Five Forget Mother’s Day – the latest title in a series of tongue-in-cheek parodies of Enid Blyton’s most famous books – has shot to No. 1 in the hardback non-fiction chart.
Other titles in the series – such as Five On Brexit Island, Five Go on a Strategy Away Day and Five Give Up the Booze – have all made it into the top ten and overall sales for the series now top 1,000,000.
The books tap into the nostalgia for Enid Blyton’s work, which also includes Malory Towers and the Secret Seven and has delighted successive generations of British children and sold hundreds of millions of copies. Enid Blyton’s books regularly feature in the top ten list of the best-selling authors in the UK and are also popular across the world, making her the fourth most translated author in history, after Agatha Christie, Jules Verne and William Shakespeare.
The brand is represented by Bulldog Licensing, who are launching a full The Famous Five programme this year to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the first book, with stationery, gift and food products all hitting the shelves. Bulldog will then look to expand across the Secret Seven and other titles in the estate.
“These books have struck a huge chord,” says Bulldog Licensing Director Vicky Hill. “Everyone grew up with Enid Blyton’s work, so there is huge nostalgic appeal in anything connected to these timeless stories.”