Customer Reviews

Five Get into Trouble (Galaxy Children's Large Print)

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An Enid Blyton's book is always a treat! The first novel I had ever read was when I was 9 years old, and since then Enid Blyton's books have not failed to amaze me. The Famous Five of the Famous Five series are three siblings (Julian, Dick, and Anne), their cousin (George) and her dog (Timmy). Their adventures are something I look forward to read every now and then - even till today.

Five Get Into Trouble is the eighth novel in The Famous Five series by Enid Blyton and was first published in 1949. In this novel, Dick gets kidnapped while on a cycling holiday. It's a case of mistaken identity of another boy whose name is Richard. He is later rescued by the Five. This book is one of the most popular in the series.

Go on, pick up a copy & read the book!

The Famous Five - three siblings, their cousin and her dog - are probably among the most famous of Enid Blyton's literary creations, coming in just behind Noddy and The Magic Faraway Tree. They are certainly the best-known of her juvenile detectives series (would kids these days even know who The Secret Seven and The Five Find-Outers are?) and the adventures of Julian, Dick, George, Anne and Timmy the dog have never been out of print since their first publication in 1942. Spanning twenty one books, a typical installment will involve the children wandering about the countryside with no adult supervision, having lavish picnics that include potted meat, chocolate cakes and ginger-beer, and always tumbling head-first into a mystery whether they mean to or not.

The three siblings are Julian, Dick and Anne; each one a typical character type. Julian, the eldest, is responsible, intelligent, and assumes the leadership role on each adventure, whilst Dick is more easy-going and humorous. Anne is the domestic-in-training who takes care of the cooking and cleaning, and is usually the one to act as mother the others despite being the youngest. But it is their cousin George who is the most interesting (and thus the most popular) character. Her real name is Georgina, but she insists on George, wears her hair short and wishes that she had been born a boy. Sometimes surly and quick-tempered, her greatest joys in life are her mongrel dog Timmy and her small private island off the coast.

The children are lightly sketched, but are sympathetic, well-mannered and likeable. Functioning well as a team and each providing something useful and unique to the group dynamic is probably the reason why this particular series has lasted as long as it has. The mysteries usually involve stumbling into some sort of criminal undertaking, and with their requisite pluck and determination, the five gather enough information to safely inform the authorities - though usually not without earning the unwelcome attention of the criminals first.

Admittedly I have not read all the book in the Famous Five series, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that "Five Get Into Trouble" is one of the best; if not *the* best. It was also the first story about them that I ever read, and the memories of suspense, excitement and anticipation have stayed with me even to this day. Even reading as an adult, I felt a little shiver go down my spine when I got to the part where the children...well, I won't give it away.

The story wastes no time getting started. Within the first chapter the children's plans are set, and they're off by the next on a cycling tour, complete with tents, sleeping bags and lots of ginger beer. For the first few days things are going wonderfully, with moonlight bike-rides, swimming in cool lakes and picnic lunches, and then they unexpectedly come across another traveling companion. Richard Kent is a fair-headed and cheerful boy, who is eager to escape his summer tutor and join in the cycling adventure. The Five are a little hesitant, but on hearing that he has permission from his mother, allow him to tag along before he reaches his aunt's house.

But they'll regret their decision soon enough. Richard's father is an important businessman with an ex-bodyguard who has a grudge to settle against the family. Whilst Julian and George go to a nearby farm to get supplies, Dick and Anne stay at the campsite in order to fix a puncture on a bike. They are in the middle of their task when they hear someone running toward them through the forest, shouting for help: it is Richard, insisting that he's being chased by enemies of his father. Directing him toward the farm where Richard hopes to find Julian and Timmy, the siblings left behind are unsure how to proceed. Anne eventually decides to climb a tree in order to try and get a better view, but while she's up there, Dick is kidnapped by the men, who mistake him for Richard.

Anne is petrified, but when the others return, she's still able to tell them that the men were planning to take Dick to a place called "Owl's Dene." Finding a promising-sounding place called Owl's Hill on their map, the children decide to go in pursuit of their brother. So begins one of their most suspenseful and dangerous adventures, full of night meetings, mistaken identities, dark cars, secret rooms, sinister men, and a house full of secrets.

On reaching the lonely Owl's Dene, the children manage to sneak in under the cover of darkness - and even go so far as to enter the house through an open window in their search - only to be caught by the men that live there. From here on out, the children have to play a careful game of obfuscating innocence as they try to determine Dick's whereabouts and keep Richard hidden from view, and it is Julian who discovers some rather amazing secrets when he finds a way to sneak out of the children's locked room at night.

With the gates closed behind them, the children are effectively prisoners on the grounds. Cut off from any kind of help, this may well be the most suspenseful Famous Five book as they (and Richard) try to figure out a way to escape safely. Timmy's life is in danger when the men plot to poison him, though they do gain some help from a mistreated woman who acts as the housemaid and cook, they all know that their situation will worsen when the oft-mentioned "Rooky" turns up.

As usual, Blyton excels with her atmosphere, putting the Five in a legitimately spooky environment full of creepy houses and screech owls, with some truly dark themes at work regarding child kidnapping and being held against one's will in an isolated area. Blyton makes the children work together in order to get out of their predicament. It is their unerring bravery and cheerfulness in the face of adversary that makes this was such a special book in the series, and every character gets a chance to shine at one stage - even the cowardly Richard, whose behaviour is the reason that they're in this mess in the first place.

It's a slightly different formula from the usual Famous Five story, and so definitely a must-read in this particular series, or even children's literature in general. The only problem is that if you read it before any of the other books, you've hit the series at its peak!