Tuesday 5 June 2012

The Famous Five's Sapphire Jubilee

The Queen isn’t the only one celebrating a major anniversary this year. The Famous Five are too. Did you know that Enid Blyton’s classic stories of Julian, Dick, Anne, George and George’s mongrel Timmy have been entrancing generations of children for a magnificent 70 years?

I was one of them. I loved Enid Blyton books so much that every Saturday morning I’d spend the whole of my two shillings and sixpence a week pocket money on a new story. Some weeks I’d go for a Malory Towers or St Clare’s tale, but more often than not it would be the Famous Five.

The first story to be published was Five on a Treasure Island, which came out in 1942. It was one of my absolute favourites - so much so that I recently downloaded it as an audiobook to listen to in the car. And guess what? I was as captivated as ever. The story sounds ridiculously old-fashioned, with children who spend their days swimming at a Dorset cove, taking Timmy for long walks and solving the mystery of an ancient shipwreck, but it’s still completely gripping.

These days some critics knock Enid Blyton for her simplistic language, while others accuse her of being elitist, racist and sexist. I know prissy Anne and her fondness for party frocks and dolls are a bit hard to take but the best thing about Blyton was that she could spin a great yarn. The fact that her stories have sold a mega 600 million copies is proof of that.

What struck me as I listened to Five on a Treasure Island was the freedom children used to have. Julian, Dick, Anne and George are all aged between 11 and 13 but they leave the house after breakfast and don’t come back till tea-time. They’re allowed to row out to Kirrin Island by themselves and camp there alone for two whole days.    

To mark the 70th anniversary, Hodder Children's Books have reissued five Famous Five stories, complete with drawings by some of the best children’s illustrators around, like Quentin Blake and Emma Chichester Clark. Not only that, from this month (June) you can download the Famous Five Adventure Trail, which takes you to some of the Dorset locations that feature in the Famous Five books. I’m half tempted to try it myself…

PS. Did you know that a 70th anniversary is a sapphire jubilee? No, me neither.

5 comments:

  1. Lovely post. I owe my love of my books and writing career to Enid Blyton. Was absolutely entranced by her books as a child and like you, I used to request them for birthdays and Christmas as well as save up my pocket money for them. I used to dream of toys coming alive at night or finding a magic rocking chair in an antique shop that could transport me to different lands. And of course Mallory Towers and The Famous Five. I loved them all.

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    1. Thank you so much, Karen. I'm sure Enid Blyton gave lots of children a lifelong love of reading. And she still does, I reckon.

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  2. I too loved Enid Blyton with the Five at the top of the list. My favourite was "Five go to Smuggler's To" starting with the tree crashing into Kirren Cottage - lovely stuff. You have brought back memories I must go there again!

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    1. I'm really glad the post brought back such happy memories, Mary. I only wish I'd hung on to all my old copies of her books.

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  3. Oh, you brought back such lovely memories! I too loved Enid Blyton as a child (although my children don't seem quite as captivated), and always saw myself as George of course (luckily, during the summer, with my cousins, we were given almost as much freedom as they are). I read them all: Secret Seven, The Five Find-Outers, the Famous Five, the school series, the Naughties Girl in School... I could go on and on, but the main point is that it did give me a lifelong love for reading and spinning a good yarn.

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