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This is my partner‘s favorite children‘s book. He read it to me & I loved it. He is now reading book 2 to me. I love the author descriptions & the illustrations are amazing. Her imagination & all the conflicts that arise. Such a fun read
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⚠️ Beware this book is now a banned book given the fact many words used are now considered rude or insulting or have a different connotation. At the time it was written none of that mattered.
“The best way to treat obstacles is to use them as stepping-stones. Laugh at them, tread on them, and let them lead you to something better.”
pickI haven‘t read a Famous Five book in ages but this was honestly such a good time that - I‘m considering a full reread. The drama was amped up from the beginning, it‘s all more than a little ridiculous but it‘s set in a house with multiple secret passage ways… so what‘s not to enjoy?
He‘s literally been kidnapped, along with Sooty (who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time) and is being held underground in an old smugglers tunnel. Love the sentiment, Uncle Q but maybe play along??
This book is honestly so dramatic - I love it.
At this point, I‘m wondering if the stepfather loathing comes from personal experience…
Update : no personal experience of having a step parent but her beloved father did abandon the family, leaving her with a mother that she didn‘t particularly get along with. Wikipedia notes that she didn‘t attend either parents funeral.
“You don‘t have a stepmother and a stepfather!” said Sooty, scornfully. “You only have one or the other. My mother is my real mother, and she‘s Marybelle‘s mother too. But Marybelle and I are only half brother and sister because my stepfather is her real father.”
As someone with half siblings and an awful stepfather the SHADE in this book is hilarious! Everyone proceeds to feel extremely sorry for Marybelle having such an awful biological Dad.
I found this beautiful case bound hardcover edition from 1974 in the second hand bookstore in Sassafras and 😍!! It‘s in beautiful condition - and I‘m obsessed with the cover!
Queer and highly suspicious things happen at Smuggler‘s Top. The Five have gone to stay with Sooty Lenoir and his father, after the ash tree fell on Kirrin Cottage.
Time for a reread, I think! I don‘t have strong memories of this one.
1. Family lunch, then road tripping with some friends - all the way across the border into NSW - only to cross immediately back over to visit Cactus Country… & maybe jump on a paddle steamer in Echuca
2. I‘ve been disappointed that a couple of promising looking fantasy books were series starters & not standalones (I took them back to the library unread)
3. I can remember lots - but this is the famous 5 adventure that I daydreamed about the most
A wee #bookhaul from Wellington. I found three Secret Seven hardbacks from the 1960s with paper dustjackets in a great condition. A Nesbit book I‘d been looking for and a Borrowers hardback that is in much better condition than the old paperback on my shelf. And an Angela Thirkell i have been eyeing up online 😍 There would have been more but i was sharing one suitcase with my husband 🤪!
