The Naughtiest Girl in the School (by Enid Blyton)

(Amazon UK link)

As a child, I loved Enid Blyton books. Like many Brits my age who have ended up as enthusiastic readers, I read and re-read the adventure, mystery and school stories (and others) by Enid Blyton as often as I could. Adults sometimes turned their noses up at the similar storylines, and relatively low quality of writing. Nowadays many people object to the apparent racism and obvious sexism, although they were not unusual for the middle of the 20th century, and were not intended to hurt or demean anyone.

I kept most of my children’s books; my sons liked some Enid Blyton, and I have lent many of them to friends’ children over the decades. I have even replaced a few that were falling apart. So I was delighted when I learned that my seven-year-old granddaughter has discovered Enid Blyton. She was listening to the St Clare’s series on audio-books, and when I visited, I found the three ‘Naughtiest Girl’ books in excellent condition in a local church charity shop.

After giving up on reading aloud the wordy and frankly unsuitable ‘Peter Pan’, I suggested reading ‘The Naughtiest Girl in the School’ to my granddaughter.  She reads fluently herself, but reading aloud is an excellent way to introduce children to books they might not otherwise pick up. It must be thirty years or more since I last read this book, so although I recalled the overall plot, I had forgotten most of the details.

Elizabeth Allen is the protagonist, the ‘Naughtiest Girl’ of the title. She is a rather spoilt only child who has had a series of governesses. Her current one has resigned due to Elizabeth’s bad behaviour, and her parents must travel to some unknown destination where she can’t join them. So they have decided that she will go to boarding school. We never learn Elizabeth’s age; I assume she’s about ten or eleven, but it doesn’t much matter. 

Elizabeth decides that she will be so naughty that she will be expelled. But she doesn’t reckon with Whyteleafe School, which is unusual (particularly so for the era) in its self-governing nature, and the fact that it’s co-educational. There’s a Head Girl and a Head Boy, and twelve ‘monitors’ who are chosen from their peers and act as a kind of jury when needed. Each week there’s a whole school ‘meeting’ where any problems or issues are raised, and dealt with. The two Headmistresses, Miss Belle and Miss Best are present, but don’t interfere. And on the whole it works very well.

Some of Elizabeth’s antics are quite amusing, and in reading aloud to a seven-year-old I was able to appreciate them from a child’s point of view along with her. Moral lessons are, of course made, but mostly fairly subtly: Elizabeth learns about living with other people, considering their viewpoints, and how her own actions appear to others. She thinks more about her relationship with her parents, and - when asked - befriends an unhappy girl in her class. 

She’s quite impetuous and sometimes does things without thinking them through, but the school staff and some of the older students realise that underneath her anger and hurt, she’s a hard-working and kind girl. She’s also extremely stubborn, and has a hard time deciding what to do when she realises that she is enjoying many activities at the school and that she will miss her friend if, as planned, she leaves after the first half term.

I didn’t manage to finish re-reading it during my visit, but my granddaughter will now have read the rest of the book herself. When I got home, I picked my own copy up and finished it too. Some of the writing is a bit stilted, and there’s a bit of author intrusion here and there - it’s not a deep or brilliantly written book, and the outcome is predictable. But I thought it a good story, and as it was one of my favourites when I was a child, I’m glad I still liked it. 

My granddaughter’s edition (and mine - this is one of the books I replaced) don’t seem to have been edited to make them politically correct; the only alteration I noticed is that each child receives two pounds per week from the shared pocket money scheme. That seems quite a lot even by today’s standards, and I’m pretty sure it was two shillings when I first read the books, when I was a child, before decimalisation. 

It’s an ideal book for a fluently reading child who likes old-fashioned stories, and makes a good read-aloud too. Perhaps you have to have grown up with these books to appreciate them as an adult, but they’re regularly republished and have a wide audience. There are two sequels, and another six or seven authorised 'fan fiction' novels in the same series, which can often be bought in sets. 

I can't say I much like the cartoon-style images on the newer editions, but I'm pleased to know that these books are still in print, as well as being widely available second-hand. 

Review copyright 2024 Sue's Book Reviews