Andrew E. Svenson (1910–1975)

The Hollisters are written for a younger audience than the Famous Five books by Enid Blyton. Unlike the Famous Five, the Hollisters did not go on holidays alone without adults, and they did not usually five themselves in such extreme dangers. They still managed to live adventures and solve mysteries, though.

The books were written in the 50s and 60s, and it depicts a clean-cut, wholesome family, where children get along with their siblings and respect their parents. The plot is simple, as befits the target audience, and the chapters usually end in a cliffhanger to keep readers interested. The target audience is a bit too young for the books to appeal to adult readers, but then again they do not need to. Children between 5 and 12 are the target audience, and the books will work well for them.

In this book, the Hollisters investigate the mystery of the strange flying devices that have been sighted in several places around their town. They also look for a valuable deposit of titanium in an abandoned rock quarry, and for a couple of people connected to the quarry who had disappeared.

I read the Spanish edition, and this was published as book 3 in that edition. To my surprise, there were references to previous adventures that I had not read yet. The problem is that this is actually book 23 in the series, and the Spanish edition completely disregarded the original order after the first two books. Not such a big deal, because the adventures are independent and the characters remain the same throughout the series, but there may be some confusing references. Also, this book seemed a bit more complex and eventful than the first two, which may be a coincidence or an evolution of the author's style. From now on, I'll follow the original order.… (more)

The Hollisters are written for a younger audience than the Famous Five books by Enid Blyton. Unlike the Famous Five, the Hollisters did not go on holidays alone without adults, and they did not usually five themselves in such extreme dangers. They still managed to live adventures and solve mysteries, though.

The books were written in the 50s and 60s, and it depicts a clean-cut, wholesome family, where children get along with their siblings and respect their parents. The plot is simple, as befits the target audience, and the chapters usually end in a cliffhanger to keep readers interested. The target audience is a bit too young for the books to appeal to adult readers, but then again they do not need to. Children between 5 and 11 are the target audience, and the books will work well for them.

In this book the Hollisters travel to Canada to visit their grandparents and search for a missing trainer of Eskimo dogs who happens to be the brother of the children's teacher.… (more)

Great series for little kids. It captured my imagination during my childhood, when the Hollisters were my first literary love. This one is not the most exciting book in the series, to be honest. The family doesn't travel anywhere and two mysteries were low-key, particularly the one regarding the notes signed YIF.

Reading as an adult, it was kind of weird how they received a donkey as a gift and housed it in the garage. You have to be a kid not to find that arrangement incredibly unpractical. What happened with the donkey in future books? Is it just never mentioned again? I don't remember. I'll have to keep reading to find out. Anyway, the whole thing has the charm of a simpler time.… (more)

I can't be objective with these books, because I love them too much. They were my first "real" books, as opposed to picture books. I collected them and reread them very frequently in my childhood, living adventures with those children all over the world.

They are written for a younger audience than the Famous Five books by Enid Blyton. Unlike the Famous Five, the Hollisters did not go on holidays alone without adults, and they did not usually find themselves in such extreme dangers. They still managed to live adventures and solve mysteries, though.

The books were written in the 50s and 60s, and they depicts a clean-cut, wholesome family, where children get along with their siblings and respect their parents. The plot is simple, as befits the target audience, and the chapters usually end in a cliffhanger to keep readers interested. The target audience is a bit too young for the books to appeal to adult readers, except the nostalgia/comfort factor for those of us who read them as children, but then again they do not need to. Children between 6 and 11 are the target audience, and the books will work well for them.

In this first book, we are introduced to the characters, the Hollisters move to their new home in Shoreham and they solve a mystery involving their new house.… (more)