Famous Five Series

The “Famous Five” children of the series are a set of siblings and their cousin and her dog. The children like to have adventures and solve mysteries without adult help, taking their dog with them.

The children are:

Julian – He is the oldest member of the group and typically acts as its leader. The adults consider him reliable and mature for his age. There are times when he can be a little overbearing with his younger siblings and cousin.

Dick – He’s the younger brother of Julian and older brother of Anne, and he’s the same age as his cousin George. He can be a little cheeky or a bit of a tease from time to time, but he genuinely cares about the others and is usually good-natured.

George – She wishes she was a boy and often likes to think of herself as one. She wears her hair short and wears boy clothes. She doesn’t even like people to remind her that she’s a girl.  She doesn’t even like her curly hair because she thinks it’s too girly.  (I’m not sure whether this character is meant to be transgender or not.  Books from the mid-20^th century and earlier were not open about things like that, but the phrasing of the way George thinks about herself sounds like that could be the case, and I suppose that kids who were transgender might have described themselves that way before the popularization of the term “transgender.” That’s about as far as I can speculate because the book isn’t explicit about that, and I don’t want to assume too much. She might just be a “tomboy“, meaning a girl who generally likes things that are typically associated with boys, although what that term implies also varies depending on what society expects from boys and girls. It just makes me wonder because few girls who like boys’ clothes or activities are offended by the idea of actually being a girl. The things a person likes doesn’t always mean something deep about their personal identity, but it seems to in this case.)

Timmy is specifically George’s dog. She found him as a stray, and at first, her parents didn’t want her to keep him, but after they got used to him, they realized that he provides George and her cousins with some protection when they go on their adventures.

George’s father is a famous scientist, and his work often provides a basis for the children’s adventures. She is the cousin of the other children.

Anne – The youngest of the children, the younger sister of Julian and Dick and the cousin of George.  She’s more traditionally girly than George.  She enjoys cooking and likes keeping things neat and tidy. During the children’s adventures, she’s often responsible for the food and the domestic chores.

This series, like others by Enid Blyton, has received criticism for gender stereotypes. Some of Enid Blyton’s books have been revised in later reprintings to make them more appealing to new generations, changing or removing questionable racial language as well.

This book series was later turned into a couple of tv series, one made in the 1970s and one made in the 1990s. Sometimes, episodes or clips of episodes from both of these series appear on YouTube.

Books in the Series:

Five on a Treasure Island (1942)

Five Go Adventuring Again (1943)

Five Run Away Together (1944)

Five Go to Smuggler’s Top (1945)

Five Go Off in a Caravan (1946)

The children convince their parents to let them rent a couple of horse-drawn caravans and travel in them by themselves. Along the way, they meet an unhappy boy who works for a circus and whose guardian seems involved with something shady.

Five on Kirrin Island Again (1947)

Five Go Off to Camp (1948)

Five Get into Trouble (1949)

Five Fall into Adventure (1950)

Five on a Hike Together (1951)

Five Have a Wonderful Time (1952)

Five Go Down to the Sea (1953)

Five Go to Mystery Moor (1954)

The Famous Five go camping on a mysterious moor with suspicious gypsies and a plane that drops packets of money.

Five Have Plenty of Fun (1955)

Five on a Secret Trail (1956)

Five Go to Billycock Hill (1957)

Five Get into a Fix (1958)

Five on Finniston Farm (1960)

Five Go to Demon’s Rocks (1961)

When another scientist visits George’s father with his rambunctious son, who owns a pet monkey, the kids get on the nerves of the adults. However, the scientist owns a lighthouse and has promised his son that he can have it for his own use. The children decide to go there for a visit.

Five Have a Mystery to Solve (1962)

Five Are Together Again (1963)