The Famous Five...adventure one!

Five on a Treasure Island by Enid Blyton

This is the first in a series of mystery adventures written for children by Enid Blyton.

The series is known as The Famous Five, whom we meet in this first book.

Between 1942 and 1963, a total of 21 books were released in this series!

And, somehow, although I am 60 years old, I managed to have no knowledge of them!
I'm sure I would have read them all as a child, if I had known about them!

She also wrote a number of short stories featuring these same five characters: 

George (Georgina), Anne, Julian, Dick, and Jimmy.
Anne is 10 years old, Georgina and Dick are 11 years old, and Julian is 12 years old.
Oh, and we do not know Jimmy's age. *Spoiler* He's a canine! :)

These stories were collected and published together in one volume in 1995: 

Five Have a Puzzling Time and Other Stories.

STOP!!
Do not purchase this edition!

I was so anxious to own a copy of this book, 
I had my local indie bookstore order a copy for me. 
Neither of us expected anything but a genuine copy of the book.
I will forewarn all others to beware of the only copy of this book available through 
Books-A-Million and Barnes & Noble;
it is an absolutely deplorable excuse for a book!
Especially a children's book. 
DO NOT buy this edition pictured on the right! 
Purchase any copy but this one, please!
Birch Tree Publishing included NO illustrations AND
the text looks as if it was simply all single-spaced and "dumped" into an electronic file "as is" with no demarcation of paragraphs, etc. There were random sentences repeated or simply inserted where they made no sense. 
I quit reading this copy at page 30 and 
checked out a copy of this book from my library system. 
I did a bit of research and it looks as if I will be ordering copies for my grandchildren 

This is the copy I checked
out from my library system!

The hardback version I
plan to purchase from
Book Depository!

from The Book Depository. 
Yes! There is an affordable
online alternative to Amazon.
Check it out!
I think my grandchildren would 
appreciate the illustrations in the 
Special Gift Edition hardback!
I always prefer to give them 
hardbacks whenever possible, 
since they last longer 
than paperbacks do!
This is especially pertinent for the
one family of 6 children and
other family of 4 children!

          Now that we have that out of the way!
 On to the book! 

I was immediately struck by the fact that this family had money! Their children were all educated at boarding schools and then they typically took a summer-long holiday. The whole family. A summer-long vacation. Wow... Though this year their usual place is unavailable for the summer and besides, the 'rents are going to Scotland by themselves for the summer holiday. So they must find a place for the children to stay. My childhood included none of that. A few vacations throughout the years, but no summer-long holiday! And definitely no boarding school! I have a feeling I would have been kicked out, 'cause there's no way I would have stood being bullied without fighting back. I can be thankful that was NOT part of my childhood! Public school in the rural midwestern U.S. was tough enough, thank you very much! :)

As it turns out, the children are scheduled to stay with their Aunt Fanny and Uncle Quentin. They have one child, a daughter named Georgina, who is the same age as Dick. The children have never met Georgina and barely know their Aunt and Uncle, but they are excited, nonetheless, to visit Kirrin Bay! (I'm pretty sure I would have been, too!) Once they arrive, Anne asks where Georgina is. 

"Oh, the naughty girl! I told her to wait in the garden for you," said her aunt. "Now she's gone off somewhere. I must tell you, children, you may find George a bit difficult at first--she's always been one on her own, you know, and at first, may not like you being here."...

"Do you call her 'George,'" asked Anne, in surprise. "I thought her name was Georgina."

"So it is," said her aunt. "But George hates being a girl, and we have to call her George, as if she were a boy. The naughty girl won't answer if we call her Georgina." (10)

Good thing they were warned. George definitely did not like them being there! As it got later that evening, Anne said to her aunt,

"I do wish Georgina would come. I want to see what she's like."

"Well, she's a funny little girl," said her aunt. "She can be very rude and haughty--but she's kind at heart, very loyal, and absolutely truthful. Once she makes friends with you, she will always be your friend--but she finds it very difficult indeed to make friends, which is a great pity. 

