The first title of the main trilogy, The Enchanted Wood, was published in 1939, although the Faraway Tree and Moon-Face had already made a brief appearance in 1936 in The Yellow Fairy Book.

Over the years, the Faraway Tree stories have been illustrated by various artists including Dorothy M. Wheeler (first editions), Rene Cloke, Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone, and Georgina Hargreaves.

They discover that it is inhabited by magical people, including Moon-Face, Silky, The Saucepan Man, Dame Washalot, Mr. Watzisname, and the Angry Pixie, whose houses are carved into the trunk.

Dick (later Rick), the cousin of Jo, Bessie and Fanny, comes to stay and he joins the secret adventures in the lands of the Faraway Tree.

At first, Connie refuses to believe in the Faraway Tree or the magical folk who live in it, even when the Angry Pixie throws ink at her and when Dame Washalot soaks her.

The Saucepan Man's mother decides to live in the tree, leaving her job as a baker in Dame Slap's land.

Jo has been changed to Joe, the more common spelling for males, and Bessie is now Beth, the former name having fallen out of use as a nickname for Elizabeth.

Fanny and Dick have been renamed Frannie and Rick because in the United Kingdom and some countries in the Commonwealth of Nations they are now more widely used as slang terms for genitalia.

[7] In May 2024, it was announced that the film adaptation, under the script of Simon Farnaby and direction by Ben Gregor, will be starred by Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy.

[8] In 1997, stories from the novels were adapted into animated ten-minute episodes for the TV series Enid Blyton's Enchanted Lands which aired on Children's BBC and CBBC on Choice.

The series, entitled Enchanted Lands: The Magic of the Faraway Tree had 13 episodes: Voices: Roy Hudd, Richard Pearce, Kate Harbour, John Baddeley, Jimmy Hibbert, Janet James and David Holt.