The Adventurous Four Series

[Viv of Ginger Pop]

When I slimmed down my Blytons I managed to keep 2 copies of Adventurous Four Again and not keep any Adventurous Four, which is one of my favourites.

[Irene Malory Towers]

I think I am getting mixed up. Is the Adventurous Four series the one with the delightful Bill Smugs etc or the ones that take place during and just after WW2 in Scotland with Andy, Tom and the twins ? The first one is superb. One of my favourites, And the other 2 not nearly as good but it was difficult to replicate the standard of an amazing story.

[Boatbuilder]

Bill Smugs is in the Adventure series. - Valley, Castle, etc.

[Debbie]

I think I am getting mixed up. Is the Adventurous Four series the one with the delightful Bill Smugs etc or the ones that take place during and just after WW2 in Scotland with Andy, Tom and the twins ? The first one is superb. One of my favourites, And the other 2 not nearly as good but it was difficult to replicate the standard of an amazing story.

The WWII one.
I love the first one. It's different, surviving on the island is great, and I hero-worshipped Andy (along with the twins) when I first read it. The second I found a bit disappointing, as it was too much a copy of the first. Stuck on an island, Tom leaves something behind which mucks it up etc. I'd have liked more, but with more variation. Surely they could have done other things with boats, maybe found a smuggler along the coast or something.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Maybe that's why Enid didn't write many Adventurous Four books - because there wasn't much opportunity to vary the adventures. Andy's job as a fisher-boy more-or-less tied the characters to the Scottish Isles.

[pete9012S]

1973 Dean, illustrations and cover uncredited - read this one first..


1971 Armada, illustrations by Dorothy Brook, cover uncredited - then read this one..


1975 Piccolo, illustrations by Stuart Tresilian, cover by Juliet Stanwell-Smith then read this!


I get really confused with The Adventurous Four because my Mum bought me the second book first!

I do confuse one with The Sea Adventure featuring Bill Smugs, but I can't remember which one that is!
I wouldn't mind a re-read and comparing the two books if can work out which Adventurous Four book I am thinking of!!

[pete9012S]

Yesterday I finished reading David Cook's review of "The Adventurous Four" and a few minutes ago his review on "The Adventurous Four again" and am impressed.
Without his review I would not have known that Enid Blyton wrote "The Adventurous Four again" 10 months before she wrote "The Sea of Adventure" and that it's considered a prelude to the "Sea of Adventure".
When I will reread "Sea" the next time, I will reread "Adventurous Four again" right before.
In case David Cook reads this: thank you for these two very insightful reviews.

This was most helpful - many thanks Chrissie!

[Wolfgang]

Now you've got me confused, Pete - the second book according to your list is "The adventurous Four", and this is the first book of this mini series. So your mother got the first one all right for you.

[jubei]

Now I intrigue as well. How on earth The Adventurous Four again considered as prelude to the Sea of Adventure.

I also going to divert my reading quota to these two books.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I suppose David Cook was just saying that some of the elements that were later to be found in The Sea of Adventure are there in the Adventurous Four books. There are four children (one of whom is keen on photography and has his camera with him), Scottish islands, boats and seaplanes, a storm, seabirds (if I remember correctly, birds are nesting on the cliffs in The Adventurous Four Again!) and dangerous enemies. Gun-running features prominently in The Adventurous Four Again! and The Sea of Adventure, and the children hide by draping themselves with seaweed in The Adventurous Four and The Sea of Adventure.

[pete9012S]

1973 Dean, illustrations and cover uncredited - read this one first..

Yes, I read The Adventurous Four Again first Wolfgang - courtesy of my Mum.

When I saw the book title included the word 'again' I assumed at the time that the four children had had a previous adventure that had not appeared in book form.
At my very young age I was very much at the mercy of what books were bought for me!

[Chrissie777]

You're right Chrissie - it was you. It led to much fun too.

I just googled it at google.co.uk, but the living islands puffin cam no longer exists.

[Chrissie777]

Paul McCartney on Blackboard Jungle and "Rock Around the Clock"
"I remember watching telly one day and on comes the movie Blackboard Jungle, which is where Bill Haley performs the song 'Rock Around the Clock.' And I remember it very clearly because it was the first piece of music that ever sent a tingle up my spine."

That's how I felt when I listened to Benny Goodman's "Sing!Sing!Sing!" (1938) for the very first time.
There was already great music before Rock'n Roll:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NigiwMtWE0

[Moonraker]

Maybe that's why Enid didn't write many Adventurous Four books - because there wasn't much opportunity to vary the adventures. Andy's job as a fisher-boy more-or-less tied the characters to the Scottish Isles.

A bit like Alf/James! Imagine a series where he is the lead character!

[Anita Bensoussane]

That would knock caravan, camping and hiking trips on the head!

Of course, fisher-boy Andy is not only one of the Adventurous Four, but the leader of the group. I'm not sure whether he's ever referred to as leader or captain or anything like that, but he's the eldest and he owns the boat and knows the area, and he clearly feels a degree of responsibility for the others.

Alf/James has done a lot for George but he's portrayed as a friendly village boy rather than as a friend. Ragamuffin Jo becomes a friend, as does circus boy Nobby, but Jo is only in a handful of adventures and Nobby is only in Five Go Off in a Caravan. I'm reminded of the fact that Quentin and Fanny preferred not to send George to school at all rather than let her go to the village school with the local children - until their fortunes changed when she was eleven and they were able to send her to the same boarding school as Anne. Social class barriers are less evident in the Adventurous Four books, though the first title is set firmly during the Second World War which would have disrupted social norms anyway. Although the first few Famous Five titles were written during the war, the stories take place in a warless world.