Adventures with parents

[Fifibee]

Does anyone know of any Enid Blyton stories/books where the parents are involved in the adventures rather than just the children?

[jen]

Bill and Allie were involved in the Adventure series.........was it in River that they were both kidnapped? Maybe Bill isn't really 'family' for most of the books but Allie certainly is!

[Lenoir]

Uncle Quentin was certainly involved in some of them.
He played a main part in Five on Kirrin island again, and was also caught up in the adventure at Smuggler's Top.

[jen]

I'd completely forgotten about Quentin in Smugglers Top! *heads for bookshelf for a re-read*

[annabeldaisy]

that story totally humanised him!

[Lucky Star]

Captain and Mrs Arnold played a part in The Secret Mountain. Otherwise most of the Adventure/Mystery books either got the parents out of the way very quickly or reduced them to occasionally doling out huge meals.

When I was a child though that was part of the appeal, no parents, just kids having a wonderful time doing exactly as they wished.

[Moonraker]

that story totally humanised him!

Completely. Up till then, and since, for that matter, I thought UQ was a selfish, thoughtless bore. However, he showed a lovely, compassionate side, deep in the catacombs of Castaway.

Another reason why Smuggler's Top is a super read.

[RainbowJude]

Bill and Allie were involved in the Adventure series.........was it in River that they were both kidnapped? Maybe Bill isn't really 'family' for most of the books but Allie certainly is!

Yes! I wonder what happened to Bill and Allie when they were in Raya Uma's hands in The River of Adventure; those events might have earned Raya Uma some street cred in his role as villain, something which he is sorely lacking. They were also "got out of the way" long enough for Gussy to be kidnapped in The Circus of Adventure - which I guess constitutes as being involved in the adventure, even if only in a minor way. Otherwise, Allie is usually out of the picture, but Bill gets to be involved in some way or another pretty much throughout, though usually as some kind of deus ex machina. This sometimes works wonderfully (The Mountain of Adventure - what a thrilling entrance), but at other times it seems awfully contrived (The Castle of Adventure).

Later days
David

[Seymour Glass]

Dimmy isn't a parent but she acted in loco parentis for Jack, Mike, Peggy and Nora (and later Paul) and she was involved to some degree in The Secret of Spiggy Holes.

It's been a while since I've read Moon Castle but I don't think she was directly involved in that adventure herself.

[Rob Houghton]

Dimmy isn't a parent but she acted in loco parentis for Jack, Mike, Peggy and Nora (and later Paul) and she was involved to some degree in The Secret of Spiggy Holes.

It's been a while since I've read Moon Castle but I don't think she was directly involved in that adventure herself.

The involvement of Dimmy in 'Spiggy Holes' sort of gives a good example of why parent-type adults (I'm not including Bill of the Adventure books in this! ) just don't work in an adventure story. WHY didnt Dimmy just go to the police when she thought someone had been kidnapped? WHY did Dimmy let her wards get into danger? WHY, indeed, did Dimmy even believe that there really was a kidnapping?

When I read this book as a child I admittedly never questioned these things, but just recently I reread the book and stopped 3/4's of the way through because I just couldnt believe Dimmy's involvement. It didn't ring true at all. It works with Bill or ranni or Pilescue etc, because they are adventurous characters in often exotic surroundings, and HAVE to participate in the adventure in order to help the children survive, but in real life Dimmy would simply have told the police and left them to sort out the capture of the villains. that's why usually adults just don't work in children's adventure stories

[auscatherine]

Not really adventure books but the adults seem to play a much more prominent role in the circus books.