The Enid Blyton Society

Would the two figures in the foreground be adults? The hat and the arm round the person next to the hat wearer might suggest so. There are 7 children not counting these two and the toddler.

At the end of the book, Susie and Binkie etc get invited to share the firework and bonfire party held by the Seven...although I still don't think any of Susie's friends include toddlers!

Well, it could be that the illustrator hadn't read the book, but had simply been told that it's about seven children and one of them has an annoying little sister, so...

Perhaps the publishers thought it was irresponsible to show children near a bonfire with no adults present, even though the children are in charge of the bonfire and fireworks in the text - unless the story has been altered! The toddler may have been introduced so the Seven don't lose too much street cred by being seen with adults, the latter being needed mainly to supervise the toddler!

I would have thought that the illustrator expected young children there, and drew one. Don't fall into the trap of expecting modern illustrators of reading the books!

Funnily enough, none of the other Tony Ross covers feature a toddler. I noticed too that the Seven are shown standing near a blazing shed (which is supposed to be a summerhouse - and surely the fire didn't get that bad!) without adult supervision on the cover of Good Work, Secret Seven:

That's a terribly unrealistic fire. I was also going to ask why the girl at the front has a tail, but then realised it's her leg stuck out the back...

I suppose many will still prefer that sort of 'artwork' to Betty Maxey's efforts.

I don't, Pete. I'd sooner look at Betty's work than that rubbish.

These new covers don't appeal to me, but I'm sure they appeal to the youngsters. And as Moonraker has already said, the illustrators probably haven't even read the books.

As for the fireworks picture, well the illustrator probably thought everyone was watching a bonfire, not just the S.S. and popped in a family, which included young toddlers.

I don't think we should look too deeply into these covers, they don't always reflect what the book is about.

Julie2owlsdene wrote:I don't think we should look too deeply into these covers, they don't always reflect what the book is about.

Which is sad, because young readers picking up the book and forming expectations of what it's about - let's face it, people DO judge books by their covers - may get a wrong impression and be surprised when they read it!

I'm still not convinced that young readers WOULD love these covers. I know they're supposedly the results of endless research etc etc but I still get the feeling its the publisher saying 'these ARE what kids like!!'. Its a bit like the BBC being told to stop making popular programmes!!

Yes, I think a lot of it is the publishers, Robert.

At the moment there are a lot of black book covers because the publishers like them. The author doesn't always have a say on the cover, unless they really push. My hubby has had to 'push' for the covers he wanted on his books.

Anita Bensoussane wrote:Funnily enough, none of the other Tony Ross covers feature a toddler. I noticed too that the Seven are shown standing near a blazing shed (which is supposed to be a summerhouse - and surely the fire didn't get that bad!) without adult supervision on the cover of Good Work, Secret Seven:

I've always felt the fire was misrepresented by Bruno Kay in the original book too - particularly the 'summer house' which looks more like a very solid and yet decaying brick built shed covered in crumbling plaster!

Robert Houghton wrote:I'm still not convinced that young readers WOULD love these covers. I know they're supposedly the results of endless research etc etc but I still get the feeling its the publisher saying 'these ARE what kids like!!'. Its a bit like the BBC being told to stop making popular programmes!!

Even if they did do 'endless research', who did they ask, and what other options were they given? Were the questions put in such a way as to influence the answer etc. etc.

I'm sure I read an article, either on the forums, or in a Journal, that showed that a group of children were given a choice of FF drawings by Betty Maxey and Eileen Soper, and asked which they preferred, and they actually went for a mix of the two. Which suggests to me, that children aren't that bothered by the illustrations if the story is good.