Enid Blyton first sparked my love for reading and The Magic Faraway Tree was one of my all time favourites. Jacqueline Wilson’s new adventure takes the reader right back to the Enchanted Wood to meet familiar characters such as Silky and Moonface, alongside 3 holidaying children who happen to stumble upon the magical tree. Such a lovely read and a fab way to reminisce.

As a life-long lover of Jaqueline Wilson, I always highly anticipate her next read. This story is whimsical and escapist and everything you could want in a children’s story book. I will definitely be purchasing for our class book corner!

I grew up a huge fan of the original magic faraway stories and despite trying to get my daughter to love them, I haven’t managed to get her interested. When I saw that Jacqueline Wilson had written a modern version I was interested to see if she had been able to recapture the magic and also what my 9 year old thought of it. I was worried that rewriting would take away some of the specialness but luckily this was not the case! We both adored Wilson’s story, we felt the lands were described in wonderful detail and we were hooked from start to finish. I hope she continues on the series as I want to read more and so does my daughter! Thank you so much for this arc

I read an interview with Neil Gaiman recently where he said that while he'd loved Blyton as a child when he turned back to them now they just weren't as good, and I have to agree with him on this.
The Magic Faraway Tree was the book I remember my grandad buying for me as a surprise when I was very small and I loved it then so I was interested to see what Wilson could do with it in the 2020s.

She has managed to capture the feel of the original and there's definitely less sexism & racism but as an adult the stories are just bland and I got no magical feeling as I read. It is better than re-reading the originals but I'm not sure a sequel was needed, and already the book felt anachronistic and outdated.

I am not a JW fan but we bought the rewritten Railway Children (The railway children was a childhood favourite of mine!) as a gift and absolutely loved it so when I saw this I had to read it. I wasn't disappointed, beautifully written with enough true to the original yet making it relevant to today's children. I'd definitely buy this for my children.

Thanks to NetGalley, Jaqueline Wilson and Hachette for the ARC of The Magic Faraway Tree: A New Adventure

Oh how I loved this series as a child. I have such fond memories of Moon Face and Silky from my own childhood that when I saw this was being recreated for a modern audience, I couldn't wait to read it myself (a good 30 years on!)

Jacqueline WIlson captures the excitement and anticipation of the three children discovering magical woods and I loved the unique personalities of the siblings. The magical lands and characters were true to the original, with perhaps a more feminist twist. I know by 8 year old will enjoy reading this just as much as me. My only criticism is that the ending seemed somewhat abrupt - I was left wanting more (although perhaps that is the whole point given that there are more in the original series!)

I was a little bit disappointed in this book. The original book is one of my favourites and I'm not completely sure that it needed to be rewritten. The main difference is that the children are modern and have technology. But once they arrive at the tree, they meet the same characters as previously, and the adventures are fairly timeless as before. But I felt that this was lacking the "magic" of the original book. The land of the unicorns wasn't very exciting because there are so many unicorn stories on the market at the moment. I also felt that this book may appeal more to girls, wheras the original story was enjoyed by everyone. The final few chapters were more exciting, but I think I'll still be reading the original book to the children that I teach.

I loved this updated version of the stories I loved as a child. I think children today will thoroughly enjoy the adventure as well.

Jacqueline Wilson has proven that she can update old stories. She's taken on What Katy Did, The Railway Children and Five Children and It, and all have been fantastic success stories. But telling stories set in someone else's world is quite a different thing. Jacqueline has written a wonderful adventure story, full of fun and magic. But she hasn't captured Enid Blyton's tone in the way that, for example, Pamela Cox did in her Malory Towers continuations.

As always, Jacqueline's talent for descriptions shines through, in ways that it usually can't given her normal contemporary settings. I especially enjoyed reading about the many new types of magical food enjoyed at various times - and the bouncy castle with treats tucked into the sides! Kids will absolutely adore them, and there'll be a spate of demands for bedtime stories with new magical lands and new foods. There's also a viscerally upsetting bit when one of the children realises that, because she didn't know the Lands move away from the Tree, she's made a promise to a denizen that she can't keep; her disappointment and upset simply jump off the page. I hope Jacqueline writes some more, if only to reunite those two characters and let them sort out the misunderstanding!

My proof copy didn't include the art, but knowing Mark Beech's style, I can't wait to see it in person - it's going to look great.

Adults who read the original books as children may notice a few changes. For example, Moonface is no longer the topmost resident of the Faraway Tree...he's now the third one up, and several others live above him. However, the Slippery Slip still begins in his room, which must be annoying for people higher up the tree who want to slide down. (I do applaud the addition of a safety wall around the Slip - Cousin Connie would too, I'm sure!) In addition, time no longer moves in the Enchanted Wood, although it did in the originals; there were several instances of the children packing a lunch and staying in the Wood all day. Besides that, if there's no time passing in the Wood, how does Silky come to visit Birdy each night in the cottage?

