The Famous Five - Rate the uncredited cover
- pete9012S
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Re: The Famous Five - Rate the uncredited cover
Look and see how Betty just gets it right!!
" A kind heart always brings its own reward," said Mrs. Lee.
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Re: The Famous Five - Rate the uncredited cover
Perfect Pete. Those will always be my favourite series of covers; right up there with the originals.
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Re: The Famous Five - Rate the uncredited cover
I don't mind that cover, Timmy is certainly more how I imagined him.
I don't feel the cover would make me want to pick up the book particularly though - it's just a group of children looking upwards and doesn't to me convey a feeling of adventure/excitement.
Perhaps my biggest problem with modern illustrations is that along with modernising currency, having the children wear jeans etc is that it doesn't fit in with the period the books were written in.
Maybe in the 1970's it didn't matter so much, but the idea of a modern version having Uncle Quentin signalling from the tower night and day is ridiculous - he'd use his mobile to ring or text, and would he really have a precious notebook full of all his calculations? Much more realistic if the crooks tried to steal his laptop or memory stick!
So why not stick to having covers/illustrations that set the book into the time period it was written.
As I believe I mentioned once before, no one would modernise a classic like the Railway Children and their red flannel petticoats so why do it to Enid Blyton?
I don't feel the cover would make me want to pick up the book particularly though - it's just a group of children looking upwards and doesn't to me convey a feeling of adventure/excitement.
Perhaps my biggest problem with modern illustrations is that along with modernising currency, having the children wear jeans etc is that it doesn't fit in with the period the books were written in.
Maybe in the 1970's it didn't matter so much, but the idea of a modern version having Uncle Quentin signalling from the tower night and day is ridiculous - he'd use his mobile to ring or text, and would he really have a precious notebook full of all his calculations? Much more realistic if the crooks tried to steal his laptop or memory stick!
So why not stick to having covers/illustrations that set the book into the time period it was written.
As I believe I mentioned once before, no one would modernise a classic like the Railway Children and their red flannel petticoats so why do it to Enid Blyton?
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Re: The Famous Five - Rate the uncredited cover
An adequate illustration but nothing special. I dislike covers emblazoned with gaudy bars and splashes saying what good value the book is. They look tacky! 4/10.pete9012S wrote:
I've seen the original artwork and I find the fluidly-drawn figures and comical chimp striking. Chris Riddell is an accomplished illustrator. It's a pity only two of the children are shown though, and I'm not entirely sure which two they are (Julian and Nobby? Julian and George? Nobby and George?)pete9012S wrote:
Have you red this one man?
You'll be blue if you have this one rather than the above!
The red background sets off the figures perfectly - 6.5/10.
The blue background isn't as attractive - 6/10.
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- Anita Bensoussane
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Re: The Famous Five - Rate the uncredited cover
I agree with others that the castle looks new and the tower is too small. A really ugly cover - 1/10.pete9012S wrote:
It may be partly nostalgia but I very much like that portrayal of the Five and the ruined arch in the background. The colours are soft and attractive. The fact that the children are gazing intently at something creates a sense of expectation - a feeling that things are about to happen! 8.5/10.pete9012S wrote:
Look and see how Betty just gets it right!!
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.
"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.
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- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.
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Re: The Famous Five - Rate the uncredited cover
As general illustrations, I quite like the Chris Riddell one. The red is better and would probably make me pick it up to find out more. However I can't understand why only 2 children are shown, and although I'm not normally bothered by gender equality, I'm at a complete loss as to why both characters are boys! That perhaps might make me ignore it as I'd assume it was a boys book.
Also not really sure why Julian? is in just a vest.
As a piece of artwork - 6/10
As a FF cover - 1/10
Also not really sure why Julian? is in just a vest.
As a piece of artwork - 6/10
As a FF cover - 1/10
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Re: The Famous Five - Rate the uncredited cover
I chuckle each time I see Quentin’s tiny tower. The spiral staircase must have been minute. When Quentin was inside, he probably had to breathe in when he wanted to turn round.
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Re: The Famous Five - Rate the uncredited cover
I suppose it's like the tardis - it's much bigger in the inside than it seems to be from the outside...
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Re: The Famous Five - Rate the uncredited cover
Great reply, Wolfgang.
- pete9012S
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Re: The Famous Five - Rate the uncredited cover
1986 Hodder & Stoughton, illustrations by Jolyne Knox, cover uncredited (*)
FIVE GO TO BILLYCOCK HILL (illustrated by John Ridgway)
https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/bly ... perid=4332" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
One uncredited cover and one credited. Perhaps covers we don't see very often?
" A kind heart always brings its own reward," said Mrs. Lee.
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Re: The Famous Five - Rate the uncredited cover
I'm not keen on the 1986 cover, it's too 'blurry' for my liking although the plane looks quite good.
I don't mind the magazine drawings but think that the plane looks more like a space ship.
I don't mind the magazine drawings but think that the plane looks more like a space ship.
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Re: The Famous Five - Rate the uncredited cover
The first one, uncredited, looks like a lunar landscape. And that's got to be Thunderbird 2 in the second one but at least the grass is the right colour.
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- pete9012S
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Re: The Famous Five - Rate the uncredited cover
See also the above.
" A kind heart always brings its own reward," said Mrs. Lee.
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Re: The Famous Five - Rate the uncredited cover
Yes definitely - I knew it reminded me of something.John Pickup wrote:And that's got to be Thunderbird 2 in the second one but at least the grass is the right colour.
I'm not sure about the Chucklers' Weekly cover.
Timmy looks good, but other than that it doesn't do much for me.
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- pete9012S
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Re: The Famous Five - Rate the uncredited cover
This one's an improvement - to me at least!
" A kind heart always brings its own reward," said Mrs. Lee.
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