Five Go Off To Camp - Cover Comparison

[timv]

These are really good! Thanks, Fiona - the digital art is the best set of 'naturalistic' recent FF covers I've seen for a long time! And they get over the drama to draw the readers in. too. I think I can work out which scenes most of them portray.

[John Pickup]

Yes, thanks Fiona for that link. The digital image from Camp that Pete has highlighted is very good but I still prefer the uncredited one from 1993.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I'm fond of the 1993 cover with the yellow border too (the one that Rob has suggested might be by Francis Phillips) for Five Go Off to Camp. The light, colours and composition make for a beautiful and enticing piece of artwork.

Unlike several other forumites, I'm not keen on Adrian Chesterman's digital illustrations. The children's faces have a disquieting stiff, smooth, starey quality which makes the characters look more like waxworks than real people.

It would be interesting to know if there are any good 'naturalistic' younger illustrators still out there, or if they are being ignored by the publishers for major contracts as 'not cool and modern' ?

Books by certain current authors (e.g. Michael Morpurgo and Emma Carroll) generally get given naturalistic-looking covers. It would be interesting to know what today's children think about the different styles of artwork.

[Rob Houghton]

I think its purely to do with the fact that The Famous Five are looked upon as 'escapist' and therefore they don't need dramatic covers.

[pete9012S]

...The Famous Five are looked upon as 'escapist' and therefore they don't need dramatic covers.

Rob, you don't posses a Crystal Ball by any chance do you!!

[Courtenay]

And the illustrator in this case hasn't even counted the number of human members of the Famous Five correctly...

[pete9012S]

Accompanied by their new friend, from a local farm: Jock, they venture out into the night, to investigate the extraordinary appearance of these peculiar trains, only to expose themselves to some of the most dangerous criminals they have faced, yet...

[Courtenay]

I did wonder if the fifth one was Jock, but if so, he (?) is apparently into cross-dressing...

[pete9012S]

As an artist yourself Rob, I wonder what you make of this young lady's talents!
(Or perhaps she has a helper?)

The Famous Five Go Off To Camp by Enid Blyton animated book review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBIi-RmPOdQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Stephen]

A mixture of very good and absolutely atrocious! My childhood version was the orange-tinted Betty Maxey one of the early 70s which was quite atmospheric, but I wouldn't say was the best. I've got to admit, I rather like the TV tie-in version even though it's rather static. While I've never been a huge fan of the 70s series and have only ever seen a handful of stories (I don't think this one), I always thought the photographed covers showing some or all of the actors involved made it look fun!

As for the 2017 version, I can assure you the illustrator really hasn't got a grasp of the character if Julian is made to look like ME!