The Enid Blyton Society

I must admit as a child in the 1970's I tended to like most illustrations in the books I read - but preferred realistically drawn characters to cartoony ones. I was a big fan of the Famous Five annual depictions, the Derek Lucas depictions of The Secret Seven, Rene Cloke's version of The Wishing Chair and Faraway Tree, and the Dean illustrations in their versions of Mr Galliano's Circus. I also loved Stuart Tresilian's illustrations in The Adventure books and the Five Find Outers by Mary Gernat. In other words, I tended to like most of what was presented to me, but I remember seeing illustrators like Quentin Blake and absolutely hating them even at a very young age. I can always remember feeling sort of betrayed - even as a child I felt they were second-rate and designed to 'appeal to children', and I hated that sort of dumbing down and 'humouring' even aged 7 or 8. They never appealed to me, and illustrators like Tony Ross leave me cold also. I prefer my characters to have the proportions and physical attributes of human beings!

I felt pretty much the same, apart from preferring Eileen Soper's illustrations even though I had an equal number of Betty Maxey's. Dare I say, I generally prefer the 1970s SS illustrations to the originals which I'm only now coming across. So I had a real mix of drawings around and liked most of them. Are modern children really so different? Or is society now so brainwashed that if the previous generation liked something then it must be awful and replaced with something 'funky', 'trendy' or whatever the latest word is?

I do feel that the adults of this world seem to feel they know what children want - but to my way of thinking children are basically small adults as far as taste is concerned. I was never taken in as a child by what was 'cool' or 'ace' or 'fab' or whatever the word used was at the time - I knew what I liked and generally that hasn't changed through the years. I'm sure most children are far more discerning than some adults seem to think.

Slightly off the specific topic of the Secret Seven, but still on the topic of modern illustrations, I saw a new edition of Goodnight Mister Tom in the supermarket yesterday:



I find that a very appealing cover - clean, stark and modern-looking, but still with a "classic" feel to it.

Obviously Enid's books are in a different genre, but why is it they can't seem (or don't want) to find illustrators that at least make these books look like something that's to be taken seriously as a good read??

That cover meets my approval totally, and would have as a child too. It's actually pretty similar in style to some wartime posters I've seen, so maybe it's actually based on 1940's designs. If so, shows how they can still look modern and relevant. I've always preferred 'grown up' illustrations, except where it's appropriate they should be more child-friendly, such as The Faraway Tree, Noddy, etc. Tresilian's illustrations are loved by many people, and were always dramatic and fairly adult. Interesting that these have remained in print until very recently.

One of my favourite illustrations -



who would guess, if they didn't already know, that this was from an Enid Blyton book - a writer who never wrote anything of any literary merit - only of comic villains and sunny picnics with 'lashings of ginger beer' ?

(sorry to go off topic!)

Robert Houghton wrote:Tresilian's illustrations are loved by many people, and were always dramatic and fairly adult. Interesting that these have remained in print until very recently.

Actually, going by the Cave, the Adventure series books haven't been published with illustrations (Tresilian's or otherwise) since 1983, apart from a couple of special editions of The Island of Adventure.

Robert Houghton wrote: who would guess, if they didn't already know, that this was from an Enid Blyton book - a writer who never wrote anything of any literary merit - only of comic villains and sunny picnics with 'lashings of ginger beer' ?

Well, exactly

Courtenay wrote:

Robert Houghton wrote:Tresilian's illustrations are loved by many people, and were always dramatic and fairly adult. Interesting that these have remained in print until very recently.

Actually, going by the Cave, the Adventure series books haven't been published with illustrations (Tresilian's or otherwise) since 1983, apart from a couple of special editions of The Island of Adventure.

You're probably right. However, I guess that was 10 or 20 years longer than most of the other books!

Robert Houghton wrote: particularly the 'summer house' which looks more like a very solid and yet decaying brick built shed covered in crumbling plaster!

A summer house can be a mansion. Agatha Christie referred to Greenway as her summer house.

hmmm! Okay...but I can't imagine that fitting very easily into Janet and Peter's back garden!

It would be a cracking meeting place, though.

Mine is a tad smaller...

Moonraker wrote:

Mine is a tad smaller...

That's how I tend to imagine a summer house, though maybe with no glass in the windows.

Isn't that a bus shelter?

Where I come from it would be a house!

Nigel and Robert - have you ever considered becoming the next Morecambe & Wise?