Welcome to my new children’s book series which will run for February and March 2020. I have a wonderful selection of children’s books by both Indie and traditionally published authors lined up and will be sharing these posts on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
I have selected The Land of Far Beyond to review for this first post because it is my favourite children’s books. I remembered reading it, as a young girl, but it was a library book and I couldn’t remember the title or author. All I could remember was that it was a children’s version of The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan. When my first son was born and I started buying all the books that had enchanted me as a child, I became determined to find this book that had captured my imagination and around which I had built a number of dressing up games I played with my younger sisters and friends. After a bit of searching on the internet and Amazon, I managed to find The Land of Far Beyond.
Yesterday, I discovered this epic poem by author and poet, Daniel Kemp, which perfectly suited this post. It is called A Dream that was Lost and you can read it here: https://theauthordannykemp.com/2020/01/28/a-dream-that-was-lost-an-epic/
What Amazon says
Drawn from John Bunyan’s renowned fable The Pilgrim’s Progress, an engrossing tale details the adventures of three children who escape from the City of Turmoil and journey through the Wood of Deceit and the Demons of Boredom to find the House of Peace.
My review
The Land of Far Beyond is loosely based on The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan and is also an allegory or a story that has a moral meaning.
The story features three children, Peter, Anna and Patience, who live in the City of Turmoil, and have grown up in a world of selfishly dissatisfied adults and undisciplined and unruly children who lack any moral or ethical guidance.
A kind and beautiful stranger visits the city and comes across a group of children, including Peter, Anna and Patience, who are abusing a homeless dog. The dog escapes the children and the stranger, whose name is Wanderer, asks the the three children where he can find some water to help clean the dog’s wound.
They show Wanderer to the river and he starts talking to them and saying what a terrible place the City of Turmoil is to live. He shows great pity for the children who must grow up here with no love and kindness shown to them. He tells them that they all carry terrible burdens because of all their unkindness and sins. The children don’t believe him until he makes visible and huge burdens appear on their backs.
Once these burdens have appeared, the stranger tells the children they must carry them forever unless they travel to the Land of Far Beyond where they can have them removed at the City of Happiness. He warns them that the journey is arduous and long. During this conversation, two other children and five disbelieving adults gather around and their sins also become visible burdens as a result of their torment of, and disbelief, of the stranger’s story.
The following day, the three children, together with their two friends, Lily and John, and the five afflicted adults — Mr Scornful, Mr Fearful, Dick Cowardly, Gracie Grumble and Sarah Simple, set off to find the Land of Far Beyond in an attempt to get their heavy burdens removed.
The stranger has warned them to keep to the narrow path but they are beset by troubles and temptations on the way, causing them to stray from the path and into danger. Although Peter and his sisters finally make it to the City of Happiness, their companions do not.
Mr Scornful is the main adult character in the book and becomes the leader of the group and the mainstay for the children, particularly as the other adults all give up their journey’s, one by one. He was a rich and powerful man in the City and Turmoil and, although he mellows and becomes kinder and understanding but not enough for him to gain access to the City of Happiness when they eventually arrive. He is told that he can make the journey to another gate on the other side of the city and that he would be ready for entry by the time he had faced the additional hardships of this new journey. He swallows his pride and agrees to go around to the other gate.
The story features all sorts of fascinating mythological creatures and people, many of whose names indicate their characteristics in the story. The travelers visit the castle of the Giant Cruelty where he keeps Misery, Poverty and Pain as prisoners and makes them dance for him. They are helped to escape by two women, Mercy and Pity, and are chased by the giant’s pageboy, Fright. The travelers also visit the City of Vanity which is immeasurably difficult to escape from.
The Land of Far Beyond contains a message that is still valid in our modern world of greed, selfishness and vanity and is an excellent book for middle school children to read.
Purchase The Land of Far Beyond
Enid Blyton was an amazing author who stretched children’s imagination so much, and she was definitely one who encouraged my love of reading, inspired me to write!
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I loved her too, Ritu, and have read many of her 720 books. Her books don’t seem to be popular in the UK any more and I read somewhere that they have been withdrawn from the school libraries.
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It’s such a shame.
I have my original set of Noddy books still!
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So do I.
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Have the books been withdrawn from school libraries because they’re viewed as dated, or are people objecting to the messaging?
