The Adventure Series
Encyclopedia
The Adventure Series by Enid Blyton
, a prolific English children's author, is a series of eight children's novels. These books feature the same child characters: Philip, Jack, Dinah, and Lucy-Ann, along with several adult characters. Jack's pet parrot
, Kiki, is also a standard feature in each novel.
The stories show the four children off on their own, discovering and solving mysteries without much adult assistance. Although the publication dates span a decade, Blyton reportedly wrote each of the novels in less than a week.
The colourful dust jackets and line illustrations were by Stuart Tresilian.
Originally, the series was supposed to end after this episode, but under the great demand of dedicated fans, Blyton wrote two more episodes:
All of the books are in print, and the original editions are expensive collectors' items.
TV versions of all eight novels were produced by Cloud 9 Entertainment Studios in 1996.http://www.imdb.com/company/co0004240/ The Castle of Adventure had its title changed to "The Woods of Adventure" and the plot differs greatly from the book.
Note: This work has been 'severely' criticised by scientists for its geological implausibility.
. Curious about the ruin, and eager to watch a family of golden eagles nesting in it, the children explore the place. Jack decides to stay overnight in the castle courtyard, and finds he is not alone. He finds men doing bad things, and quickly alerts his friends who get help.
scarred by war, and at the mercy of sinister men looking for a long-lost treasure.
island to help them recover from measles
. But amongst the islands, they stumble upon a sinister plot; Bill disappears, and the children are left alone to find out where he is and what is going on.
in Wales
for some wandering. But on the search for the Vale of Butterflies, the children get lost and find themselves near a mysterious mountain. Ominous rumblings from the ground, a pack of wolves roaming the area, a black fugitive, and Philip's disappearance are but a few of the mysteries the children have to unravel about the mountain.
. Jack and Kiki find themselves following the others, who are kidnapped and taken to a strange country of Tauri Hessia; but they find help in a circus, and with his new friends Jack will soon decide the fate of an entire nation.
. But there is another reason for this choice of destination: Bill has been asked to watch a crook named Raya Uma. The children soon find another adventure revolving around a magnificent buried city filled with treasure beyond imagination.
Enid Blyton
Enid Blyton was an English children's writer also known as Mary Pollock.Noted for numerous series of books based on recurring characters and designed for different age groups,her books have enjoyed huge success in many parts of the world, and have sold over 600 million copies.One of Blyton's most...
, a prolific English children's author, is a series of eight children's novels. These books feature the same child characters: Philip, Jack, Dinah, and Lucy-Ann, along with several adult characters. Jack's pet parrot
Parrot
Parrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...
, Kiki, is also a standard feature in each novel.
The stories show the four children off on their own, discovering and solving mysteries without much adult assistance. Although the publication dates span a decade, Blyton reportedly wrote each of the novels in less than a week.
The colourful dust jackets and line illustrations were by Stuart Tresilian.
Characters
(family names are provided based on first appearances)- Philip Mannering: A boy with a growth of hair which stands up above the forehead, earning him (and his sister and mother, but mainly him) the nickname "Tufty" from Jack. Like his late father, Philip has a gift of befriending any type of land-based animal he comes across, and always has a veritable zoo of small animals somewhere within his clothes. He is quite a tease with his sister Dinah about her squeamishness and often gets into a lot of fights with her about it. He's Jack's best friend and is quite kind to Lucy-Ann when Dinah is a little mean.
- Jack Trent: A boy about Philip's age, though older (about 14 in the series' beginning), who has red hair, green eyes and lots of freckles all over his face, the latter of which earning him the nickname "Freckles" from Philip. He and his sister Lucy-Ann are orphans and were living with an unfriendly uncle until they were adopted by Mrs. Mannering. Jack has a special passion for birds; he spends most of his time observing birds. His greatest dream is becoming an ornithologist. He loves Mrs. Mannering very much and cares much about his sister Lucy-Ann.
- Dinah Mannering: Philip's younger sister of about twelve in the beginning of the series. Like her brother, she has a tuft of hair standing up atop her head, but she shares neither his gift in attracting nor his love for animals, especially the small creeping types (mice, insects, snakes etc.). Temperamental as she is, she often finds herself the target of her brother's teasing, but otherwise she is quite level-headed, tough, intelligent and grown-up for her age.
