Benjamin Blümchen

Helena looked at my compilation of websites for kids (in German) and wondered why Benjamin Blümchen wasn’t included. For those who don’t know: Benjamin Blümchen is a talking elephant, and he is the main character of a popular radio play (is that the English word for Hörspiel?) series for children in Germany.
Um, well… I forgot about him. But I guess the Benjamin Blümchen series (and website) are for kids in elementary school, and fifth-graders might consider themselves way too old to be interested in Benjamin Blümchen any more…

The Famous Five

I used to listen to Benjamin Blümchen cassettes when I was in elementary school. Then I discovered the Famous Five series by Enid Blyton (in Deutschland besser bekannt als ‘Fünf Freunde’) and collected all 21 cassettes that were available back then. I also watched the series on TV. Today, I did Google searches on Enid Blyton, the Famous Five etc. and discovered some interesting sites.

Gary Russell played ‘Dick’ in the Famous Five TV series that were produced in the seventies. He tells the story of how he became Dick and how the series were shot. I don’t know about you, but if you watched the series on TV and liked them, you will probably enjoy reading this! Be sure to take a look at the photos as well!

Some sites about Enid Blyton in general are Enid Blyton online, including the Enid Blyton Society and a list of links, and the somewhat commercial Enid Blyton Ltd..

I also found this Enid Blyton Webring, but haven’t checked out all the sites.

In case you were wondering – yes, I admit I also read the St. Clare’s (‘Hanni und Nanni’) and the Malory Towers (‘Dolly’) series by Blyton when I was about 10 or 12.

Um, I’m just wondering… are Enid Blyton’s books known in the US as well? Has anyone read her books, too? Tell me!

Fünf Freunde

Auf deutsch gibt es auch einige Sites, z.B. Kirrin Island (auch über andere Hörspielserien) oder die Fünf Freunde Fanpage. Insbesondere dürfte für Fans hier Allgemeines und Hintergründe zur Serie ‘Fünf Freunde’ interessant sein. (Von hier habe ich auch die Bilder aus dem Vorspann zur Fernsehserie geklaut.)