Betty Maxey illustrations (Famous Five)

[Francis]

It's interesting comparing illustrators but Eileen Soper has the advantage of having been approved by Enid who was very careful about who she chose. Having said that it is important for other illustrators to have a go and Betty Maxey meant a lot to children of the seventies and eighties.

[rosy_posy]

Interesting discussion... I grew up in the era when there was a mixture of Betty Maxey and Eileen Soper illustrations, and I always much preferred the Eileen Soper ones. They just seem to have so much character to them.

[Tony Summerfield]

It's interesting comparing illustrators but Eileen Soper has the advantage of having been approved by Enid who was very careful about who she chose.

I must admit I have often wondered myself what Enid would have thought about the change from Soper to Maxey!

[Courtenay]

I would speculate that one reason for the popularity of Betty Maxey's illustrations with (some) children of the '70s and '80s is that, although Maxey's illustrations actually predate the late '70s TV series, they quite strongly resemble the portrayals of the characters in that show - the '70s-style clothing, Anne wearing a hairband, and so on. I suspect the casting and outfits in the series were based to some extent on Maxey's pictures, as she'd pioneered this sort of "modern" look for the Five. So, growing up with the TV show and the books that closely resembled it (and in some editions had cover shots from the TV programme), that's how young people of that era naturally thought of the Famous Five. I certainly felt that way until I got a bit older and realised that Soper's illustrations were much closer to the spirit and character of the original books - not to mention that she had considerably more artistic talent in most cases!

[Rob Houghton]

Thats exactly how I felt, growing up with the Maxey illustrations, and the Famous Fve annuals, which infuenced me completely. For years I couldnt get rid of the image the annuals and TV series had embedded in my mind - to me the 1970's TV series and the annuals WERE the Famous Five - to me, they were characters of the 1970's, contemporary with the styles and fashions that I grew up with. It took me quite a while to get used to the Eileen Soper illustrations when I was older!

[pete9012S]

Here's Betty's take on Mystery Moor.
(You have to be actionaly logged in on facebook to view that version.)

13. Five Go To Mystery Moor - Betty Maxey Illustrations (1974)
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[pete9012S]

I think Betty Maxey did exceptionally well in actually reading the book and making her depictions of the picnic extremely accurate.
Admittedly,Eileen Soper can do no wrong,even if her picnic depiction consists of just bread and butter...

They had a magnificent lunch about half-past twelve. Really, Mrs Johnson had surpassed herself! Egg and sardine sandwiches, tomato and lettuce, ham - there seemed no end to them! Great slices of cherry cake were added too, and a large, juicy pear each.
‘I like this kind of cherry cake,’ said Dick, looking at his enormous slice. ‘The cherries have all gone to the bottom. They make a very nice last mouthful!’
‘Any drinks?’ said Henry, and was handed a bottle of ginger-beer. She drank it thirstily.
‘Why does ginger-beer taste so nice on a picnic?’ she said. ‘Much nicer than drinking it sitting down in a shop, even if it’s got ice in it!’

Anyone ever tried an Egg and sardine sandwich??

[Lucky Star]

Anyone ever tried an Egg and sardine sandwich??

I feel ill just thinking about it.

[Rob Houghton]

presumably it's egg sandwiches and sardine sandwiches...but no - I never tried the two combined!

[pete9012S]

I could be wrong,and I'm going to ask some more mature friends,but I think they had the two fillings combined!

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[Daisy]

The way it is written it sounds at first glance as if the two are combined - especially as the next phrase is "tomato and lettuce" which may be a combination too, although it could be inferred that the tomato and lettuce was loose - as in a salad with the ham included in that. The jury is still out - as far as I'm concerned.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Betty Maxey's illustration makes my mouth water!

When it was time to make lunch today, I gave my 15-year-old son a choice and he chose corned beef-and-salad sandwiches. I was pleased because I've been feeling a bit sorry for corned beef ever since it was suggested on the programme Back in Time for Dinner that people would only eat it if they were living through rationing or a strike!

[John Pickup]

I had a corned beef and tomato sandwich today. I love corned beef.

[Rob Houghton]

Talking of Soper v Maxey, I'm reading Five Get Into A Fix at the moment, with Eileen Soper illustrations, and noticed that Enid descibes George's aunt as standing listening to Mrs Jones gossipy talk on the telephone, while right next to it is Eileen Sopers illustration of her aunt (who is a dead ringer for aunt Fanny!) sitting down at a desk on the phone. Obviously Soper didn't read the description too carefully!

Not having access to many Maxey illustrations, I wondered if Maxey depicted this more correctly as she certainly depicted the picnic higher up this thread more accurately than Soper did!

PS - I like corned beef sandwiches too - with tomato or pickle.

[pete9012S]

Here's the Maxey pics:

Enid Blyton - Five Get Into A Fix

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