The book is set in the modern day, though since most of the action takes place in the Wood that doesn't mean very much; there's some awkwardly inserted 'women power' bits, and the Saucepan Man now raps for some reason(!) but otherwise it's all very much as it was in Blyton's day. Young children won't notice the changes, of course, and they will very much enjoy this new story and clamour for more, which I hope they'll get; but adults looking for a nostalgia blast, this isn't the one for you. Go back and reread the originals instead.

A beautifully written book. Really enjoyed reading this. Thanks to publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read

As a huge fan of Enid Blyton my daughter and I adored this updated version of The Faraway Tree, it's more politically correct but has not sanitised the magic of visiting a tree with lands on top. We adored this and hope Jacqueline Wilson writes further adaptations!

What a delight to return to my childhood, I really like how Jacqueline Wilson has paid tribute to the wonderful Enid Blyton and brought one of my favourite childhood books up to date and more accessible to children of today. I would recommend that any adult buying this for, or reading it to, a child, also offer them the original so they can decide which they prefer.
This modern day trip up the Faraway tree, entertained and enthralled me (aged 65) but I'm aware I'm not the target audience.
I also found it lacked a little of the original magic, but I'm not sure if that was the (rather PC) storyline, the authors style or the lack of a childs imagination to experience it with. Sadly I fear it was the latter.
At a time I was feeling pretty low, this book lifted my spirits and I would read any further similar adventures in the Enchanted forest this author creates.

Siblings, Milo, Mia, and Birdy are holidaying in the countryside, in a cottage near a magnificent forest. It isn’t long until the Enchanted Wood lures them in and towards the Magic Faraway Tree where they are introduced to the inhabitants and the worlds that can be accessed through the top of the tree.

Wow! The nostalgia this book produced. Wilson does a great job of imitating Blyton’s writing style, and the descriptions of food were particularly reminiscent of Blyton. I loved being reminded of some of the details I had forgotten from the original books, like the fact that the tree could change, turning from an oak tree to a peach tree as the children climbed it. However, I was a bit disappointed by the magical worlds that the children visited in this book. I won’t give anything away, but they felt a bit predictable and boring in comparison to what Wilson could have dreamed up.

It is clear that Wilson tried to avoid some of the things that Blyton has been criticised for in recent years, which is to be expected.

Overall, a great addition for old and new fans alike but I feel that Jacqueline Wilson is capable of creating a bit more excitement and humour.

I'm so torn on this review, The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton was and always will be my favourite book. When I heard that Wilson was taking us on a whole new adventure with the characters we knew from our childhood's, part of me was intrigued, whilst the other half wished she'd leave such a classic well alone.

Written in the same style as Blyton, this turned out to be an enjoyable, fun read and to be honest you couldn't really differentiate between the old and new.

As we journey into the Enchanted Wood and the magical lands at the top of the tree, we reunite with all of our old favourites, from Moonface and his slippery-slip, Dame Washalot and her washing tub, and Mr Watzisname to name but a few.

I guess I need to leave myself more open to change.

Many thanks to Netgalley for my review copy.

Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

A great little read - all my childhood memories of this came flooding back with some classic characters. This was absolutely as fun and magical as the first!

The Magic Faraway Tree was the book of my childhood - I adored every word, every adventure and every intricacy of Enid Blyton’s creation. After Blyton, my second favourite childhood author was Jacqueline Wilson. You can imagine, therefore, my delight upon stumbling upon this new adventure.

The Magic Faraway Tree: A New Adventure is a pleasant and more modern return to the Enchanted Wood. It was a pleasure to revisit old friends in the form of Moonface, Silky and co and I loved some of Wilson’s new magical touches (particularly in the form of sweet treats). Her worlds were fun and imaginative - exactly the sort of places many young readers would love to visit. What I really missed from this story however was Wilson herself. The book felt like it could have been written by any ghost writer, adding to Blyton’s world. Wilson’s characters normally jump off the page, oozing personality and charm. Sadly, I did not feel that this was the case with Mia, Milo and Birdy, who felt a little two dimensional.

The story itself felt more like fan fiction than a new addition to the series. It lacked any real peril (any fan of Blyton will remember the very real fear inspired by Dame Slap and her school for naughty pixies) and I felt that, in a bid to correct some of Blyton’s mistakes, Wilson included some unnecessary lectures about the role of women in modern society.

Overall I was disappointed with what could have been an amazing duo - Wilson in Blyton’s world. However I’m sure young fans of the series will enjoy hearing more about their favourite characters and visiting some new magical lands. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.