Anne suddenly yawned. The boys frowned at her, because they knew what would happen next. 

And it did! (11)

Aunt Fanny sent them all right up to bed! As Julian is griping at Anne for being an "idiot," she apologizes but then points out that they are both yawning also! 

So they were. They were as sleepy as could be with their long drive. 

Secretly all of them longed to cuddle down into bed and shut their eyes. (12)

None of them saw Georgina until the next day! As her mother, I would have looked until I found her and drug her back to the house! Obviously, Aunt Fanny was much more patient with her daughter than I would have been. :) And maybe that's better.

The first day outside, Anne sites 

'a curious rocky island with what looked like an old ruined castle on the top of it.'

'Isn't that a funny place?' she said. 'I wonder what it's called.'

'It's called Kirrin Island,' said George, her eyes as blue as the sea as she turned to look at it. 

'It's a lovely place to go to. If I like you, I may take you there some day. But I don't promise. 

 The only way to get there is by boat.' 

'Who does the funny island belong to?' asked Julian. 

George made a most surprising answer. 'It belongs to me,' she said. 

''At least, it will belong to me--some day! 

It will be my very own island--and my very own castle!' (18)

George has a secret that she lets them in on from the start. She has a dog that her parents wouldn't allow her to keep, so she pays a 'fisher-boy' to keep him for her. She was determined not to accept any ice creams, etc., from the other children, but finally relented. Since they agreed she would take them to the island in return. George is very fair-minded. She doesn't want you to do anything for her that she cannot return in kind. 

Tim turned big sorrowful eyes on to George. He and George agreed about every single thing except rabbits. To Tim rabbits were made for one thing--to chase! He never could understand why George wouldn't let him do this. But he held himself in and walked solemnly by the children, his eyes watching the lolloping rabbits longingly. (49)

Remember? Tim is the canine! :) (Had ya worried for a minute there, huh?) ;) While eating on the island...

All the children had four biscuits each. 'I think I shall give all mine to Tim,' said George. 'I didn't bring him any of his own biscuits., and he does seem so hungry.'

'No, don't do that,' said Julian. 'We'll each give him a biscuit--that will be four for him--and we'll still have three left each. That will be plenty for us.'

'You are really nice,' said George. 'Tim, don't you think they are nice?'

Tim did. He licked everyone and made them laugh. Then he rolled over on his back and let Julian tickle him underneath. (57-58)

I was quite impressed with the way these children cooperated with each other. Not that they didn't get angry and frustrated, but overall, they were kind, generous, and respectful of each other. 

In the midst of a fierce storm, an old sunken ship out at the island is uprooted from the bottom of the sea and dashed against the jagged rocks along the edge of the island. Of course, once the water level goes down, the children climb up into the boat and explore. They happen upon a wooden box lined with tin in an old cupboard that had been locked. Once they open the box, they discover a map. However, in the process of opening it, by dropping it from an upstairs window onto the walkway, they rouse the ire of Uncle Quentin and he confiscates it! But they manage to sneak it out of his office, copy the map, and return it without his knowledge! Good thing, too, since he ends up selling the box to an antique collector, who then mysteriously returns, offering to purchase the whole island! George is extremely upset, especially since the children are firmly convinced there are gold ingots hidden in the castle dungeons on the island and they just need time to explore and find them. They're certain this man is simply wanting to do the same thing himself now that he has a map! After all, even Uncle Quentin believed that the gold had probably been hidden and not lost with the ship that his great-grandfather had commandeered. 

Even with the map, it wasn't easy. The children had packed equipment, planning to spend a couple of days on the island, allowing them time to fully explore using the map. They were hoping to locate the 'ingots' noted on the map. Tim inadvertently located the well, then Anne inadvertently located the entrance to the dungeons, but pulling the top off that entrance was quite an task, and it took all of them to lift the stone. And once they did it still wasn't easy to get to the gold. Just as George, Julian, and Tim locate the gold, in walks the man who purchased the box and was buying the island, accompanied by another man.

