Five go adventuring again by Enid Blyton. Illus. by Beja and Natael

 This is graphic novel version of the well-known book The Famous Five: Five go adventuring again by Enid Blyton (this one is by Beja and Natael).

I must admit that I never read this series as a child, I was more taken by the Enchanted Wood series, however I recognise the writing style of Enid Blyton, even though it is a graphic novel.

This book tells the story of the Julian, Dick, Anne, George and Timmy the dog on Kirrin Island. Although it is meant to be holidays their Aunt and Uncle bring in a tutor to help the children revise over the holidays and an architect to work through a renovation.

The children sense that these two men are suspicious, and the story follows their adventures to find out what they are really doing on the island and then they hatch a plan to get the evidence.

I think this graphic novel version is a great way of introducing this series to younger or more reluctant readers, as it is easy to follow and understand and still seems to keep elements of Enid Blyton’s writing style – even with the story being 80 years old!

The illustrations are great, and I think they are a good mix of the original style of images from the books and drawings that enhance a graphic novel. The use of large words, speech bubbles and facial expressions enable to reader to use the pictures to add meaning to the text.

I think that this graphic novel is a good edition to the Famous Five/Enid Blyton series and am now keen to find some of the others and read them too. Readers from approximately 7 years and up would love these, in particular those who are reluctant readers and enjoy illustrations to assist the text.

Themes: Adventure, Mystery.

Lauren Fountain