I grew up on Enid Blyton stories. My grandma taught me to read with a collection of her short stories and when I was young I was gifted a massive collection of her books from a neighbour as her grandkids no longer wanted them.
It was these stories that sparked my love for reading and adventure and because of that I became an avid Blyton fan and ultimately my goal would be to own a copy of all of her books, but this is easier said than done as there are sooooo many.
The reading challenge I have set myself on this year is to read one book a week that is somehow linked to my history blog and gives me the opportunity to link it to the review blog too. With this in mind, this year I endeavour to pay my respects to Ms Blyton the next time I am in London which is where the link comes in. Also this month marks my 28th birthday and therefore I have decided to read books that I want to read under the brief, not just because of the links.
So I was presented with the chance to grow my Blyton collection by getting this book and so I did. It is listed as the first Blyton story and at a handful of pages I'm surprised it can be classed as a 'book'. It seems better placed in a collection of shorts, but things were different back then.
Obviously a children's story, it focuses on a group of Water Sprites who have been isolated from the Fairy Dance for being too wet and subsequently making the other fairies ill with colds. It is all accidental but they take it fairly and understand why they have been banned. The Fairy Queen notices their absence and in order to make everything fair calls upon the lily pads to make a dance floor for them so they can hold their own dance.
It is a nice little story with a moral about fairness and inclusivity, and it is something I would happily read to my future children. But it is very simple. Not a bad thing, especially for a kiddie book, but with its large print and primary illustrations, the story itself can make up a single page if written in normal font.
I just thought it wasn't the most expressive story, and it didn't inspire any wonder or awe. It just simply was a bunch of fae doing fae things. Nothing more, nothing less.
So with this in mind I'm giving The Disappointed Sprites a 3/10 which breaks my heart. Not because it was bad, for what it is, it is alright, but because it was nothing special even for a children's story. I've read a decent amount of Blyton so I know she can do better and this one was just a bit of a disappointment to me. Onward and upward though my friends, we know it is better from here!
Join my next week for my actual birthday week where I have chosen to read the signed copy of Danny Robins' new book that Jamie got me for Christmas! I will also be on holiday so will endeavour to still be on time with the posts across all blogs but no promises...
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