The Mystery of the Vanished Prince

[Courtenay]

Perhaps someone objected to the presence of "wee" in an Enid Blyton book...

[Nair Snehalatha]

Why not use this forum for some Reference.to context-- Who said to whom-- when and.where--- I am starting-- hope you others dont mind----- " His father.was one of the Wreckers on this coast,.and.he.can.tell you some strange stories abput those dreadful days'--- Who said these.words -to whom, and when? .Its from the Famous Five.series-

[Anita Bensoussane]

Take a look at the Games section and you'll see that we've got games like that already, Snehalatha. Here's a link to the game 'Who Said It?':

https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/for ... =19&t=1013" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Al]

Apologies for the delay in replying, thank you for the very warm welcome

[aminmec]

It seemed truly unreal that Goon who has been living in the same place as the kids and seen them numerous times , isnt able to recognise them in some foreign attire . Erns not recognising is understandable , but Goon ....?? They have their faces exposed yet he fails to know Bets , Pip , Larry n Daisy .At least never even doubts that Fatty is alone and just where could the others be . The same gender size and number ...and they are foreigners ??

[Lucky Star]

Yes it's a little unbelievable to us adults but it's a good plot device and a wonderfully written and very humorous scene. As a child I loved that particular episode, in fact I thought it the best part of the book!

[Boodi 2]

It is also one of my favourite episodes and I still giggle when I read about "the state umbrella"!!! I think the aim was also to highlight the fact that PC Goon was not very bright and therefore unable to recognise the "foreigners" with Fatty.

[Barnard]

You are right, Boodi. It showed that Goon was completely gormless.

[Splodj]

Erns not recognising is understandable , but Goon ....?

Although Ern was given the additional clues that the boy who looked like Pip was called Kim-Pippy-Tok and the Larry lookalike was called Kim-Larriana-Tik.

[Lucky Star]

It also sets up the whole subplot whereby the police are misled into thinking that the missing prince has a sister also on British soil. Which leads to a stern dressing down for Fatty from Inspector Jenks. All of which is important for the development of the plot in this book and also for the characters themselves in the context of the series as a whole.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I was unconvinced by that episode even as a youngster. Like Aminmec, I found it very hard to believe that the group of four children couldn't be recognised, especially with Pip and Larry's invented names being based on their real ones. There are only two Find-Outers books that I don't much like, The Mystery of the Vanished Prince being one of them (the other is The Mystery of Banshee Towers).

[Nair Snehalatha]

The mystery of the vanished prince is as good as any which Blyton wrote. Sometimes I wonder how they can play tricks abd jokes without laughing. Ern is also in the book which adds to the excitement.Blyton should have included Ern in all her books. Wonder why she didnt.Ern is first intriduced in Hidden House-- he's in the last book --Banshee towers too--.which I dont read often.as it makes me sad neong the last book.

[pete9012S]

Good points Nair. I personally think she did quite well with the timing, introduction and character development of Ern. When he appeared it was always something to look forward too.

What a change his character underwent. Eventually being willing to almost lay down his life for his beloved Fatty!

[Nair Snehalatha]

Yes, Ern would have willingly given up his life for Fatty. He himself says so-- that he will all that Fatty.says --Or die. And yes, Ern, being in the book is a lot to look forward to. I spend quiet evenings reading.Find outers -- with my son, who is also a very avid reader of Blyton. We read.a whole.series first and then start on a new series-- also re read them as they are all great favourites with us.

[pete9012S]

Sounds wonderful Nair. How old is your son?
You're never too old to read Enid Blyton no matter what age he is.