Editorial Changes in the Famous Five Series

[Anita Bensoussane]

Thanks for the further information, Irene.

[Irene Malory Towers]

Continuing on my theme comparing old versions of FF with new FF I am not looking at Five have a Wonderful Time which is one of my favourite books. I love the concept of them seeing a strange and desperate face at the castle window and the interaction between the FF particularly Julian and the "circus folk". There are actually very few changes - mainly traveller instead of gypsy. And one hilarious change about girls rather than boys tidying up houses. When George sees the caravan she is going to sleep in Anne says George has to help her because "I don't expect boys to tidy up and cook and do things like that - but George ought do because she's a girl" George replies "If only I'd been born a boy !" groaned George. (If only but then the FF would not have been as much fun). This whole passage has been replaced with Anne saying firmly "We've all got to tidy up and cook and do things like that". AnD George groaned "All right Ann, I do my snare - sometimes".
The other changes are that all mentions of queer and gay (meaning odd and happy) have been changed to non double entrendre words like strange and happy.

Hilarious - I prefer the older version with its non PC terminology and the frontispiece has a wonderful extra picture of them gazing out at the tall forbidding castle. Also the illustrations are given much more prominence. They are even given a whole 2 pages of listings and some of them - the first half are coloured in red and some of the 2nd half are coloured in blue. It makes them so much more vibrant and a far more integral part of the story.

[GloomyGraham]

I don't understand why the books need to be censored in order to remove the word "gypsy" in place substituting "travellers" but Channel 5 can have a new series called "Here Come The Gypsies" and seemingly has -warning language alert- "gypsy" in the title (apparently with the blessing of the"gypsy" community) !!!?

A lot of the gypsies in that show do seem to refer to themselves as 'travellers' though. I guess they are even self-censoring themselves these days.

It is a shame to see hoons in cars hassling some of them when over-taking the caravans or passing the vans parked on the side of a road.

I am still a firm believer in leaving the original text as it was written and explaining to kids (or letting them find out for themselves) how things have changed over the years.

I'd much rather new editions fix things up by making sure in FF books that the cook is always called Joan (not sometimes Joanna) and the fisher-boy is always either Alf OR James - consistency please

I'm sure new readers of any edition still wonder how Aunt Fanny and her ancestors can have owned Kirrin Island when her husband is apparently the one with the Kirrin name.

[GloomyGraham]

Anne says George has to help her because "I don't expect boys to tidy up and cook and do things like that - but George ought do because she's a girl" George replies "If only I'd been born a boy !" groaned George..

It wouldn't surprise me in ten years time to see a 'new edition' change something like:

"Oh George is always pretending to be a boy" to

"'George has identified as a male since age 8"

[Moonraker]

Or could even identify as gender-fluid. Dear George, she was only a tom-boy but has since come under extreme examination. What would Julian say?

[Anita Bensoussane]

When George sees the caravan she is going to sleep in Anne says George has to help her because "I don't expect boys to tidy up and cook and do things like that - but George ought do because she's a girl" George replies "If only I'd been born a boy !" groaned George. (If only but then the FF would not have been as much fun). This whole passage has been replaced with Anne saying firmly "We've all got to tidy up and cook and do things like that". AnD George groaned "All right Ann, I do my snare - sometimes".

What a shame to lose the glimpse of attitudes that were held by quite a lot of people some decades ago! The original texts give modern readers an extremely interesting insight into history.

The other changes are that all mentions of queer and gay (meaning odd and happy) have been changed to non double entrendre words like strange and happy.

The assumption that children can't cope with words having more than one meaning is actually quite insulting to them!

[Irene Malory Towers]

Even worse - do you think that editors might describe George as : as non binary !