Famous Five "Junior" books (in German)

[Hannah]

Yesterday I had a look at ebooks by Blyton available at my library and I discovered a series called "Famous Five Junior". At first I thought that they were written by someone else but then I had a closer look and found that they sounded familiar.

Turns out that the first eight books are the short stories made into books with large print and illustrations - but they've also added some books that aren't based on Blyton.

I'm still not sure if I think it is a good idea to maybe make the short stories more interesting for younger children or if I think it's just a clever way to make money - the printed books (each containing just one short story) cost 9€. The stories seem to be translations into modern German, nothing is added, the odd sentence or half sentence is omitted.

You can have a look at them on the publisher's website. The first eight books in the Junior-series are the short stories but the titles given in the descriptions aren't always correct. This is the correct assignment:

1. Fünf Freunde JUNIOR - Der unsichtbare Dieb (The invisible thief) - Five Have a Puzzling Time
2. Fünf Freunde JUNIOR - Die Suche nach dem Rennpferd (The search for the racing horse) - Well done, Famous Five!
3. Fünf Freunde JUNIOR - Den Räubern auf der Spur (On the track of the robbers) - A lazy afternoon
4. Fünf Freunde JUNIOR - Unser Timmy ist der Beste (Our Timmy is the best) - Five and a half-term adventure
5. Fünf Freunde JUNIOR - Ein aufregender Waldausflug (An exciting trip to the woods) - George’s Hair is Too Long
6. Fünf Freunde JUNIOR - Das Geheimnis der alten Villa (The secret of the old villa) - When Timmy chased the cat!
7. Fünf Freunde JUNIOR - Die verschwundenen Weihnachtspäckchen (The vanished christmas packages) - Happy Christmas, Five!
8. Fünf Freunde JUNIOR - Timmy, der Meisterdetektiv (Timmy, the master detective) - Good old Timmy

On amazon.de you can look into the kindle edition (click onto "Blick ins Buch" next to the cover that is offered once you've chosen one of the books).
The illustrations aren't my favorite but I think they're pretty decent for modern illustrations.

It's interesting that they left English names like "Windy Hill" - not that I mind but I'm surprised, especially as the books are aimed at younger children. The readers will probably also wonder why a watch stops when it isn't wound up .

[Anita Bensoussane]

The books sound like a German version of the 'Famous Five Colour Reads', Hannah, though the German illustrations by Gerda Raidt are more attractive than the English ones by Jamie Littler. 9€ per book is pricey! The UK price is £5.99, but copies bought online are often cheaper than that.

I think it's good to leave in details like the watch stopping. Children learn some history from reading stories written in the past, and often find it interesting to discover how things differed for previous generations. As a youngster in the 1970s, I loved reading the Milly-Molly-Mandy series by Joyce Lankester Brisley. It was fascinating to be swept into a world which was like my own in certain respects, but very different in others.

Here's a link to the 'Famous Five Colour Reads':

https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/sea ... lour+reads

[Hannah]

Thanks for the link to the "Colour Reads", Anita. They certainly seem to be the same just with another illustrator.
Before posting I had looked on amazon.co.uk and in the cave if there were these Junior-books in English but didn't find any - that's not surprising of course seeing that they have another name.

In Germany (new) books must have the same price anywhere so it wouldn't be cheaper to buy them online.

I like that they left the watch that has to be wound up in it but was a bit surprised as usually so much editing is done.

[Wolfgang]

If I'm not completely wrong, the French also published the stories as individual books.