Land of Do-as-you-please, every child's secret wish. The book is full of silly English humour, imagination, rhyming spells, ludicrous beings and descriptions of delicious food. A real treat. Other titles in this series are The Enchanted Wood and The Folk of the Faraway Tree.
Astrid Lindgren's Pippi Longstocking (Puffin Books, 1950)
The Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren gained fame through the creation of one character, the irrepressible pig-tailed orphan girl, Pippi Longstocking, who has the strength of ten men and lives by herself in Villa Villekula, her house, while her pirate father is sailing the South Seas. Her companions are a monkey, Mr. Nilsson, her horse, the next door neighbours, the polite brother and sister team of Tommy and Annika and a chest of gold coins.
Pippi has a range of adventures, including going to the circus where she bests the strong man, fighting robbers, eluding the police and befuddling the townsfolk, including the teacher of the local school where Pippi simply can't learn "pluttification" and ladies at a tea party. She is an especially raucous character to introduce to young girls who need confidence and a sense of daring in their lives. Pippi also appears in the books Pippi in the South Seas and Pippi Goes on Board.
William Pene Dubois' The Twenty-One Balloons (Puffin Books, 1947)
Although better known as an illustrator for such authors as EB White (Charlotte's Web), Pene Dubois' fantasy novel for older pre-teens is a true delight. The story is recounted by the eccentric character Professor William Waterman Sherman who was picked up in the Atlantic as he clung to a platform surmounted by twenty-one deflated balloons. The book tells of the Professor's adventures after he lands on Krakatoa, an island made rich by diamond mines and inhabited by twenty families who have each built their homes and restaurants based on differing nationalities. The D family runs a Dutch bistro, the T's run a Turkish coffee house for instance.
This tale is full of deliciously fantastical details of created customs, routines and machines. Although at the end the volcano on the island explodes and all are forced to flee, the good-humored tone of the story persists, creating a wonderfully evocative journey that one wants to re-read time and time again.
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