My Top 5 Reads For A Sweet Escape: Part 1

Hello everyone, I've been an avid reader since I was young, courtesy of my mother. Being an English teacher herself, she always encouraged reading as a method of instruction as well as entertainment. So, in this post, I will be sharing five favourites of my own when I need to indulge in a little escapism. Especially in these troubling times, it seems pertinent to immerse yourself in a different reality, just for a while, and emerge more hopeful and ready to face the bleaker circumstances of reality. Without further ado, let's begin! P.S. None of these books are in any particular order, I love them all, and I hope you do too!

#1: The Faraway Tree Series by Enid Blyton

This selection is more of a cheat because it contains four books, nevertheless, the series features three children who find an enchanted wood in which a massive magical tree grows – the eponymous 'Faraway Tree'. The tree is so large that its topmost branches reach into the sky and it is wide enough to contain small houses carved into its trunk. There they accompany the tree's curious residents on adventures to many fun and mysterious (sometimes wacky and strange) lands that appear at the top of the tree amongst the clouds. The only rule is that they have to leave the land before the next arrives, if not they would be stuck up there forever! I remember curling up by the warm glow of my bedside lamp every night, furiously thumbing at the yellowing pages of this hefty 600-page book that felt enormous in my then-small palms. I loved it, the weight of the text in my hands. Maybe this was how I fell in love with Literature.

Part of the fun is that although the rules are the same, Blyton injects a warm childlike joy into each adventure. I have to admit part of this recommendation is nostalgia speaking, but I can't resist sharing the entertainment it brought me as a young child. I recall re-reading this book whenever I felt desperate for an escape. I believe the text is for all ages, I'm tempted to read it even now as I write this. Now that I am older, I can say that Blyton's pacing of the mini-adventures to different worlds was impeccable. The children would soar off to have some mind-boggling stress-filled challenges in Topsy-Turvy world and the very next day they would be in some Dessert castle having endless snacks.

It is strange how these characters accompanied me in my attempts to run away with their own attempts. I grew up with them but I don't remember saying goodbye to the wonder it brought me. I hope you embark on this never-ending journey too! The Magic Faraway Tree now rests in the clouds of my own imagination, spilling forth the grand romances to no where and everywhere all at once.