The Famous Five Illustrators Compared

[Rob Houghton]

I really like The Famous Five colouring book! Didn't know there was one!

[Daisy]

It's a pity there weren't any when was young... it might have stopped me colouring many of the illustrations in my early EB books! Looking at them now, they are awful.

[Rob Houghton]

Mine are similar - except probably worse, as I used garish felt pens that seeped through to the back of the page!

[Rob Houghton]

Being the weak-willed person that I am, I just pre-ordered it on Amazon!

[Eddie Muir]

It looks interesting. I'll probably order a copy myself.

[Tony Summerfield]

Illustrator: Laura Ellen Anderson

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/book ... e+Treasury" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I know that none of you will want to buy this because of the illustrations, but as it took me a considerable time to load the contents and put where each extract came from I thought the least I could do would be to put a link to it!

[Courtenay]

I know that none of you will want to buy this because of the illustrations...

You never know, Tony, there could be some huge fans of the Laura Ellen Anderson illustrations here who are just too scared to "out" themselves... Seriously, great work on listing all that information. It's not a book I would buy myself (I'm not a collector of the Famous Five, even with Soper illustrations!), but I think it's wonderful that Enid's creations are still selling so well that a compilation like that is being produced 70 years after the original books were published!

[Anita Bensoussane]

Thanks, Tony. I commented on the cover on page 6 of this thread, when Pete put up a link, but it's interesting to see the contents. I like the themes (Feasts, Travels, etc.) and the wide variety of extracts and I think the whole idea of a treasury based on the Famous Five is excellent, though it's funny that Five on a Secret Trail is the only full-length book not to have been used! As a child I'd particularly have enjoyed features like 'Make Your Own Wrapping Paper!' and 'Fun on the Beach!'

I must say it's a bit disappointing to see five of the short stories trotted out yet again. They seem to have been published and republished in multiple forms in recent years.

[Rob Houghton]

It's a book I would normally have loved as a child, but even back then I would have hated the illustrations, purely because they don't look like real people, and for me the Famous Five were real living individuals.

Interesting to see the contents - looks good apart from the illustrations.

[pete9012S]

The concept and content look fantastic - perhaps the illustrations will grow on me.As a lone fan of Betty Maxey I am broad minded!

[Rob Houghton]

But I would have bought it if it had Betty Maxey illustrations. They were humans.

[Tony Summerfield]

It is not arriving in the shops for another month, but it is a pretty hefty tome, one of the heaviest books that I have got and also something that my scanner can't manage, but all the brown on the front cover is actually in gold. If you haven't already found enough reasons not to buy it the price of £19.99 might settle it!

I am almost embarrassed to say so here, but I think it is a really nice book.

[Rob Houghton]

I am almost embarrassed to say so here, but I think it is a really nice book.

I'm sure it is - and I think it sounds wonderful! The illustrations just aren't my idea of the Famous Five (and I'm no Soper-addict!) - I like all depictions of the Famous Five from 1942 till about 2010!

[Courtenay]

They're actually not so bad as illustrations, but they just don't suit the style of Enid's writing, as far as I'm concerned. They look like zany/wacky/crazy characters who might have all sorts of hilarious and over-the-top escapades in some cartoon-show sort of world, but they don't look like characters we're supposed to take seriously as if they're real-life people whom we wish we could meet and go on adventures with. Which I'm sure is the impression the Famous Five have usually left on generations of readers.

[Rob Houghton]

yes, I agree. they'd be great for 'The Witches' or 'James and the Giant peach' etc, or books by David Walliams, or wacky books about naughty children feeding worms to grandma, but not for serious stories like The Famous Five.