Thursday, March 29, 2012

'Five on a Treasure Island' - Famous Five book covers: through the years



Enid Blyton's 21 Famous Five books, among the most popular children's books even today, have been revamped continuously in the 70 years since they were first published. Blyton's prose has been tinkered with to eliminate some of the perceived racism and snobbery, some of the more dated dialogue has been ironed out, and the jackets have regularly been smartened up. Here, left, is one of five new anniversary editions published by Hodder, with covers by leading children's illustrators. This one will be recognised immediately by Quention Blake's fans. 'Five on a Treasure Island' is the first book in Blyton's series, published originally in 1942. The new look is a vast improvement on the previous edition, right, from 2010, which contained the most excessive of the rewrites. By Lorna Bradbury at The Telegraph

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