The Enid Blyton Society

I grew up with the uncredited Dean illustrations from 1973.
Whilst my scans are not good enough for the cave you may like to see them again or perhaps for the first time.

Illustrations: The Adventurous Four Again!

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I have never thought that Jessie Land's illustrations were too bad, with the exception of that depiction of Andy with very broad shoulders! But, now you mention it, there are various flaws and clearly incorrect proportioned objects/etc, which seem to have a knock-on effect throughout the rest of the illustrations, including that very strange hand in the image Pete posted, earlier! They are quite disappointing illustrations compared to E.H.Davie's wonderful illustrations that accompanied the text in The Adventurous Four. Despite this, I think Jessie Land captures the personalities of Jill and Mary, perfectly.

I guess I can be picky regards illustrations, as I'm quite arty myself - I tend to notice the flaws before the good bits! Some of Jessie Land's work is passable - even pretty good, but not a patch on EH Davie. Mind you, she was drawing baddies with thick hairy legs and one with, if I remember correctly, 'arms like a gorilla'

My own Adventurous Four books are the Dean & Son ones and I admire the attractive, detailed illustrations very much, though I think the E. H. Davie and Jessie Land illustrations are good too. Jessie Land's are idiosyncratic and quite humorous, and I rather like that.

I think it's the idiosyncrasy of the illustrations by Jessie Land that puts me off them. I can just about go along with EH Davie's strange illustrations for Secret Mountain, but I find Jessie Land's a little too humorous for what is meant to be a tense and exciting tale. For me, they take the drama away a little.

The Dean illustrator for The Adventurous Four is one of my favourites - such a shame they weren't credited. I think whoever it was did the Dean illustrations for Happy House, as well as Mr Galliano's Circus and a few others.

Robert Houghton wrote:I can just about go along with EH Davie's strange illustrations for Secret Mountain, but I find Jessie Land's a little too humorous for what is meant to be a tense and exciting tale.

Do you mean Harry Rountree's illustrations for The Secret Mountain? I've only ever seen them in the Cave because my copy is a 1970s Armada paperback, and I enjoy the quirkiness. I wouldn't want all Enid Blyton's adventure books to be given the same treatment by any means, but it's fun once in a while.

Robert Houghton wrote:The Dean illustrator for The Adventurous Four is one of my favourites - such a shame they weren't credited. I think whoever it was did the Dean illustrations for Happy House, as well as Mr Galliano's Circus and a few others.

Yes, we've discussed elsewhere that the front cover of the Dean & Son Mr. Galliano's Circus has a signature saying "G. Robinson" - so that might possibly be the name of the artist.

I must say Andy is coming across as a decent,caring leader in my re read of this this book,The Adventurous Four Again!

"You wouldn't really drop the oil-stove on that man's head,
would you?" asked Jill, very horrified at the thought
"No," said Andy. "But I thought the threat might keep them
out of here till to-morrow, when I hope my Dad will come with
Uncle Ned and his boat. Then we'll creep out and yell for all
we're worth!"

Mary lighted the lamp, and the cave at once glowed into
warm yellow light. It seemed cosy and snug in there. The
children wrapped their rugs round them and put cushions at their
heads. Mary sat bolt upright, proud to have the first watch. She
had built up a pile of tins at the entrance to the cave. Now no
one could get in without being heard at once.
Andy blew out the lamp. Darkness settled on the cave once
more. Jill put out her hand and took Mary's. "I'll hold your hand
just to keep you company whilst you're watching," she
whispered. "Good night!"

A very touching moment of Sister solidarity.

Anita Bensoussane wrote:

Robert Houghton wrote:I can just about go along with EH Davie's strange illustrations for Secret Mountain, but I find Jessie Land's a little too humorous for what is meant to be a tense and exciting tale.

Do you mean Harry Rountree's illustrations for The Secret Mountain? I've only ever seen them in the Cave because my copy is a 1970s Armada paperback, and I enjoy the quirkiness

Yes - Harry Rountree it is. They are some very quirky illustrations - but I like them a lot. . When I first read The Secret Mountain it was in a first edition hardback, and it was a really special experience reading it with the original illustrations - quite unique!

pete9012S wrote:

Mary lighted the lamp, and the cave at once glowed into
warm yellow light. It seemed cosy and snug in there. The
children wrapped their rugs round them and put cushions at their
heads. Mary sat bolt upright, proud to have the first watch. She
had built up a pile of tins at the entrance to the cave. Now no
one could get in without being heard at once.
Andy blew out the lamp. Darkness settled on the cave once
more. Jill put out her hand and took Mary's. "I'll hold your hand
just to keep you company whilst you're watching," she
whispered. "Good night!"

