The Island of Adventure - Enid Blyton

...those I particularly loved were the Adventure series, starting with The Island of Adventure.

As you might guess, this is an adventure story. As with quite a lot of her books, this novel concerns a group of children who accidentally stumble upon a group of criminals and have an exciting adventure. This is a pattern that will be very familiar to anyone who’s read any of the Famous Five or Secret Seven series. It’s a pattern that flows ...
...foil the plot of wicked men several times their age. The bad guys are obviously bad and the good guys always win through a mixture of luck, cleverness and being generally nice. But the success of Enid Blyton’s books proves that it’s a recipe that works.

In this book, Philip and his sister Dinah invite Jack and his sister Lucy-Ann (and Jack’s parrot Kiki) to come and stay with them at their aunt and uncle’s house, the wind-swept Craggy ... more

I’ve always loved reading and I’ve always liked very plot-driven exciting stories. When I was little, I devoured Enid Blyton books. Some of those I particularly loved were the Adventure series, starting with The Island of Adventure.

As you might guess, this is an adventure story. As with quite a lot of her books, this novel concerns a group of children who accidentally stumble upon a group of criminals and have an exciting adventure. This is a pattern that will be very familiar to anyone who’s read any of the Famous Five or Secret Seven series. It’s a pattern that flows through so many of her books; these innocent children will foil the plot of wicked men several times their age. The bad guys are obviously bad and the good guys always win through a mixture of luck, cleverness and being generally nice. But the success of Enid Blyton’s books proves that it’s a recipe that works.

In this book, Philip and his sister Dinah invite Jack and his sister Lucy-Ann (and Jack’s parrot Kiki) to come and stay with them at their aunt and uncle’s house, the wind-swept Craggy Tops. This is an old house on a desolate part of the coast, over-looking the mysterious Isle of Gloom. Pretty soon, they discover that the Isle of Gloom isn’t as deserted as it’s supposed to be.

The potential age range that might enjoy these stories is huge. I first started reading Enid Blyton’s adventure stories (mainly Famous Five) when I was about seven or eight. I reread The Island of Adventure a couple of days ago because I wanted to read something extremely light-weight as a way of relaxing my brain after a hard week at work. I got through it in a couple of days and, even though the plot is relatively predictable, I enjoyed it as much as I had when I was little. The plot is pretty fast paced; necessary to keep the attention of a young, adventure-seeking reader.

The Adventure series is a set of eight books, starting with The Island of Adventure and finishing with The River of Adventure. The order of the other seven books doesn’t really matter, but I would strongly recommend starting with this one if you (or your child) wants to read this series. This is because this book deals with the introductions of the characters and how they meet. The opening chapters show the first meetings of the two sets of siblings, but later the children meet the character of Bill, who is very mysterious for most of the book. Bill comes into the later books of the series and readings those others first would spoil the surprise that comes near the end of Island of Adventure when the truth about Bill is revealed.

As with pretty much all of Enid Blyton’s books, the story feels fairly dated at times. This book was written several decades ago and it’s obvious in a few places. During the story, the children go on picnics and trips with Bill; I imagine most parents these days would be rather worried about a mysterious older man taking such as interest in their kids.

The attitudes towards boys and girls can also feel very out-dated. As a young girl I spent far too much time up trees, making dens and trying to find dens of criminals around my village that I could stop (I never found any), so I resented the implications that girls would get more scared than boys or that girls shouldn’t be included in dangerous activities. Even when a girl is described as being, “as good as a boy,” I found it mildly offensive. Still, the girls got to go on adventures, so there’s no reason why the book shouldn’t appeal to young girls – as me and some of my friends are good examples.

I would recommend these books for children and young teenagers who like excitement and adventure in their stories. The recommendation covers the whole series though, as I mentioned, I think starting with this first book is definitely a good idea. The main characters are likeable, the plot is strong and the storyline in enjoyable. Some parents may prefer this series over ones like The Famous Five because it’s more common in this series for the children to actually turn to adults for support, rather than trying to save the day entirely by themselves.
 

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