Betty Maxey illustrations (Famous Five)

[Anita Bensoussane]

Awful

I imagine you became distracted and accidentally pressed 'Submit' whilst in the middle of writing 'Awfully good', Nigel!

[Wolfgang]

Or was it supposed to be "artful"?

[pete9012S]

Thinking Nigel was so ill, I thought I could get away with that post.
I fear he's getting better!

[Anita Bensoussane]

Or was it supposed to be "artful"?

Very good, Wolfgang!

[John Pickup]

Awful

They're worse than that.

[pete9012S]

Just come across this thread and loving looking back at the Betty Maxey images I remember so well from my childhood. As I grew up with these, these are more how I picture the five than Eileen Soper's.

That is not to detract from Eileen's work which I agree should be the definitive illustrations, as she was the first illustrator, and her drawings are more detailed and better too. However, for my own personal preference, I have a soft spot for Betty's work. I feel the five are pictured more as their age of 11 to 13, whereas in Eileen's work, especially the first book, they look a lot younger.

I also always picture Timmy as Betty's version, a bigger and stronger dog, but in Eileen's work (and the 1996 TV series), I always feel he doesn't look like much of a threat. But interesting to see both versions side by side, and I still prefer reading the original books now, as they have the original text, so slowly getting more used to the Eileen Soper illustrations.

What a lovely post that was - balanced, with appreciation for Betty Maxey, whilst still acknowledging the marvellous Eileen Soper.
Well said KirrinCastle!

[GloomyGraham]

I didn't think too much about the illustrations as a child - I was more interested in Enid's plots and words.

But I did always feel the Maxey (and some other illustrations) were too 'modernised' and didn't quite fit. A bit like when more recent TV shows try and update the characters. For me - they're just not quite right.

[Bertie]

What a lovely post that was - balanced, with appreciation for Betty Maxey, whilst still acknowledging the marvellous Eileen Soper.
Well said KirrinCastle!

I'm surprised you only had to go back 5 years to find a positive Betty Maxey post!

Seriously, I grew up with the full set of paperback editions that some had BM, and others had ES, illustrations. And also some (later, all) of them in hardback with ES illustrations. While i quite liked some of the Betty Maxey covers, I always much preferred Eileen Soper's illustrations - especially the lovely way she portrayed Timmy. That's the way I always picture him!

The only negative I ever had about Eileen Soper's illustrations as it progressed was that she starts to age them quite a lot. Which, time wise, is probably accurate - but they start looking a bit too old really, and she does revert them back again. I'm sure that's been covered on here many times.

[Moonraker]

What a lovely post that was - balanced, with appreciation for Betty Maxey, whilst still acknowledging the marvellous Eileen Soper.
Well said KirrinCastle!

I'm surprised you only had to go back 5 years to find a positive Betty Maxey post!

You beat me to it!