Joy of Reading

Books by Enid Blyton were popular during my times in schools in 1970s. Enid Blyton wrote children’s books with captivating stories of young children and their adventures. She wrote series of books under such themes as Adventures, Famous Five, Secret Seven. These books, with some published as early as in the 1930s, are still being sold in bookshops, pop-up stores and on-line. We bought one recently – The Adventures of the Wishing-Chair. True enough it brought back memories for me some five decades ago.

This was a part of my growing up years and it introduced lives of English people to me. Singapore was newly independent and United Kingdom (UK) was our colonial master before with a long history of Kings and Queens. I learned the English Language from exposure to these English books.

While Enid Blyton (1897 – 1968) was a famous author for children, Agatha Christie (1890 – 1976) was famous for adult books on crimes and mysteries. I read most of Agatha Christie’s books borrowed from the public library. It was pure joy to be immersed in the writings of Agatha Christie’s books. Her strength was creating mysteries for readers to crack. It was so satisfying to come to the end of her books after the mysteries were de-mystified.