The Enid Blyton Society

I was recently asked to produce a concept cover for the relaunch of the Enid Blyton Mystery series. Many thanks to Emma at Egmont Publishing!

http://wesleyrobins.blogspot.co.uk/2013 ... uters.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

PC Goon looks a little trim compared to how the books describe him!
Although Fatty is reassuringly plump..

And they've made the usual error in thinking it was a cottage instead of a workshop that caught fire. Why wasn't it called The Mystery of the Burnt Workshop?

Thanks for that, Pete. An interesting interpretation of that particular scene. I think I actually probably prefer the back cover over the front: the bit with the silhouette which is very atmospheric and alluring... I also like the colours. However the children and certainly Mr Goon are not very accurate to the text and their appearance does not really preserve the era in which the stories were written. And as Nigel said: the house is on fire and not the workshop! I suppose the title is a little bit misleading, but you would have thought the illustrator would have read the book before creating a front cover for it.

I guess the cover is colourful enough for todays children, and will hopefully sell the book.

I expect the title is confusing because anyone not having read it would think that it was a cottage that was on fire, and not a workshop. Maybe the illustrator hasn't read the book!

Also, strangely enough, the "cottage" seems to be on fire without being consumed... any relation to Moses and the burning bush??

("And when Goon saw this great sight, that the cottage was not consumed, he turned himself aside to see; and a voice called unto him out of the midst of the cottage, saying, Theophilus, Theophilus..."
...sorry, got a bit carried away there. Besides, this book was before Fatty learned ventriloquism. )

http://enidblytonsociety.co.uk/book-det ... nt+Cottage" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yes, I nearly mentioned that, Tony! However, if you look at the back cover, you will see the real workshop, although (from memory) it isn't on fire!

Interesting. Did Egmont ask several artists to come up with possible designs in 2013, and then choose the artist they preferred? Looking in the Cave, the 2014 cover was actually illustrated by Timothy Banks.

I don't like the cover very much - the children (and even the policeman) looks more like a couple of cartoons from a latest TV show than respectable characters from a wonderful series! The illustrator has ridiculed the characters!Unfortunately, there are many covers like this nowadays - don't ask me why!

I don't care for the cover very much but it's this style of illustration that appeals to the new young reader and that's got to be good. Anyway, it doesn't matter whether I like it or not, I've got my hardback copy so I won't be buying it.

Don't you think that it should be illustrated really well, so well, that the 'young reader' should think that's even nicer than what he wanted?

John Pickup wrote:I don't care for the cover very much but it's this style of illustration that appeals to the new young reader and that's got to be good. Anyway, it doesn't matter whether I like it or not, I've got my hardback copy so I won't be buying it.

As we can see in the Cave (click on the link in Tony's post above), the Wesley Robins cover was never used. Timothy Banks was chosen to illustrate the latest Find-Outers covers.

Anita Bensoussane wrote: As we can see in the Cave (click on the link in Tony's post above), the Wesley Robins cover was never used. Timothy Banks was chosen to illustrate the latest Find-Outers covers.

Don't worry - it's easy enough to miss a post or two while scrolling down. I've done it myself.

That's very kind, Anita, but I didn't miss the post of Tony's. It just didn't register that Pete's original post wasn't chosen.