A very touching moment of Sister solidarity.

That is a nice moment, Pete. It made me think that, as far as Enid Blyton's mystery/adventure stories are concerned, it's rare to see two girls presented as equals who support one another. In some series one girl is significantly younger than the other (e.g. Bets in the Find-Outers series and Nora in the Secret books), while in other series we have two girls with extremely different personalities (e.g. George and Anne in the Famous Five series, and Dinah and Lucy-Ann in the Adventure books). Diana, of course, is the only girl in the Barney mysteries. Janet, Pam and Barbara in the Secret Seven are of an age but I never got the impression that the three of them formed a particularly tight-knit group and I don't recall any tender moments between them (now I've said that, no doubt people will come up with umpteen such moments! )

One thing I thought was odd,well two really in The Adventurous Four Again! was the way that Andy was convinced that the men who captured them wouldn't dare mistreat them.How times have changed.

Also,the way the children were allowed to wander about because there was a lookout on top of the very high rock who would see anyone coming from miles away. Yet when Tom & Andy ventured up there,there was nobody there!!

Merged with an existing topic.

I have just re-read both these books and as usual thoroughly enjoyed them. Their two of Enid's best in my opinion, like a slightly older Famous Five (even though the children are younger ) and seem to have more dangerous villains. One thing that never occurred to me though on previous reads is how long the children are on the island for in the first book. As most EB adventures generally seem to last a week or two, I assumed this one did too, but on reading it it must be a lot longer. When they set off it's obviously summer as their swimming in the sea to cool down, but when their stranded there are mentions of them being there 'days and days' and later on, the man saying he'll have a hut made up for them for the winter, so if have they been stuck there for months, basically all the autumn, surely they are on a raft in the freezing sea around november? Yet it is still warm enough for them to get into the water to try and hide

I haven't read The Adventurous Four for a long time but maybe the men were just looking ahead when they mentioned winter? It could be cold on a remote Scottish island even in September or October, so if it was already August the hut would need to be ready pretty soon.

The reference to winter also serves to intensify the suspense and fear. The thought of the children being stuck on the island for so long is horrifying.

I'm not sure if there's another thread about The Adventurous Four, but if there is, feel free to merge this one with it, Anita! I couldn't find one but admittedly I didn't search very hard! (Now merged!)

My reason for posting this is a bit lazy, and selfish, lol! As some people might know, I am currently writing a sequel to The Adventurous Four - which has been planned since last April - but is now underway. I've currently written about six chapters. Anyway - writing such sequels always throws up a few questions, and I wondered if anyone here might have the answers. Or maybe there are no answers!

I could reread the books...but that would take a while. I've scanned a few pages but can't find the answer to a few basic questions. Can anyone help?

At the moment, I've given the fishing village a name of my own...but did Enid ever name it? If anyone knows, Id be very grateful!

Also - does anyone know who Mrs Andrews is? She is mentioned in The Adventurous Four - page 16 when Jill says 'what about those hard-boiled eggs Mrs Andrews did for us yesterday evening...' - WHO is Mrs Andrews?

Lastly - do the children have surnames...? Does Enid ever mention the surname of Tom, Jill and Mary...? Does she give Andy a surname...?

As I say, I could find out - eventually - by reading the two books - but if anyone has an instant answer, it would be much appreciated!

Have sent you an email Rob which may help you!

Also here's a character mentioned in the first book:

"Old Mrs.
MacPherson at the village shop
said they were awfully good--
so I brought some. Think of
cooking sausages in a tin on
the Little Island, Andy."

The second book says:

They all made an enormous meal. "I can see I shall have
my work cut out to satisfy your appetites these holidays! " said
their mother. "No--you needn't help to clear away and wash up,
twins. I've got Mrs. MacIntyre coming in to help

Thanks Pete - and for the email. Very useful indeed!

I've already made use of Mrs MacPherson - mentioning that she runs the village store, but in my novel there's also another Mrs MacPherson...who the children nickname 'Mrs MacFearsome'