Sure enough! They were only after the gold, too! They heard Julian and George hollering for Anne and Dick as they entered the dungeons, so they know there are more people on the island, but they don't know where they are. Since they have a revolver they threaten to shoot Tim unless George writes a note. She finally relents and writes as he dictates,

'"Dear Dick and Anne. We've found the gold. Come on down at once and see it." 

Then sign your name, whatever it is.'

George wrote what the man had said. The she signed her name. But instead of writing 'George' she put 'Georgina.' She knew that the others would feel certain she would never sign herself that--and she hoped it would warn them that something odd was up. The man took the note and fastened it to Tim's collar. 

'Now tell him to go and find your friends,' said the man.

'Find Dick and Anne,' commanded George. 'Go on, Tim. Find Dick and Anne. 

Give them the note.' (144)

Once Tim returns sans said note, the men begin hunting for Anne and Dick when they don't show up in the dungeons. Meanwhile, Dick and Anne are hiding in the well so the men won't locate them. Once the men leave the island they manage to rescue the other three from the room with the gold, but although their rowboat was still on the island, there were no oars. That's how the men assured themselves the children would remain on the island. 

The men returned and Dick was waiting for them in the dungeons, intent on trapping them in the same room with the ingots, locking them in just as they had done to George and Julian! He just about made it, but not quite and narrowly escaped, using the well. The children all ran to the cove where the boats were, and while three of them got the oars and put the rowboat in the water, George took an axe to the men's motorboat, rendering it useless. Just as they were rowing away from the island, the men appeared and discovered they were stranded without a boat! They were angry and shouting, but George kept rowing. When they arrived home and told everything to Uncle Quentin, he asked,

'But why didn't you tell me?'...

'Why don't you answer?' said their uncle. His wife answered for them, in a gentle voice.

'Quentin, you scare the children, you know, and I don't expect they liked to go to you. 
But now that they have, you will be able to take matters into your own hands. 
The children cannot do any more. 
You must ring up the police and see what they have to say about all this.'

'Right,' said Uncle Quentin, and he got up at once. He patted Julian on the back. '
You have all done well,' he said. Then he ruffled George's short curly hair. 

'And I'm proud of you, too, George,' he said. 

'Oh, father!' said George, going red with surprise and pleasure. 

She smiled at him and he smiled back. (176)

As you might imagine, all's well that end's well!

Aunt Fanny and Uncle Quentin get the gold and will be able 

to afford boarding school for George, as well as other things. 

And...to me at least, the best thing of all is that George 

will be allowed to keep Tim with her at all times! 

No more being kept by the fisher-boy and George just visiting with him when she can! 

He even gets to sleep with her that night!

According to Wikipedia, Blyton's books 

have been criticized as being "elitist, sexist, racist, xenophobic, and at odds 

with the more liberal environment 

emerging in post-war Britain," though

they have continued to be best-sellers, 

even after her death in 1968. 

Although this book was a bit 

predictable and simple in writing style, 

I feel children's literature 

(just as with reading materials 

geared toward adults) 

doesn't need to always be intense 

and complex. I know I like to vary 

my own reading, and I feel many children are probably the same. 

So it doesn't hurt to diversify reading materials. 
In fact, I believe there are benefits to doing that!

I will definitely look to read more of the books in this series, 

as well as some of Blyton's other works.

Are you familiar with these books?

Have you read any?

What are your thoughts?

Emil and the Detectives--classic children's literature!

Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kästner

Illustrated by Walter Trier

What a delightful read! To think this was published in 1929!

I could find no acknowledgement of the translator, but you can read of the history of this book in the Wikipedia article devoted strictly to it. 

This book was the only one of his pre-1945 books to escape the Nazi censors.

