The Adventurous Four Series

The books! Over seven hundred of them and still counting...
Post Reply
User avatar
Kirrin
Posts: 430
Joined: 15 Jan 2005, 11:41
Location: Northern England
Contact:

The Adventurous Four Series

Post by Kirrin »

Having read both these books (is there a third) I think they are really good aulthough not exactly a sreies they are sure recomended to read if you like an adventure at sea
they are on the style of the adventure series but more dangerous situations are in them? perhaps Its a matter of opinion I suppose!
Raci
Posts: 814
Joined: 01 Apr 2005, 01:26
Location: UK

Post by Raci »

Hi Kirrin!
Its a while since I read these books but I do know there were only 2 full length stories.

However there was also 1 short story that was in Enid Blyton's Omnibus!
Its called: Of with the Adventurous Four Again!
User avatar
Kirrin
Posts: 430
Joined: 15 Jan 2005, 11:41
Location: Northern England
Contact:

Re: The Adventurous Four Series

Post by Kirrin »

its good to know I havnt missed out on a full book!
User avatar
booklover
Posts: 249
Joined: 23 Mar 2005, 10:30
Favourite book/series: Whyteleafe, Faraway Tree, "Barney" books
Favourite character: Elizabeth Allen, Fatty, Barney and Snubby
Location: Australia

Re: The Adventurous Four Series

Post by booklover »

I agree, Kirrin. I think The Adventurous Four and The Adventurous Four Again tend to get forgotten because of the sheer volume of other adventure stories by Blyton.

I think both stories are excellent - in fact I prefer both of the books to The Sea of Adventure, also set off Northern Scotland which a number of people have said they really like.

The Adventurous Four is also interesting as it is one of the few books written by Blyton that acknowledges the Second World War, with the children seeing a number of submarines bearing "the crooked cross".

It's surprising that Blyton didn't write more of this series. Andy was a very strong character who could easily have featured again. A clue might be that The Adventurous Four was written in 1941, and Blyton started the Famous Five in 1942, the Find-Outers in 1943 and the "Adventure" series in 1944 - maybe she was just too busy writing the other books to continue this series? (The sequel wasn't written until 1947.)
Last edited by booklover on 17 Jun 2005, 14:17, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Kirrin
Posts: 430
Joined: 15 Jan 2005, 11:41
Location: Northern England
Contact:

books

Post by Kirrin »

I suppose because she wrote so many books!
I believe they are now out of print but were issued last by harper collins being
the adventurous four
shipwrecked
stranded
and trapped
I actually have the short story but unfortunatly its been extended!
the detail in them is very good plus the fact andy and very mature for his age in fact he is one of my favourite caracters! is a working class boy who says enid blyton fratured only public school figures?
Raci
Posts: 814
Joined: 01 Apr 2005, 01:26
Location: UK

Post by Raci »

Perhaps Blyton wrote the first book then switched to the "Secret" series (also featuring twins) and concentrated her attention on those books.
I might be wrong but I think Enid had already written 3 Secrets books before she wrote The Adventurous Four and then a fourth Secret before she wrote The Adventurous Four Again
User avatar
booklover
Posts: 249
Joined: 23 Mar 2005, 10:30
Favourite book/series: Whyteleafe, Faraway Tree, "Barney" books
Favourite character: Elizabeth Allen, Fatty, Barney and Snubby
Location: Australia

Post by booklover »

Thanks Raci. :) You are correct - The Secret series was well established by the time The Adventurous Four was published. I checked my dates after posting that comment and realised the comment wasn't correct. I've now deleted it from my original post.
DianaG
Posts: 2
Joined: 17 Jun 2005, 18:34

Post by DianaG »

I only found out about the two Adventurous Four books a few years ago, when I started to read the english originals, and I absolutely enjoyed reading them, they reminded me lot of the adventure series, but even a bit better.
In the german translation these books were changed so that they fitted in the Secrets Series, but they are abridged and I didn`t like them when I read them as a child.
Belly
Posts: 643
Joined: 31 Dec 2004, 15:47
Location: Bucks

Post by Belly »

I thoroughly enjoyed the 'Four' books as a child.

Agree that Andy was a great, mature, well developed character. The children respected him and his knowledge.
Jen-Jen
Posts: 440
Joined: 03 Feb 2007, 03:14
Favourite book/series: The Boy Next Door
Favourite character: Fatty, George, Barney and Darrell
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: The Adventurous Four!

Post by Jen-Jen »

Sorry to bring up such an old topic, but I just read The Adventurous Four and The Adventurous Four Again (thank you ebay :wink: ) and was blown away with just how serious the situation the four kids found themselves in (especially in the first book)! All of the other adventure/mystery books I've read from Enid Blyton never seem so serious because you always know that the kids will get out of any fix they are in. I think Andy, Tom, Jill and Mary found themeselves in the biggest fix of all - the poor little kids were right smack in the middle of the enemy's base - hardly a thing you want to happen to a bunch of kids! It really held me in suspense the whole time! A very good read! :D
User avatar
Ming
Posts: 6057
Joined: 14 Nov 2006, 16:58
Favourite book/series: Adventure/Mystery
Favourite character: Fatty, Bill Smugs, Kiki
Location: Ithaca, NY
Contact:

Post by Ming »

I'm afraid I've only read the series once, and I didn't take them up again. But that was because I read the "Adventurous Four Shipwrecked, Stranded and Trapped" books. With that out of the way, it was really great!
Image

Society Member
User avatar
Lucky Star
Posts: 11484
Joined: 28 May 2006, 12:59
Favourite book/series: The Valley of Adventure
Favourite character: Mr Goon
Location: Surrey, UK

Post by Lucky Star »

It is a great pity that Enid never developed this series more fully. The four children in these books made a great team. I do think that the Adventure series had a lot of elements of these stories incorporated in them, especially The Sea of Adventure.

As mentioned above Andy was a very strong character and gives the lie to the idea that Enid made working class kids appear to be stupid.
User avatar
charmstar
Posts: 29
Joined: 03 Mar 2009, 20:20
Favourite book/series: R Mysteries, Finder-Outer Mysteries
Favourite character: Barney

Re: The Adventurous four!

Post by charmstar »

My nephew is 14 years old (like Andy) and he is certainly very mature for his age... HOWEVER... under no circumstances would he be allowed to take a fishing boat out with three children younger than him. Would this really have been allowed to happen? I always found this story to be really over the top.
auscatherine
Posts: 406
Joined: 04 Feb 2009, 01:49

Re: The Adventurous four!

Post by auscatherine »

Ooh, I actually got these books off ebay. It will be so exciting to read some good EB books for the first time (I thought I had read nearly everything as a child)!
User avatar
Seymour Glass
Posts: 110
Joined: 07 Mar 2009, 23:35

Re: The Adventurous four!

Post by Seymour Glass »

charmstar wrote:My nephew is 14 years old (like Andy) and he is certainly very mature for his age... HOWEVER... under no circumstances would he be allowed to take a fishing boat out with three children younger than him. Would this really have been allowed to happen? I always found this story to be really over the top.
I think it may have been allowed. I get the impression that sometimes children grew up more quickly in those days (not in all cases, but I think some did.) Wasn't Andy out of school and working full time as a fisher-boy at the time? He probably spent a lot of time with adults which may have helped him mature faster.

So I think a 14-year-old who was clearly mature and responsible (which Andy certainly was) would be allowed to do that.
"Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice. Pull down your pants and slide on the ice." Sidney Freedman, character from M*A*S*H
Post Reply