Enid Blyton's best-known series is the Famous Five but, as much as I love the Five, if we had to say what's her best series, this would probably be it. The idea is rather similar to the Famous Five (a group of children having thrilling adventures), but the danger here seems more real, the situations grittier and a bit more "realistic" (as far as a group of children getting into so many amazing adventures can be realistic), the bad guys scarier.

The introduction of the characters is a real pleasure. The two pairs of siblings do not know each other yet, and the book opens with Kiki the parrot, Jack's pet, scaring Philip as he hears a mysterious voice when there's no one around, scolding him for the most absurd things. From there, the children become friends and come up with a daring scheme to try to spend the holidays together.

Let's talk a bit about Kiki. She plays the same role as Timmy in the Famous Five series: beloved pet who is part of the group, as much as the children. She's not as efficient as Timmy the dog at protecting the children, but she has her moments. Also, she has a comedic vein that Timmy lacks. Kiki is a riot in all senses of the word, always rudely scolding people in the most absurd manner, particularly stuffy adults, and making all sorts of noises and imitations. I was surprised to find out that some readers do not like her, finding her a bit overbearing, but I love her. Her cheekiness adds welcome comic relief to a world where children were not allowed to be cheeky or disrespectful to adults. With a parrot, though, what can you do?

The settings and the adventure are described in a most vivid manner, Blyton at top form, and the presence of an competent adult as ally allows for the dangerous moments to be believable. In the Famous Five, the children are mostly on their own, and while that's thrilling, it comes at the cost of making it a bit more difficult to suspend disbelief, with adult criminals routinely defeated by a group of children.

In this book, Blyton also has an ambiguous character, Bill Smugs, and you spend a lot of the book wondering whether he is a good guy or a bad guy (reading this for the first time I got it wrong!).

The ebook I have is the "modern" edition, edited to remove political incorrectness. Therefore Jo-Jo, the sinister black servant, is no longer black, his name is now Joe and he doesn't roll his eyes. Even though I agree that having a black character rolling his eyes is a no-no nowadays (racial stereotyping and all that), this political correctness business is still a bit absurd. The rest of the bad guys are white and way more stupid than Jo-Jo. Racism is very real and despicable, but this is not it. However, it's not like the changes make much difference, apart from some slight atmospheric element. If this is the price to be paid to avoid hearing from the PC police, then it's worth paying as far as I am concerned. ( )

ISBN: 1-05-1631-01-9

En este libro vemos cómo los protagonistas se conocen y traban amistad. Se van de vacaciones con los tíos de Jorge y Dolly a la costa y van en barco a una extraña isla de la cual el criado de los tíos de Jorge, Jo-Jo, dice que es una isla maldita y lóbrega.

Pretty much everyone in the story is disagreeable in one way or another, which makes it a rather difficult read.

A fairly straightforward tale in the classic British schoolchildren style - parents gone or distant, relatives and caregivers not particularly engaged, mysterious ramshackle house, secret passage.

Unabridged audiobook read by Thomas Judd:
Thomas Judd is a good reader, with good voices for the characters. ( )

The very first of the Adventure series begin when Philip meets Jack and his sister Lucy-Ann at summer school (not forgetting Kiki the parrot). Jack and Lucy-Ann go back to Phil and Dinah's place in Cornwall where they meet 'Bill Suggs' (who turns out to be the Bill Cunningham from later adventures who eventually marries Jack and Lucy-Ann's mum).

Jo-Jo the black servant is the villain of the piece. He is helping to run an illegal operation on the nearby Island of Doom. The children discover the plot and with derring-do foil the plot with Bill Sugg's (Cunningham's) help. Very good advenure full of night time action and secret tunnels. One of the most enjoyable of the series and sets the tone for the other seven ( )