The Famous Five - Enid Blyton

Advantages: Easy reading style for confident younger readers | Lots of adventure
Disadvantages: 21 books in the series

...with me, as I relive the reading habits of my childhood. You see I was quite an early reader and soon outgrew all those Peter and Jane books (does anyone else remember them?) and in order to satiate my ever growing hunger for the written word my parents began to buy me the different series of books written by Enid Blyton. There were quite a few different sets of books, including The St Claire's, Mallory Towers, and Secret Seven, but my favourites ...
...it was nice to see the children win out. ---The Famous Five--- So who were the Famous Five then? I hear you ask, well hold on and I'll tell you. --Julian-- The oldest of the group, Julian was the sensible one who always seemed to have the last word on any matter. I guess he acted as a stereotypical big brother, always trying to look out for his younger siblings and cousin. He was also, in my opinion the boring one, I'm sure the gang would have ... Read review

Advantages: Exciting, entertaining
Disadvantages: Addictive, only 21 volumes

...an intelligent, loyal dog. The Famous Five’s success was rewarded with a television series screened on ITV some years after the first of 21 volumes were published. Each adventure is focussed around four children – Julian, Dick, Anne and their cousin George. They are accompanied by Timothy who plays a crucial role in all twenty-one of their startling adventures which range from hidden treasure to kidnapping of scientists. Each character offers a ...
...George’s dog Tim, who rescues the children from a collection of wicked characters. A distinct feature of these escapades is the emphasis on reality, moving away from fantasy based stories. Although set over fifty years from today, the reader can relate with the various scenarios which unfold in each tale, as the focal point revolves around stories which are commonplace today. Kidnappings, buried treasure, stolen scientific secrets and smuggling ... Read review

Advantages: A Good Read
Disadvantages: A Little Bit Outdated

...mother to take me to the local library to exchange my famous five book for the next one. By the age of 10 I had undoubtedly read all 21 books in the series and was probably reading some for the second time. Enid Blyton was born in London in1887 and died in 1968. She is one of the most successful and prolific of all writers. During her remarkable career she wrote over 4,000 stories and published almost 700 books. It is said that she wrote on average ...
...the early 1940’s she was producing a book every 5 days! The famous five series of books is probably the most famous of all the series of books written by Enid Blyton. Julian, Dick, Anne, George and Timmy the Dog make up the famous five. Dick and Anne are brothers. In the first book Five on a Treasure Island published in 1942 they meet up with their cousin Georgina and together the five of them have their first adventure. The rest of the books are ... Read review

Advantages: see text
Disadvantages: see text

...do like Enid Blyton. Especially The Famous Five, but also The Naughty Girl, St Clare's and many others. And I am not ashamed of it. I used to collect them when I was a child. I started when I was 6 and managed to get one almost every month, some extra in Christmas, summer holidays, or birthdays. Of course, they were not the only books that I read, but these were about normal children like me leading exciting lifes. Adventures! We all tried to copy ...
...way. They were the reason I wanted to go to a boarding school to the amazement of my parents I wished to be George and Dick was the brother I never had (Julian was a bit serious for me). But what I most admired and envied from them was their freedom. We couldn't go cycling or camping for a few days without adults (don't even think about caravaning). In fact, we would never spend a night on our own, without a grown-up supervising. There wasn't the ... Read review

Advantages: many
Disadvantages: only a few

...I´ve decided to write about the set of books of "The Famous Five" by Enid Blyton because I owe a lot to these books. In fact, I discovered that reading could be a wonderful experience thanks to Enid Blyton´s books. Firstly I read the collection of Seven Secrets but it didn´t like a lot, because of that then I didn´t thought that Blyton was as wonderful writer as my mother was trying to convince me. Until I didn´t read one book of the Famous Five, ...
...situations and deep characters. The main characters of Famous Five are, undoubtely, five: two boys, two girls and a dog. *Julian is the eldest, so he´s shown as a very (sometimes extremely) responsible boy who always knows what to do. I considered that he was too perfect and bossy. *Dick is the brother of Julian. I regarded he was the most friendly, but I must recognise that his character is the least deep. *Ann. I have to confess that I hated ... Read review