Enid Blyton (1897-1968) is one of the most successful children’s writers ever. Her prolific output of 700 books has been translated into more than 40 languages and sold in excess of 400 million copies world wide.
For the first time ever, the first three adventures of The Famous Five (Il-Famuzi Hamsa) and first two of The Secret Seven (Is-Sebgha) are now available in Maltese for a whole new generation to enjoy.
The titles are:
Il-Famuzi Hamsa
• Hamsa Jergghu Jmorru fuq Avventura
• Hamsa fuq Gzira Tat-Tezor
• Hamsa Jaharbu Flimkien
Is-Sebgha
• L-Ghaqda Sigrieta tas-Sebgha
• L-Avventura tas-Sebgha
The translator Charles Briffa said “Translating Blyton was itself an adventure that sent me back to my childhood when, every Saturday morning, I used to lock myself in my room and read a worthwhile book. As a child, Blyton always intrigued me. From her books I moved to other more difficult reading with confidence, even at the tender age of 11.” He continued to say that the addition of these new books will make a great contribution to the availability of good-quality children’s literature in the Maltese language. The stories are fun, action-packed and easy to understand even for children who may normally find reading in Maltese complicated.
Miller Distributors recently acquired the rights to publish the works of Enid Blyton. Simon Debono, Marketing Manager at Miller Distributors said, “we are thrilled to have acquired the rights to publish these books in Maltese. There is a great demand for children’s literature in the Maltese language. Till now, international children’s books have not been available in Maltese locally. This is a vacuum we are intending to fill starting with the introduction of these first five books. Mr Debono continued; “the response has so far been very encouraging and we have received many positive comments from primary and secondary school teachers”.
“Following the successful launch of these first books, we are currently planning to publish new titles so that we will be able to offer a wider range in the near future.” Simon Debono concluded, “we believe that these books will be among the best-sellers this Christmas.”
The Enid Blyton books in Maltese are available from all leading bookshops and book stockists.