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[Anita Bensoussane]

I have just tried to load this book into the Cave and for some reason it refuses to go beyond 31 reprints, so I am putting it here instead until the Cave has an adjustment made. It is being published in October, but I got my copy this morning and I think it is a really nice book and children will love it even if crusty old codgers hate it. It is a hardback with a dustwrapper on pale green cloth boards embossed in gold. It has a number of coloured illustrations by Babette Cole and they are really very nice and look like delicate watercolours. I guess it will be a marmite book!

Thanks for the details, Tony. It certainly sounds interesting!

[Kate Mary]

I guess I'm a crusty old codger and I'm not a fan of Babette Cole's work but it is good to see a quality hardback edition of Five on a Treasure Island being published. I would be interested to see a copy, I shall have a look in Smiths later in the year.

[Julie2owlsdene]

It will appeal to the youngsters of today, and if it sells Blyton then I'm all for it.

[Moonraker]

I'm with Kate Mary here and dislike Babette Cole's work. I don't somehow see the four Kirrins as Scooby-doo lookalikes. However, I will reserve judgement on the book until I see it in October.

[Courtenay]

Full-colour illustrations by Babette Cole? When - lest we forget - her impressions of the Famous Five look like this...





I wish I could say I'm glad that at least the book is still in print, but don't forget, it's not Enid's own work that's still in print. The FF books have been edited so heavily - and largely dumbed down, from what I've seen of them - that I'm not sure they ought to still have Enid Blyton's name on the cover.

[Poppy]

Sounds like a nice idea to me! Here is an article about this new edition and there is a photo on it, in which we can see one of Babette Cole's new internal illustrations for this new book. I would definitely be interested in having a proper look at this book. I will keep an eye out later in the year, in Waterstones.

[Rob Houghton]

Another Crusty Old Codger here - Babette Cole's work could sink without trace, and I wouldn't be hoping for a sudden storm to bring them back to the surface.

It's great that the books are still being printed...but I think no illustrations would be better than inhuman characterisations. Just my opinion, of course.

And yet I'm not adverse to 'modern' illustrations by people who I know many others don't like - Betty Maxey, Derek Lucas, Rene Cloke, even much more modern illustrators like Eric Rowe, Dudley Wynne and Maureen Bradley. They all know how to draw children who look like human beings.

[Tony Summerfield]

Perhaps we tend to forget at times that these books are being published for children. When I was a wee lad I used to regularly take and read the Beano and Dandy and I am sure it never worried me that the likes of Dennis the Menace and the Bash Street kids didn't actually look like real children. As a child I enjoyed these images and I am fairly confident that children today will enjoy the 15 colour images in Five on a Treasure Island.

Incidentally this book uses the same text as is used in the copies with the Eileen Soper covers and not the new editions that came out in 2010. So they have been slightly updated here and there, but not completely rewritten and by and large most of the text is as Enid wrote it, so I can't see any reason to remove her name from the cover.

[Rob Houghton]

Perhaps we tend to forget at times that these books are being published for children. When I was a wee lad I used to regularly take and read the Beano and Dandy and I am sure it never worried me that the likes of Dennis the Menace and the Bash Street kids didn't actually look like real children. As a child I enjoyed these images and I am fairly confident that children today will enjoy the 15 colour images in Five on a Treasure Island.

I still disagree. I too loved The Beano and Dandy etc, but those were comics, and cartoon illustrations were expected if not demanded. As a child I was very discerning - cartoon illustrations were great for comics and even for very young children's books (like The Mr Men') but even at 7 I didn't accept the type of illustrations that Quentin Blake and his ilk were churning out. I guess it was just me - and I know many children are less bothered by such things. I know that one of the reasons I never read any Roald Dahl stories as a child were the terrible illustrations, which I hated.

I think my main beef is that I always presumed The Famous Five were actually quite serious stories, and I can't take a book seriously where the human participants are depicted as cartoon characters. If Babette Cole illustrated The Faraway Tree it would be slightly more acceptable.

I guess these cartoon styles must be very popular with children, as you say - or else they wouldn't be used. However, much of this would have to do with the fact that many children won't have come across anything better! It would be great to see a darker more realistic treatment of the characters perhaps, deep with shadows and dramatic looking, rather than a bit jokey and aimed at 4 and 5 year old's.

I would personally probably have read many less Enid Blyton books as a child if they had had illustrations like these, though.

[Katharine]

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually quite like that front cover, and the book does look rather attractive. Although saying that, I don't remember the children rowing to the island in the dark.

[Courtenay]

The original version of the cover had a white background:



So the addition of a dark sky and stars only confirms my suspicion that at least some of these cover designers haven't a clue (or else couldn't care less) what actually happens in the book.

[Rob Houghton]

Even though I don't like Babette Cole's illustrations, I find it odd that they've used an 'old' cover design by a different illustrator (Quentin Blake) rather than have Babette Cole design a new one. It spoils the continuity a little, even if I don't care for her illustrations!

I think the fact they've decided to add a starry sky to the hardback cover does indeed prove that publishers have no knowledge of the story details whatsoever.

[Nicko]

A very striking cover and Quentin Blake`s drawings are always a joy to see. Some people may not like his style but that certainly doesn`t mean his work is terrible.

I`m not sure Babette Cole`s drawings are a great fit with The Famous Five. But that`s probably because I am used to other illustrators, rather than any slight on her work.

[Courtenay]

I also like Quentin Blake's and Babette Cole's illustrations for other books. I just don't feel their styles suit the Famous Five (or Enid Blyton in general) either.

Glad to hear that the text is the relatively lightly edited version as opposed to the completely butchered version, at least...

[Rob Houghton]

I also like Quentin Blake's and Babette Cole's illustrations for other books. I just don't feel their styles suit the Famous Five (or Enid Blyton in general) either.

Exactly. I'm not a massive fan of Quentin Blake or Babette Cole, but for fantasy type books (or books for very young children) - great. I just think its a shame that The Famous Five are now aimed at a much younger audience - especially since children's reading levels have generally gone down.