The series, written by Enid Blyton, take place in an enchanted forest in which a huge magical tree grows, The "Faraway Tree". The tree is so tall that the topmost branches reach into the clouds, within its trunk are small houses where magical folk live. The forest and the tree are discovered by three children named Jo, Bessie, and Fanny, who move into a house nearby, they soon learn of it's magic and the lands at the top of the tree and embark on exciting, and sometimes dangerous adventures to the lands in the clouds.
The first book in the series, The Enchanted Wood, was published in 1939 where the children first climb the Faraway Tree and meet it's inhabitants including Moon-Face, Silky the fairy, The Saucepan Man, Dame Washalot, Mr. Watzisname and the Angry Pixie. At the very top of the tree they discover a ladder which leads them to a magical land. This land is different on each visit, because each place moves on from the top of the tree to make way for a new land. The children are free to come and go, but they must leave before the land moves on or they will be stuck there until the land returns to the Faraway Tree.