I think Rose's overnight transformation is plausible if not realistic. Perhaps it was easy for Rose to dismiss as silly thoughts those previous moments when it seemed her family could do without her. But now here it is, plain as day, her husband and children saying yes, they can. Then we know Linnie...

The ending of The Naughtiest Girl is a Monitor feels tacked on to me -- a somewhat contrived way to return Elizabeth to her monitor position (although I suppose it ensures instant goodwill). I also think the friendship between Elizabeth and Julian feels somewhat forced. They just sort of agree to be...

I adore both these books, but I chose the second one because Aunt Rose and Blyton's treatment of her fascinate me. I can only imagine what Linnie told Rose to make her get her act together.

I picked the first two because, in my opinion, all four of the children participate in the action and activity, whereas Mike and Jack have the bulk of the adventure in the later books. The first book has a very different quality than the others. We go from trying to get a cow to swim to being trappe...

Oh dear, this was hard. I went with In the Fifth for the lovely panto and the drama and storylines it produces, and Sixth Form because it's nice to see June reform a bit and there's a poignant close. But I do love Upper Fourth and watching Darrell mature.

Some of Voilier's books are good fun as long as you separate them from the original Famous Five. I enjoyed Inca God. Z-Rays is by far the most bonkers. I also enjoyed Black Mask, although even as a kid I was skeptical of the fact Timmy was allowed on an international cruise.

I like to think that the Jackson children didn't completely revert to their pre-accident ways. When Peter talks to Mollie about their finances, Mollie "in that moment grew up," so that suggests a permanent shift in mindset. Shirley pulls her dolls out again at the end, but we know she can ...

I can't think of 10 off the top of my head, but I laugh when Mr. Goon tries to create poetry and stands in his room chanting "The boy stood on the burning deck, abbledy abbledy abbledy." It's such a silly phrase, but it's also a touch poignant to see Goon trying to broaden his horizons lik...

In fairness to Lucy-Ann, it's been a while since she encountered Jo-Jo and a lot has happened to her since then.

I winced at Blyton's portrayal of Sam in Mountain of Adventure as well, though I don't know what snowflakes have to do with anything. It's the new modern derogatory term for people who are seen to be hyper-sensitive to anything deemed offensive or politically incorrect. But actually, Enid's portray...

I winced at Blyton's portrayal of Sam in Mountain of Adventure as well, though I don't know what snowflakes have to do with anything. And yes, I thought the same thing when the children sliced up the map from the ship -- it's an artifact in its own right, even if it isn't the original map.

The practical grown-up side of me did wonder how difficult it is to carpet the interior of a mountain.

I'm reading the Adventure series, too! I'm doing it out of order though. I started with Sea, then Circus and Mountain, and now I'm on Ship. I think Enid captured the desolation and loneliness of the islands in Sea very well, and I think she did the same on a micro level with Jack in Circus, where he...

The Lyntons fuss that Snubby is messy and a bit chaotic, but I can't blame him. He's got no permanent space to call his own, and between school and the holidays, he must have to pack up and move every few months. No wonder he loses and forgets things! It's a bit much to expect a child of 11 or 12 to...

I'm reading all the Barney R books back-to-back for the first time. It's been a while since I read any of them, and I've really enjoyed doing them all at once. Diana goes through quite the evolution; she starts out as a hot-tempered, rather harum-scarum girl and by Rat-a-Tat she's sitting authoritat...