According to Wikipedia, 

The most unusual aspect of the novel, compared to existing children's literature at the time, 

was that it was realistically set in a contemporary Berlin peopled 

with some fairly rough characters, not in a sanitized fantasy world; 

also that it refrained from obvious moralizing, letting the characters' deeds speak for themselves. 

I hadn't really put this into that historical context of children's literature, 

but it truly is unique in these respects. 

Amanda of Simpler Pastimes is hosting a Read-Along! Here is her review!

Emil's mother is a widow, working as a hairdresser from her home, to support herself and her young son, making enough to send him to school, but not much more than needed to cover living expenses and school fees. I love how Kästner depicts this as Emil and 'the Professor' get to know one another:

'By the way, is your mother very strict,' the boy from Berlin asked. 

'My mother?' said Emil. 'Not at all. She lets me do everything. 

But I don't want to do everything. Do you understand?'

'No,' the Professor declared, 'I don't understand.' 

'No? Well, listen to me. Are you very rich?'

'I don't know. We don't talk about money much at home.'

'Then I think you must have plenty of money if you don't talk about it much.'

The Professor was thoughtful for a moment and then he said: 'That's very possible.'

'My mother and I talk about money often. Because we have so little.' (113-114)

The truth of this statement struck me. Money has always been a topic of discussion in my household, since there was never an abundance. (Though I have always had a roof over my head, plenty to eat, and clothing, for which I am grateful.) :) This is one of the reasons Emil is so motivated to earn the top grades in his class each term, and even when he has permission to stay out playing until after supper, he always arrives home early enough to eat with his mother because "being together is all my mother and I can afford to do." Awwww... Life is very different for the Professor who admits that even if he is home for supper, typically no one else is there as they are all out doing their own thing.

The Professor cleared his throat and said without looking at Emil:

'I suppose your mother and you love each other very much?'

'Yes, very, very much,' Emil answered. (115)

Awwww...and now I feel sorry for the Professor! 

Emil's mother cannot afford to leave and go with Emil to visit her own sister and family in Berlin, but manages to save enough to send him over the holidays, stating: "He's big enough now to look after himself on the journey." Ah, but is he? Perhaps we really shouldn't take candy from strangers, as accepting an offer of chocolate from one of his traveling companions, Grundeis, meant Emil did not suspect this man of any ill intentions. All other passengers exit the car, leaving Emil and Grundeis to themselves. Though Emil's intention is to remain awake while on the train, he succumbs to sleep, awakening just in time to realize the seven pounds with which his mother entrusted him is gone from his pocket. He is panicky, realizing Grundeis must have stolen it while he slept, and frantically looking for the man, whom he sees disembarking from the train! He grabs his suitcase and the flowers for his Grandmother and runs to catch up, hoisting himself onto the same tram as Grundeis just in the nick of time. It is on this tram the boy makes a valuable connection with a very kind and generous person who pays his fare. It is as Emil is 'staking out' Grundeis while he eats at a restaurant that he meets 'motor-horn' boy, Gustav, who immediately becomes interested in helping Emil capture Grundeis. Gustav brings all his influence to bear and gathers about two dozen boys to help them. 

It is amazing the organization these children establish in order to play 'detective' and keep Grundeis under surveillance that evening. And, Emile's cousin, Pony with the nickel-plated bicycle ends up joining in once Emil's note is delivered to her house where his grandmother lives. It was rather cute to see how the boys all doted on her! These children pooled what meager financial resources they had which allowed them to follow Grundeis to a hotel where he registered to spend the night. Then they enlisted the help of the lift-boy, with Gustav using a spare uniform to spy in the hotel, verifying his room number, etc. Knowing that Grundeis has a wake-up call scheduled for 8AM the next day, the boys all make plans to stalk him... By the time Grundeis is awake and looks out the window, 

...he noticed how many children there were in the street below. 
At least two dozen boys were playing football in the Square. 

Another group of boys stood in Kleist Street. 

And there were children at the entrance to the underground station. 

'The schools must be having a holiday,' he grumbled with irritation... (124)

Hah! Little did he realize...just what awaited him and how much trouble they would cause. 

