The Enid Blyton Society

And what's more, quite a number of them look like the illustrator hasn't actually read the story at all, just guessed what it might be about from the title. I think I pointed this one out before, but does anyone else remember Five Go Down to the Sea involving the Five building sandcastles on the beach??



Or actually, this is worse — and this proves the illustrator HAS only read the titles, not even the blurbs, let alone the whole books. Five Go Adventuring Again involves Christmas at Kirrin Cottage and the Five being snowed in and discovering a "Secret Way" underground, while their rather sinister tutor (whom only George suspects is up to no good from the start) has his eye on Uncle Quentin's scientific secrets. Would you pick up any of that from this cover...



... which seems to have them embarking on a springtime cycling adventure in a bluebell wood???

That's what really gets me — not just the silly cartoony-looking portrayals of the characters (I can grit my teeth and live with that... barely), but the illustrator's complete lack of knowledge of the actual content of the books. Kids are going to pick up on that pretty jolly quickly as they're reading, and I don't think many of them will be impressed. I certainly wouldn't have been.

Well Five on a Hike looks great compared to the others now, as at least it illustrates a scene from the book!

Fair enough (I haven't read it, so I wouldn't know), but for all it hints about the actual story, all it needs is Fatty added and it might as well be a scene from the Five Find-Outers. (Illustrated by someone who didn't know that Buster was a Scottie dog.)

I really don't like these covers - caricatures of children seem to infest children's books these days.

Fiona1986 wrote:Well Five on a Hike looks great compared to the others now, as at least it illustrates a scene from the book!

true...but only a scene that maybe takes half a page at most, lol! Five Go On A Hike Together has so many exciting scenes that could have been illustrated though.

I said it's good compared to the others, remember! The others are so awful that being better than them doesn't say much!

Daisy wrote:Awful, and on looking at the rest, they are all pretty ghastly. Some have a slight relationship to the story but the children look absolutely terrible - unkempt little ragamuffins!

Not to mention the fact that Julian is clearly Wally in a not-very-effective disguise.

Courtenay, that is indeed so true!!!

Courtenay wrote:Fair enough (I haven't read it, so I wouldn't know), but for all it hints about the actual story, all it needs is Fatty added and it might as well be a scene from the Five Find-Outers. (Illustrated by someone who didn't know that Buster was a Scottie dog.)

I don't remember a book in the series called Five Get a Parking Ticket .

IceMaiden wrote: I don't remember a book in the series called Five Get a Parking Ticket .

That isn't one, so you remember rightly

IceMaiden wrote: I don't remember a book in the series called Five Get a Parking Ticket .

(Hang on... don't go giving Bruno Vincent any further ideas. )

IceMaiden wrote:
I don't remember a book in the series called Five Get a Parking Ticket .

Brilliant!

As Courtenay says, its probably only a matter of time...

There is a pompous,very Goon-like policeman in Hike...

Courtenay wrote:

IceMaiden wrote: I don't remember a book in the series called Five Get a Parking Ticket .

(Hang on... don't go giving Bruno Vincent any further ideas. )

I wouldn't want to know what the plot would be about!!!