Just like Roald Dahl, Enid Blyton’s Famous Five must be edited to cut ‘offensive’ words, says defiant publisher Hachette

Book giant Hachette recognises the Famous Five’s ‘period charm’ but says ‘inappropriate and offensive’ words must be cut so kids can keep loving her books.

Hachette UK says it wants to retain the Famous Five’s ‘period charm’ but protect children from ‘offensive and inappropriate’ words like ‘idiot’ and ‘shut up’.

Publishing giant Hachette UK admits it has censored “inappropriate and offensive” words from Enid Blyton’s classic children’s books – and says it’s not going to stop.

After days of silence about The Australian’s revelation it had axed phrases including ‘shut up’ from the 80-year-old Famous Five books, Hachette UK says it wants to “keep Enid Blyton’s books and stories at the heart of every childhood, as they have been for generations.”

“To do so, we work to ensure that there are no offensive terms in the books – changing words where the definition is unclear in context and therefore the usage is confusing, and where words have been used in an inappropriate or offensive sense – while retaining the original language as far as is possible,” Hachette UK said in an emailed statement.

A collection of 'Famous Five' books by children's author Enid Blyton.

“This enables a very wide international audience of children to enjoy the books, while also understanding that they were written and set in the past.”

Children’s authors have responded with scorn to Hachette UK’s edit, with Diary of a Wombat writer Jackie French and the Treehouse series creator Andy Griffiths both saying authors’ work should be protected from unnecessary changes.

Just last month publisher Puffin was forced into a humiliating backdown after admitting it had tried to cut words such as ‘fat’ and ‘ugly’ from Roald Dahl books, which prompted an international backlash.

In that instance, ‘sensitivity readers’ had been employed to assess Dahl’s works – including Charlie and The Chocolate Factory – and found them potentially triggering for modern readers.

Hachette did not reveal whether sensitivity readers had been used in the Enid Blyton edit.

“Reviewing and editing the text of Enid Blyton’s books has been an ongoing process, beginning in her own lifetime and continuing now and, we anticipate, into the future,” Hachette UK said.

“At Enid Blyton Entertainment (owners of the Enid Blyton estate and copyright, and part of Hachette UK), our intention is to keep Enid Blyton’s books and stories at the heart of every childhood, as they have been for generations.

“In new editions, we do not change language for the sake of modernising it. We retain old-fashioned terms such as ‘bathing-suit’ and references to pre-decimal currency.

“The books’ period setting is part of their charm and is enjoyed by readers of all ages.

“Any historic changes previously made to new editions, which come under the category of ‘modernisation’ in this context, have been or are being restored to the original text at the point of reprint. “

That’s a reference to a failed attempt in the 2010s to update the language of Blyton’s books, to change words such as ‘pullover’ to ‘jumper’ and ‘headmistress’ to ‘teacher’.

In 2016 Hachette admitted this had been a mistake, and pulled the edits.