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Hi Liz, I don’t live in the UK so I’m not that close to this, but my understanding is that it is to do with messaging. The fact that Enid Blyton is said to have depicted the children of wealthy (Upper Class) British families in many of her books. This apparently makes them unrelatable to the general populace. I never noticed that when I read them as a girl and it is not necessarily a common thread through all her books. The mother of the children in the Faraway Tree, for example, is a washerwoman which hardly falls into the wealthy category. Those children have to do all sorts of house hold tasks to help their parents.
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Thank you for lovely inspirations ❤
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Thank you, I am glad you enjoyed this post.
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I was not aware of this book but it may not have been as popular in North America. It sounds like a good tale. I read great books from the library as well but have forgotten the titles. Great that you found this one.
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This particular book doesn’t seem to have been as well known, Darlene. I don’t know why as it is a wonderful book. Maybe it is because it has a strong religious thread.
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Some really good books do get overlooked. My grade 5 teacher read a book to us called, “Beautiful Joe”. It was about a dog and I just loved it. I never heard of it again. She also read a book called “Nobody’s Boy” which I have never seen. These books made a huge impact on me because they were about animals and children that were mistreated but found a home in the end.
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You have inspired me to do some research and I see both books are listed on Goodreads. I may have to revisit them.
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It is strange how some books just seem to disappear. Maybe they go out of print because they are no longer popular.
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I thought I knew all of Enid Blyton’s books as I was a voracious reader in my childhood. However, I’ve never heard of this one. Thanks Robbie!
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Enid Blyton wrote so many books, it is really hard to have read them all.
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My fav author. I grew up reading her books.
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I also grew up reading her books, Yassy. I loved them all.
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I was a huge Enid Blyton fan when I was young – she was famously prolific, but I had no idea she’d written anything as cerebral as this! Fascinating, thank you.
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I am glad I could introduce you to this fabulous book, Mike. It certainly differed from her other literature.
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I haven’t read the book since I was a child. This is an excellent review, Robbie. I must read it again.
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I am delighted to know you have read this book, Jennie. Peter, the rock, has always stayed with me since I read this book.
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I need to read it again. It’s been a long time. Thank you, Robbie.
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Sounds like a wonderful book, Robbie! 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
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Thank you, Bette. The Wanderer is a depiction of Jesus and the City of Happiness is Heaven.
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I skipped reading a lot of children’s books. This being one of them. Not sure I would buy it but I can see how it stirred your imagination.
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I read a huge variety of books as a girl, Tandy. I mixed books like this and The Chronicles of Narnia with Stephen King’s books.
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I’ve never read this book. What an interesting premise, and perfect I think for children.
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It has strong Christian undertones, Jacqui, but anyone can read and enjoy the story which is applicable to everyone.
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I have just begun to listen to many of the books I read as a child. Right now it is Edith Nesbit’s as I just finished a biography about her. The stories are still great. I love that you, too, are revisiting books from your childhood.
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Oooh, Elizabeth, thank you for this reminder about E Nesbit. The Railway Children was a firm favourite of mine. I also loved The Treasure seekers, Five Children and It and The Phoenix and the Carpet.
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I am listening to Five Children from a audiobook that has all three of that trilogy.
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Reblogged this on Where Genres Collide Traci Kenworth YA Author & Book Blogger and commented:
It’s wonderful to remember the books that formed our early reading history.
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Thank you, Traci.
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I love it too! And I still have the copy I read as a child. However there was a book I loved and lost. It’s called The Pegmen Tales, and I actually found it on Ebay a couple of years ago. It’s a bit tattered but I love it. 🙂
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I have never heard of that book. I had a look on Amazon but I didn’t find it there. I’ll keep my eyes open for it. Thanks for commenting.
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You’re only the second person I’ve met online who’s even heard of The Land of Far Beyond. I’m thrilled. 🙂
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I have noticed that The Land of Far Beyond is not well known. There are many other books I read as a child which people generally don’t know about like Fattifpuffs and Thinifers.
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shared with my wife – who loves kid’s books!
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Thank you, Jim. I loved this one.
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I’m not familiar with this one, but it sounds like a wonderful tale.
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I never forgot this book, Teri, so it clearly impacted me greatly.
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