tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post7725774320143226853..comments2024-03-25T09:56:16.164+00:00Comments on An Awfully Big Blog Adventure: Top Five Famous Five (Plus One For Luck) by Emma BarnesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-70714065273813197672015-06-28T13:17:17.991+01:002015-06-28T13:17:17.991+01:00Enid Blyton was my favourite author as a child - a...Enid Blyton was my favourite author as a child - and I too, paid hard-won pocket money for copies of the Famous Five! They still hold children's attention, and even though as an adult you see the repetitiveness and casual class/race prejudice, as a child I found them just hugely exciting. I loved Malory Towers, too, but could ever get on with the Secret Seven.C.J.Busbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12288574235370421625noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-10159248691637787692015-06-17T20:55:15.445+01:002015-06-17T20:55:15.445+01:00Quite simply, she knows how to weave a story that ...<i>Quite simply, she knows how to weave a story that will hold children fast from page to page</i><br /><br />Exactly Nick. And she never even planned her stories out - she just wrote them. Amazing.<br /><br />Jen - I agree about the Island of Adventure being stronger. But the Famous Five is what got me reading...and there's something about the characters too. George especially.Emma Barneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02718171070716804800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-12723987083923363282015-06-17T18:34:22.696+01:002015-06-17T18:34:22.696+01:00Oh, I wish these new editions were available in th...Oh, I wish these new editions were available in the US. Love the Quentin Blake cover. My favorite was Five Run Away Together. Such fun! I read a lot of Blyton's other books when I was in my 20s, and traveled to England for work. I found that some of the other series (Island of Adventure, etc.) held up better for me. But the Five will always have a special place in my heart. Jen Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10343476550309656223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-45240582024547599662015-06-17T17:47:35.363+01:002015-06-17T17:47:35.363+01:00Those covers are fabulous - and weird how they do ...Those covers are fabulous - and weird how they do a dance with my memories!Joan Lennonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15763862159032836768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-50461413925550337112015-06-17T15:48:19.654+01:002015-06-17T15:48:19.654+01:00I'd say Enid Blyton is definitely great childr...I'd say Enid Blyton is definitely great children's literature. It might not be deep or full of subtext or emotional insights, but she understood the minds of children of a certain age, understood them with a wisdom that in an adult might as well be called genius. Quite simply, she knows how to weave a story that will hold children fast from page to page, without resorting to the shock tactics or cheap thrills so prevalent today. <br /><br />The stories just don't get old. Kids still love them, anachronisms and all. No idea how she pulled that off.Nick Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08191176209084540085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-48611178615923980362015-06-17T13:53:32.769+01:002015-06-17T13:53:32.769+01:00My favourite - and in a lot of ways my worst - was...My favourite - and in a lot of ways my worst - was also a Blyton, called something like "Mystery of the Burned Cottage." It had a picture of a really freaky looking charred-up ruin on the cover and it scared me so much I couldn't even have it on my bookshelf - I had to hide it down the back! I was scared of it for years and then finally I summoned up the courage to read it and it was GREAT!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15664007848875130573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-79488646544690082015-06-17T12:18:20.096+01:002015-06-17T12:18:20.096+01:00Shadow the Sheepdog was my sister's favourite ...Shadow the Sheepdog was my sister's favourite - I still have her copy. My own favourite Blyton is actually The Secret Island - sort of Robinson Crusoe for kids.Emma Barneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02718171070716804800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-19679880863219993272015-06-17T09:17:11.103+01:002015-06-17T09:17:11.103+01:00What a nice idea! My children really enjoyed Enid ...What a nice idea! My children really enjoyed Enid Blyton too. I remember actually buying - out of my own pocket money, and ours wasn't a book-buying household, apart from Christmas annuals - Shadow the Sheepdog; I don't know if that's still in print. Must look!Sue Purkisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09084528571944803477noreply@blogger.com