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Adventure fiction. Jack, Peggy, Nora and Mike are four children who, in their first adventure together, run away from strict guardians after their parents are thought to have been killed in a place crash. The children make way for a secret island on their huge expanse of property, and together they make a new home constructed with the branches of a willow tree. The much-loved "living house" is just one of the highlights of the first book, The Secret Island, which was originally written as a show more serial and, in 1938, published as a full length novel. 8 yrs+ show lessTags
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This book doesn't belong to one of Blyton's best-known series, but it was a really pleasant surprise for me. It has the feel of classic children's adventures like the Coral Island or Swallows and Amazons. Unlike other Blyton adventure stories, there are no criminals to fight against. It's just a group of children, mistreated orphans, who decide to run away together to an uninhabited island in the middle of a lake.
The story has good pacing and it's entertaining and moving. Really a wonderful read, in a style different from her other adventure series. It started a 5-book series, but it works perfectly as a standalone. Even if Blyton had not gone on to write so many other children's adventures and mysteries, this one would have been enough show more to ensure she was remembered among the classics of children's literature of the 20th century. show less
The story has good pacing and it's entertaining and moving. Really a wonderful read, in a style different from her other adventure series. It started a 5-book series, but it works perfectly as a standalone. Even if Blyton had not gone on to write so many other children's adventures and mysteries, this one would have been enough show more to ensure she was remembered among the classics of children's literature of the 20th century. show less
What I realize about The Secret Island is the juxtaposition of being grounded (in reality) and escapism. The harsh, bleak, unkind, hopeless, scary, and tantalizing reality and situation of the four kids - Jack, Peggy and Nora and (?) Peter are both impossible and easy to solve. Heaven is just a secret door away from hell. The preachy tone of Enid Blyton is kept sedated, which improves the flow of the adventure. I really liked the kids. I enjoyed the fairy tale ending of this book - it was so cozy... an ending that I'm showing mentally to dunce like cozies that can only dream of aspiring to Enid Blyton's excellence. Can't wait to read the Secret Of Spiggly Holes.
Read this book as a child, got the book from my dad who also read it in his childhood. So the book I have is old, and worn. I loved the book as a kid and have read it many times since, still loving it today. Well written, and a secret island is just an awesome ingredient. Probably one of my favorite books ever.
Edit: upon reading other reviews, I learned that the Dutch edition I read is different from the original. In the Dutch edition, the three siblings live with an older lady, called Grims. Their parents haven't disappeared, but are away on a long trip. The 3 children spent their holiday with Lady Grims, because their parents thought it was a lovely lady. Which turned out not to be the case.
The ending is also quite different: the show more children know just about when their parents might be back, and it is Jack (Ben in Dutch) who reads it in a newspaper, I think, when he went back to town.
Very interesting to see how so many details were changed in translation! show less
Edit: upon reading other reviews, I learned that the Dutch edition I read is different from the original. In the Dutch edition, the three siblings live with an older lady, called Grims. Their parents haven't disappeared, but are away on a long trip. The 3 children spent their holiday with Lady Grims, because their parents thought it was a lovely lady. Which turned out not to be the case.
The ending is also quite different: the show more children know just about when their parents might be back, and it is Jack (Ben in Dutch) who reads it in a newspaper, I think, when he went back to town.
Very interesting to see how so many details were changed in translation! show less
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2,532+ Works 111,493 Members
Enid Blyton, 1897 - November 28, 1968 Enid Blyton was born in London in 1897. She was educated in a private school and thought that she would become a musician until she realized that writing was her passion. She attended Ipswich High School where she trained to become a kindergarten teacher and eventually opened her own school for infants. show more Blyton's first poem was published in 1917, entitled "Have You-" which appeared in Nash's Magazine. In 1922, her first book of verses was published, entitled "Child Whispers." In 1926 she accepted a position editing the children's magazine "Sunny Stories" as well as writing the column "Teachers World." Blyton's first full length children's book was published din 1938 and was titled "The Secret Island." After working on the column for years, Blyton quit "Teachers World" in 1945 and also ended her stint as editor of "Sunny Stories" seven years later. In 1953 she started her own children's magazine called "The Edith Blyton Magazine" which featured stories about her characters and news on the clubs formed around them. Her most famous stories were those of the "Famous Five" The Magazine closed in 1959. In the 50's and 60's Blyton was criticized for the language in her book, for being to simple, but some 300 are still in print today. Blyton has published over 600 books in the course of her career. Enid Blyton died in her sleep on November 28, 1968. She was 71 years old. show less
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- Original publication date
- 1938
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- 421
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- 73,320
- Reviews
- 5
- Rating
- (4.22)
- Languages
- 6 — Czech, Dutch, English, German, Norwegian (Bokmål), Spanish
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- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 22
- ASINs
- 9
