Once upon a time children’s books weren’t written by comedians or actors jumping on the easy-to-read bandwagon, looking to pump some serious cash into their bank accounts.

Back in the day they were written by serious authors, who took their job of writing for a young audience very seriously.

One example would be Enid Blyton, who wrote over 700 children’s books, that included the adventures of The Famous Five and The Secret Seven.

This latest family film sees an adaptation of her The Magic Faraway Tree series, with lashings of ginger beer replaced with home-grown tomatoes.

After a very bad day at work, Polly (Claire Foy) returns home to her hubby Tim (Andrew Garfield), with some bad news: she’s left her job. He’s very sympathetic until the realisation of their situation hits them – they can’t afford to stay where they live and will have to move.

And that’s exactly what they do, with their three children – Beth (Delilah Bennett-Cardy), Joe (Phoenix Laroche) and Fran (Billie Gadsdon).

Their kids aren’t exactly happy with the move, and their displeasure is cemented when they arrive at their ‘home’ in the country – a run-down old barn. It’s made worse by the fact there is no electricity or wi-fi for their phones and gadgets.

After doing a nice thing for a local, Fran finds herself invited to the top woods, which she’s been warned against going to, where fairy Silky (Nicola Coughlan) transports her to a magical land.

She has such a wonderful time there, that she decides to go back with her two siblings, as they embark on a magical adventure.

This is a very twee and cosy family film, which is no surprise at it was written by Simon Farnaby, who also wrote Paddington 2, Paddington in Peru and Wonka.

It also borrows some of their DNA, especially Wonka, as a sweet world is featured. It’s not the only film it pays homage to, as many of the characters have A Wizard of Oz feel, such as Moon Face and Saucepan Man. And top of that, there’s a gentle sprinkling of Monty Python, that the older audience members (i.e. parents) may pick up on.

It has a wistful charm in a world that is very attractive, but the story itself is a little disappointing. It is reminiscent of a basic video game for young children, that simply features a number of fetch quests, that finds the children go from A to B, pick something up, then got from B to C etc.

It’s a shame as the characters are larger than life and very entertaining, and they do the best they can with the little story they have.

Garfield and Foy are the anchors for the family, and potter around in the background to good effect, while the children have a Children’s Film Foundation about them, with their acting skills not exactly pushed.

It’s a very gentle, harmless and well-meaning family film, that doesn’t deliver any more from what you would expect from a faithful Enid Blyton adaptation.