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[Nicko]

I wouldn`t have said that Quention Blake`s drawings are necessarily aimed at that young an audience. If having his picture on the front helps to attract some fans of David Walliams and Roald Dahl then it can only be a good thing.

[Rob Houghton]

Hmmm...maybe...but would fans of Ronald Dahl and David Williams really like The Famous Five?

I'm afraid I will never be convinced. Even as a child I wasn't a fan of Quentin Blake and even as a child I preferred my novel illustrators to be serious in style. Obviously I was an unusual child! I can remember, aged about 8 or 9, noticing this 'new style' of illustration for the first time and thinking that anyone could scribble a wavy-lined figure like these. I know that's probably not true but I never admired illustrators who scribbled - and its from a very early age, as I felt they were humouring children rather than giving them what they wanted. I was always very wary of being humoured as a child - hated 'Punch and Judy' , clowns, and parties with conjurers for the same reason!

I know many children like this style however. . I'm not really against either of the illustrators as such - but personally would prefer them on books aimed at younger children.

[Nicko]

I wouldn`t have said that Quention Blake`s drawings are necessarily aimed at that young an audience. If having his picture on the front helps to attract some fans of David Walliams and Roald Dahl then it can only be a good thing.

Hmmm...maybe...but would fans of Ronald Dahl and David Williams really like The Famous Five?

As they are two of the most popular children`s writers of all time, I would say that there is a huge crossover between people who enjoy Roald Dahl`s and Enid Blyton`s books.

[Rob Houghton]

Again, I'm only going by what I liked. I was never a big Roald Dahl fan as a kid...as an adult I find his writing quite clever and entertaining, but never read any of his books until I was in my 20s. I had Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but only ever read the first chapter.

Even despite my personal tastes though, its great if these modern illustrations are attracting kids to read EB...even if they are being taken in by a marketing stunt, lol!

[Courtenay]

I was a fan of both Enid Blyton AND Roald Dahl as a child, but I thought of them as two very different authors, liked their books for different reasons, and would never have thought of Quentin Blake's illustrations as going with any of my Blyton books!

But you know, everyone's tastes are different (as witness the endless Soper vs Maxey debates ). I do feel instinctively that putting cartoony illustrations on Blyton books dumbs them down and doesn't fit the style of the story or the era in which the books are actually set - but as a few people have said, at least children are still reading them.

Children's tastes can change as they grow up, too, don't forget. I was first introduced to Winnie-the-Pooh through the Disney versions, which I absolutely loved as a toddler, and only encountered the original stories with their Ernest Shepard illustrations a few years later, which I thought were a bit quaint and odd. Now as an adult I absolutely adore the original stories and illustrations and find the Disneyfication leaves me cold. But it never did me any harm either, and if it wasn't for the Disney version, I might never have given the originals a second glance when I was little.

It's the same with the Soper/Maxey thing for me as well, actually. Most of my Famous Five books as a child were the Maxey versions, and the '70s series was on TV when I was little, so I just accepted those portrayals as how the Five "looked" and didn't give it a second thought. In fact, again, when I saw older copies, I thought the Soper illustrations were a bit old-fashioned. Now that I'm older and have developed a bit more aesthetic taste ( ), I much prefer Soper's illustrations and think Maxey's are fairly dire by comparison. But they didn't actually spoil my enjoyment of the books in the first place (even if I do have a lingering mental impression of Uncle Quentin looking like Lionel Richie ).

So if I have any hopes for these new Blyton editions with "modern" illustrations (and updated text), it's that young children will enjoy them enough that they'll eventually seek out older copies, realise what they've been missing out on, and be converted likewise!!

[Rob Houghton]

My thoughts exactly.

Personally I'm glad I grew up with the Betty Maxey versions, Eileen Soper versions, and the characters as depicted in my Famous Five annuals, because all of those did suit the style and content of The Famous Five so much better than these modern illustrations, which personally do nothing for me.

[Courtenay]

Who knows - in 50 years' time, today's children as adults might be lamenting the loss of those old classic Quentin Blake and Babette Cole illustrations they grew up with, as the Famous Five are now portrayed as something like, oh, this...



(I think, from left to right, that's Anne, George, Dick and Julian, with Timmy in the front. )

[Rob Houghton]

LOL! That gave me a good laugh!

Scary thing is - many a true word spoken in jest, as they say - it's likely to happen sooner or later!

[Anita Bensoussane]

I was a fan of both Enid Blyton AND Roald Dahl as a child, but I thought of them as two very different authors, liked their books for different reasons...

Same here. I read quite a few Roald Dahl books in the 1970s, e.g. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, The Magic Finger, Danny the Champion of the World, James and the Giant Peach and The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More. In those days Dahl's books had atmospheric illustrations by a variety of artists. I think my favourites were Nancy Ekholm Burkert's for James and the Giant Peach:





Quentin Blake's pictures don't have the same resonance for me, but I expect they do for many of today's young readers so the Five on a Treasure Island cover will no doubt attract them - and I'm sure many will be familiar with Babette Cole as well.

Having said that, if I could have picked a modern children's illustrator for a special edition of Five on a Treasure Island I'd have gone for Christian Birmingham or Michael Foreman. Both have illustrated a number of Michael Morpurgo's books and their work is mature, evocative and eye-catching.

[Courtenay]

Yes, there are plenty of children's illustrators who do more "serious" styles that are very atmospheric while still appealing to young people. That's why it beats me why just about every new cover for an Enid Blyton book seems to be put in the scribbly-cartoony illustration basket! Her works aren't as heavy-going as some children's literature nowadays (some of which is quite dark), but as a child I would never have categorised her books as needing wacky and zany illustrations - particularly not the Famous Five.

On the other hand, tastes change with the times. I honestly can't say the newest Famous Five covers are worse than this (1987):



Or this (1994):



Or this (2001):

[Rob Houghton]

I agree - I'm not really a fan of any of those later Famous Five covers...except that at least they are depicting real looking children, which I will always prefer to the cartoony styles that seem to be in vogue at the moment.

I completely agree about the two illustrators Anita has cited - particularly Christian Birmingham - Five on a Treasure Island illustrated by him would have been very special and I would definitely have bought a copy.

[Poppy]

The Silver Swan illustrated by Christian Birmingham is a really striking piece of artwork; the colours and techniques are stunning.

[Tony Summerfield]

I like Christian Birmingham illustrations too and he actually has done a Famous Five illustration.

[Rob Houghton]

And a great job he did of it too!

[Courtenay]

I like that one too. Pity he couldn't have done it on a larger canvas, so to speak!