The Magic Faraway Tree was published by Newnes in 1943, four years after The Enchanted Wood, and it is generally considered the best of the Faraway Tree trilogy. The children — now joined by their cousin Rick — continue to climb the tree and visit the lands that appear at the top, but the adventures are more varied and the fantasy more inventive than in the first book.
The lands visited in this volume include the Land of Goodies (where everything is edible), the Land of Enchantments, the Land of Dreams (which is not as pleasant as it sounds), and the Land of Tempers (which is decidedly unpleasant). Each land has its own rules and dangers, and the children must learn to navigate them while dealing with the recurring anxiety that the land might move on before they can get back down the tree.
Blyton’s fantasy is distinctive because it is domestic and cozy rather than epic. There are no Dark Lords, no quests for magical objects, no battles between good and evil. The adventures are smaller-scale — getting lost in a peculiar land, helping a friend, escaping from an unpleasant enchantment — and the pleasures are sensory: food (always abundant in Blyton), warmth, friendship, and the feeling of being safely home by teatime. This domestication of fantasy is Blyton’s particular contribution to children’s literature, and it explains why her books appeal so strongly to very young readers who are not yet ready for the grandeur of Tolkien or Lewis.
The book has sold millions of copies worldwide and remains one of the most popular children’s books ever published. Its influence on children’s fantasy — from Diana Wynne Jones to Terry Pratchett to the modern genre of “cozy fantasy” — is greater than is usually acknowledged.
Collecting The Magic Faraway Tree
First edition (Newnes, London, 1943): Illustrated boards, dust jacket.
Market values:
- First edition in dust jacket: $400–$1,500
- Without jacket: $50–$150
- Modern reprints: $5–$10