The Adventurous Four
The Adventurous Four are twins Jill and Mary, their elder brother Tom and their friend, fisher-boy Andy. At fourteen Andy is already earning a living by fishing with his father off the coast of Scotland. The others look up to him, admiring his strength and courage and his knowledge of the sea, islands and seabirds.
In two full-length books and a short story, the children sail to Scottish islands and become embroiled in hair-raising adventures involving Nazis, gun-runners and thieves. The first book, The Adventurous Four, was published in 1941 and is set firmly in wartime. The four stumble upon an enemy hideout and spot submarines and a sea-plane marked with "the sign of the crooked cross" — a reference to the swastika symbol.
On being taken prisoner by the Nazis the children tell themselves that they are representing Britain — or Scotland — and they resolve to be brave and conceal their fear. Tom feels that "he was British, and these men shouldn't think they could scare him!", while Andy calls after the enemy, "You think you can beat a Scots boy, but you can't."
Bizarrely, in some modern editions editors have removed several period details and changed the names of the girls to Pippa and Zoe, while retaining the wartime setting.
In 1998 the two books were retitled The Adventurous Four Shipwrecked! and The Adventurous Four Stranded! The short story from Enid Blyton's Omnibus! was expanded by Clive Dickinson to form a third novel, The Adventurous Four Trapped!
E. H. Davie and Jessie Land illustrated the two original books.
Adventurous Four Books, Stories and Games
- Original Adventurous Four Novels by Enid Blyton
- Adventurous Four Sequel
- Adventurous Four Short Story in Enid Blyton's Omnibus!
- Dean's Reward Series
- Listen For Pleasure Double Cassettes
Adventurous Four
There are 2 original Adventurous Four books by Enid Blyton written in 1941 and 1947... |
First Published in 1941 by George Newnes Book 1 of 2 in this category See review by David Cook |
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First Published in 1947 by George Newnes Book 2 of 2 in this category See review by David Cook |
Adventurous Four Sequel
In 1998, HarperCollins expanded an Adventurous Four short story into a full length "third novel" with the help of author Clive Dickinson...
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First Published in 1998 by HarperCollins Book 1 of 1 in this category |
Non-Series Books
1952 saw the publication of Enid Blyton's Omnibus!, a special book that contained five stories featuring popular characters including the Adventurous Four...
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First Published in 1952 by George Newnes Book 15 of 23 in this category See review by Terry Gustafson |
Dean's Reward Series
The hugely popular Dean's Reward Series featured reprints of many popular series including the Adventurous Four books...
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First Published in 1972 by Dean Book 37 of 101 in this category |
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First Published in 1973 by Dean Book 40 of 101 in this category |
Audio Section...
EMI Listen For Pleasure Double Cassettes
In 1988, EMI produced a double cassette of The Adventurous Four read by Phillip Schofield...
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First Published in 1988 by EMI Book 5 of 12 in this category |