Famous Five Collection 3 Books In 1 Paperback – September 6, 2012

It is very well written and very engaging for children. It's a great "Chapter Book" where I read a chapter each night at bedtime with my granddaughter. It offers a lot of information about England culturally, offers adventure, and surprises.

Great for my kids, and I found the stories enjoyable, too.

I am a 55 year old father and I read these stories to my 6 year old daughter before bedtime. We had already read all the secret 7 stories which my daughter enjoyed very much. As with the famous 5 adventures, she was captivated by the stories and not frightened by them. It was fascinating to listen to her theories about what was going on early on in the stories, who were the bad guys and what their intentions were. As an adult the emerging plot was evident and obvious but for Yohanna her imagination was more interesting to listen to. Enid Blighton was Writing in a time when gender roles were largely unquestioned (indeed it is arguable that they have really changed that much in the past 60 years....men continue to defer to women regarding childcare and women continue to be held by held by the oppressive gaze of both genders to be the primary carers despite often also managing a career. The gender role stereotypes are apparent in the secret seven where the males are brave and take risks while the females passively take a supporting role). In contrast, the character of George in the famous five ( A girl who wants to be a boy and rebels with appropriate anger against the gender definitions that do violence to her) makes the famous five a little more contemporary. I was more at ease with these stories. Yohanna and I are now ploughing through the second collection of the famous five so no doubt I will review that too.

Despite its hefty size, this collection of three books in one binding by the original publishers [Hodder and Stoughton: Hodder Children's Books] is still quite easy to hold, and contains the original text beloved by millions of readers. Pages turn easily and lay flat without any sign of loosening or falling out. A former bookseller, I've seen many paperback editions that are cheaply made and disintegrate with anything like real use--this edition looks like it can be lastingly enjoyed and passed along to new readers. Imaginative children will delight in the stories themselves but also in the dialogue which will introduce them to the way people expressed themselves when these books were published (1940s), a far more interesting reading adventure than having everything "modernised" by corporate writers who want a piece of the Blyton pie while marketing the fumigated re-writes as motivated by anything but commercial greed. Introduce these texts to children who are curious and open a dialogue about, well...dialogue. And attitudes. Along with the sort of adventures that children tend to delight in. The bookseller here [wordery] delivered the volume in perfect condition in less time than predicted--I'd buy from them again.

Reading with my daughter the same books I used to read as a kid. She likes them

Great Nostalgic reading. It took me back 50 years. Of course books written in the 1940's and 50's will reflect a different world to our own...but what a joy it was to read again.

A Classic. I loved it as a child. My 9 year old is hooked on to it now, and so is my 7 year old too, though I have to read it out to him mostly. Can’t wait for them to finish these 3 for me to order the next set!

I loved these books when I was a child of about 10 years old. I just could not put them down. Unfortunately I do no longer have the books, so I bought one in the Kindle bookstore, just for old times sake and found that I still love them as much as in my youth. Read one to your kids when they are about eight and I bet they will be tempted to start reading them on their own just so they can share The Five's adventures without the presence of grown-ups.