Your Top 3 Famous Five Books?

[Anita Bensoussane]

Heh - those "Both together" twins are even more irritating than Malcolm Saville's Mary and Dickie! I like the dog though!

[Boatbuilder]

I know this is all 'off-topic' but The Woodentops was not my particual favourite. I preferred 'Andy Pandy', 'The Flowerpot Men' (not forgetting 'Little Weeeeed') and 'Rag,Tag & Bobtail'. They were on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, with 'The Woodentops' on Friday.

[Hannah]

Five Go Down to the Sea disappointed me as a child because I came to it with the wrong expectations, thinking it would be more "seasidey" rather than being dominated by farm life.

The German title isn't any better - you'd expect them to come into direct contact with wreckers ("Fünf Freunde verfolgen die Strandräuber" -> "Five friends chase the wreckers").
I've always liked the book though. I probably never thought much about the titles, I was much too eager to start reading the book .

It's hard to give my top three books.
Run Away Together is probably top but after that things become difficult and there are some books that I like very much that most would rate lower. Four places 2 and 3 Caravan, Billycock Hill, Go down to the Sea, Secret Trail and Demon's Rocks are strong contenders.

[pete9012S]

I agree it is hard Hannah.

Maybe we should have a spin off choice of our 2nd favourite three Famous Five books!

So my top three are:

Treasure Island
Hike
Fix

I will now try and pick my next best three after those!

[Silky moon]

Five Go Off In A Caravan
Five On A Treasure Island
Five Go To Smugglers Top

[Chrissie777]

I always liked "Secret Trail" and "Finniston Farm", neither of which generally get high ratings. Both have twins in them, which may be the reason. I was always a sucker for twins books.

"Smugglers Top" would have to be number 1, I think.

"Secret Trail" was always a favorite since I discovered the FF in 1965. It was the very first EB book that I've read.
My # 1 is "Five on a Treasure Island" and # 2 "Five run away together" (I particularly enjoy the book from the chapter on when they finally reach the island).

[Chrissie777]

Anyone else try to work out - as a child - how many adventures the five had a year and how old the Five were at the end?
As Eva Rice says in her book on Blyton (I have got this one) again from memory Timmy would have been 'a rather grey 13 by the end'.
I would have guessed he was even older! Julian I think mid teens?

Yes, many years ago I once calculated how old the FF and Timmy must have been by # 21.
Julian and Richard would have been in their early twenties.

[Bertie]

I agree it is hard Hannah.

Maybe we should have a spin off choice of our 2nd favourite three Famous Five books!

So my top three are:

Treasure Island
Hike
Fix

I will now try and pick my next best three after those!

Great idea about the spin off 'next best three', Pete.
Taking it farther...

Five Go To Smugglers Top
Five Get Into Trouble
Five Run Away Together
-
Five On A Treasure Island
Five Go Off To Camp
Five Go Adventuring Again
-
Five On Kirrin Island Again
Five Fall Into Adventure
Five Go Off In A Caravan
-
Five Go To Mystery Moor
Five Go Down To The Sea
Five Have A Wonderful Time
-
Five On A Hike Together
Five Go To Billycock Hill
Five On Finniston Farm
-
Five On a Secret Trail
Five Have Plenty Of Fun
Five Go To Demons Rocks
-
Five Get Into A Fix
Five Are Together Again
Five Have A Mystery To Solve

[Anita Bensoussane]

It's interesting to see your list, Bertie. I too would put Five Have a Mystery to Solve at the bottom of the pile as I find it flat and uninspiring, even if the (understandable) continuity errors are disregarded.

You may enjoy looking at the following thread, where a number of people have listed the Famous Five books in order of preference:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5672&hilit=order

[Chrissie777]

Have you ever looked far into the distance, on a hot summer's day, Billie? In the mid-distance, there is a shimmering. As the heat rises (I think that's what causes it!) the light "shimmers". That is the best that I can describe it, it is easier to see it than write about it.

Nigel, André just said it's called mirage.

[Bertie]

Thanks for that link, Anita. I won't post on the thread while it's not been active for 7-8 years, but it was interested to read it.

[Chrissie777]

3)Five Have Plenty of Fun- Can't stand Berta. What a DRIP!

Berta was not my favorite character nor her poodle, but I thoroughly enjoyed the walk through Raven's Wood!

[Chrissie777]

Mr Luffy was such a brilliant character and the line where they shouted at him coming into the tent at night is one of my favourite ever in the Five books!!

In which FF book is Mr. Luffy showing up?

[Bertie]

Chrissie, Mr Luffy is in Five Go Off To Camp.
He's the (absent minded) teacher from Julian and Dick's school who is into Butterfly / Beatle collecting, and he takes the children camping with him during that holiday.

[Chrissie777]

In the early 1980s I thought I might like to be a school librarian and although I finished the diploma I never used it as such jobs are rare indeed. Well, it was useful in other ways of course.
The sole Enid Blyton title on the extensive reading list was Smugglers Top. It was there to show us how trite, impoverished, demeaning and otherwise unsatisfactory her books were in comparison with 'good' books for children!

My parents were among many adults (parents, teachers as well as librarians) in Germany way back in the mid 1960's who disliked Enid Blyton's books. Year after year after year I wrote Famous Five titles only on my Christmas wish list and birthday wish list. And year after year after year my parents disappointed me with giving me only one FF book plus several boring books like "The Little Prince" by Antoine de St.-Exupéry, "Nils Holgersson" by Selma Lagerloef, "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott and other children's books which were considered "good" books for children.
Compared with EB and Norman Dale those other children's books were tame and I missed real adventures, castles and underground passages. Actually I found the other non-Blyton books unsatisfactory.

One thing I can say for certain: it was Enid Blyton who turned me into a book worm.
Last year I've read a total of 168 books (mostly novels and crime novels, but some children's books as well).