 As soon as the man                                                      stepped out the hotel door,                                                all these children managed to                                      converge upon him,                                              impeding his progress.                                                    His undoing was when he                                      entered a bank,                                                          hoping to throw them off,                                            then asking for change for 'seven pounds.'                This is when the Professor called out:

'Just a moment! That money has been stolen.'

'Whaaat?' the cashier exclaimed, very much astonished...

'That money does not belong to this gentleman,' the Professor declared. 'He stole it from a friend of mine. He only wants to get change so that nothing can be proved against him.' (137)

Grundeis slaps the Professor who pushes him back, then finally Emil is able to explain that he had pinned the notes to his pocket and the cashier and bank manager can see the pinpricks in the bills and believe him. I was reminded of The Little Rascals as I read the part describing Emil entering the bank with another nine of his new Berlin friends in tow! Meanwhile, 'Herr Grundeis' manages to incriminate himself by lying as to his whereabouts yesterday and the week before, as well as identifying himself using two names other than Grundeis when asked!

Emil is refunded the seven pounds by the Chief Criminal Investigator and finally arrives at his Grandmother's/Aunt's/Uncle's house, where Pony is wearing her mother's apron but "squeaks with delight" to see Emil:

'Careful. My hands are wet, I'm washing the dishes. 

We poor longsuffering women with all our housework!' (168)

I did notice the sexism (Perhaps more satire than not?) in this scene as well as the fact that Emil's new 'friends' were all males, and though Pony brought them food and drink on the morning they awaited Grundeis' departure from the hotel, she was not allowed to be directly involved in the action. But...this was a totally different time and place...and probably a bit unusual for a girl to be given much of a role at all? 

Once this thief's identity is verified, it turns out he was a wanted man and there was a reward for his capture, which is given to Emil! He is a hero! And that stranger on the tram who paid Emil's fare? Turns out he is a reporter and publishes a huge one-page article about the event with the headline:

SMALL BOY ACTS AS DETECTIVE

100 BERLIN CHILDREN CHASE CRIMINAL

Can you imagine Frau Tischbein's (his mother's) surprise when she spots this article that includes a picture of her own son while on the train to Berlin? She reads it 11 times during those hours! 

Emil's Aunt bakes her famous apple cake and treats Emil's new friends to a party.

I loved the fact that Emil's Grandmother specifically cites little Tuesday's immense contribution to the cause by 'manning' the telephone in his house to pass along pertinent information in a timely manner and thereby missing out on the fun! 

All's well that end's well, I guess! 

As Emil's Grandmother, Mother, and Aunt all consider the lessons to be learned, Grandmother finally sums it all up: 

'Money should always be sent by money order.' (192)

There is a sequel, Emil and the Three Twins, which was published in 1933.

Though my library system does not have a copy... The hunt is on for a copy! 

Have you read any of Kästner's books?

I probably would have never done so had it not been for finding 

Amanda of Simpler Pastimes' Classic Children's Literature Event April 2016 and 

Emil and the Detectives Read-Along! 

So glad I did! This was a charming read!

April Reading Event

Amanda of Simpler Pastimes is hosting a Classic Children's Lit Event for April 2016!
Here is my page with all links and reviews!

I adore this graphic!

Since I will already be reading On the Banks of Plum Creek 

for the Little House Read-Along Bex of an Armchair by the Sea and I are cohosting,

that's one book!

The optional Read-Along title selected is 

Emile and the Detectives by Erich Kästner

I have placed a hold on this book at my library. I'm rather fascinated. 

This was written by a German and published in 1929.

A discussion is planned for the weekend of April 22-24.

This is a short-lived event and if I read no more than two children's books during the month of April for this event, that's fine, but I am anxious to read the German book!

And, of course, the fourth book in the LIttle House Read-Along!

Who knows? Maybe I'll squeeze in another one or two during April!

How about you? Do you enjoy reading Classic Children's Literature?