h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

One of my favourite authors as a child was Enid Blyton, but many of her books have not aged well, for one reason or another.

However, in her case rather than expurgating the books I think critiquing them is the way to go.

For example, I wouldn't have wanted to miss one of the best horror stories I ever read (super scary but not too bad as I knew everything would be OK in the end), which was a Noddy story where he found himself in a forest with no clothes, but the gratuitous racism in relation to the villains shouldn't be allowed to go by without comment these days.

Similarly it is interesting to compare and contrast the role of girls and women in the Famous Five and Secret Seven.

One of the things I've noticed about these discussions is the frequent comment that, like you, many people enjoyed certain stories, while being aware of their shortcomings.

It occurs to me that it might be good to go back and find stories from the period that were less popular at the time, but which had more forward-thinking attitudes that we might appreciate now. I've found that they do exist.

It would be a good project, methinks.

Yes indeed - that brought to my mind thoughts of Robert Heinlein. He tackled transgender issues in the thought-provoking book 'I will fear no evil' and very cleverly used 'Show don't Tell' to introduce people of colour in a way that startles the reader out of assuming white-by-default, which I really liked.

I don't know that story. Thanks for the tip, Sasha!

Women writers from the late 19th Century who were surprisingly ahead of their time include Kate Douglas Wiggin, Frances Hodgson Burnett, and Gene Stratton Porter. They were popular in their day, but have been neglected lately.

Ignore movies made in their name. Wiggin is not responsible for Shirley Temple vehicles, nor Burnett for the cuteness of Freddy Bartholomew. Gene Stratton Porter's stories may tend to the sentimental ('Freckles' will reduce you to tears, and is only slightly less emotional than 'A Dog of Flanders'), but her environmentalism will last forever. She was an early nature photographer who recorded an ecosystem now lost.