- Lucy-Ann Trent: Jack's little sister is the youngest of the foursome (about 11 in the beginning of the series) and also the most timid one. Like her brother, she has red hair, green eyes and freckles, and in several instances she is described as very pretty. Lucy-Ann is very affectionate towards the people she loves, particularly her brother Jack, though sometimes she is a little jealous that Jack seems to love birds more than her. She also loves her "parents" Bill and Mrs. Mannering very much, is Dinah's best friend and quite fond of Philip.
- Kiki: Jack's female pet parrotParrotParrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...
which is described as scarlet and grey with a big crest on its head. Her most noticeable trait is her enormous repertoireRepertoireRepertoire may mean repertory, a system of theatrical production and performance scheduling, but may also refer to:* Musical repertoire* Repertoire Records, a German record label specialising in 1960s and 1970s pop and rock reissues...
of command phrases and peculiar noises, which she seems to pick up very easily. Her commands originally came from Jack and Lucy-Anne's unfriendly uncle and his stern caretaker, with whom they had to live until Jack and Lucy-Ann were adopted by Mrs. Mannering. In the stories Kiki serves usually either as comic reliefComic reliefComic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension.-Definition:...
or as a saviour from tight situations.
- Bill Cunningham: An important member (holding the rank of inspectorInspectorInspector is both a police rank and an administrative position, both used in a number of contexts. However, it is not an equivalent rank in each police force.- Australia :...
) of an unspecified, quite possibly fictional secret service force (possibly based upon the British Secret Intelligence ServiceSecret Intelligence ServiceThe Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
). His most prominent bodily feature is his half-bald headBaldnessBaldness implies partial or complete lack of hair and can be understood as part of the wider topic of "hair thinning". The degree and pattern of baldness can vary greatly, but its most common cause is male and female pattern baldness, also known as androgenic alopecia, alopecia androgenetica or...
. He meets the children upon their very first adventure and makes regular appearances in the series from that point on. Mostly the children get tangled up in adventures which are connected with Bill's work at the time and end up solving them for him.
Following the events in The Ship of Adventure, Bill marries Mrs. Mannering and adopts all the children as his own. Upon first encountering the children, he used the alias "Bill Smugs" - a name which appeared again in The Mountain of Adventure.
- Mrs. Mannering ("Aunt Allie" later Cunningham): Philip and Dinah's mother is a widow (not much is revealed about her late husband, only that he seems to have possessed the same animal-charming ability Philip demonstrates throughout the series), and like her children she has a tuft of hair upon the top of her head. At first she adopts Jack and Lucy-Ann into her family, providing them a loving home; later she marries their common friend Bill and founds a new family with all of them. She is affectionately called "Aunt Allie" by Jack and especially by Lucy-Ann.
Novels
- The Island of AdventureThe Island of AdventureThe Island of Adventure is a popular children's book by Enid Blyton. It is the first book in the Adventure Series. The first edition of the book was illustrated by Stuart Tresilian.-Plot summary:...
(1944) AKA Mystery Island (US, 1945) - The Castle of AdventureThe Castle of AdventureThe Castle of Adventure is a popular children's book by Enid Blyton. It is the second book in The Adventure Series. The first edition of the book was illustrated by Stuart Tresilian.-Plot summary:...
(1946) - The Valley of Adventure (1947)
- The Sea of Adventure (1948)
- The Mountain of Adventure (1949)
- The Ship of Adventure (1950)
Originally, the series was supposed to end after this episode, but under the great demand of dedicated fans, Blyton wrote two more episodes:
- The Circus of Adventure (1952)
- The River of Adventure (1955)
All of the books are in print, and the original editions are expensive collectors' items.
TV versions of all eight novels were produced by Cloud 9 Entertainment Studios in 1996.http://www.imdb.com/company/co0004240/ The Castle of Adventure had its title changed to "The Woods of Adventure" and the plot differs greatly from the book.
The Island of Adventure
Philip meets the orphaned brother and sister Jack and Lucy-Ann at a summer school, where he has gone as he was ill for most of the last few terms. Learning that they do not much like the housekeeper and uncle they stay with, he invites them home to his house, Craggy Tops, where they meet his sister, Dinah, his aunt, Polly, his uncle, Jocelyn, as well as a strange man who calls himself Bill Smugs (known as Bill Cunningham later in the series). But all is not as it seems on a little island nearby, and they soon find themselves on the trail of money launderers in the disused copper mines on the Isle of Gloom.Note: This work has been 'severely' criticised by scientists for its geological implausibility.
The Castle of Adventure
The children and Mrs. Mannering travel to a lonely mountain cottage, which lies close to an old castleCastle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
. Curious about the ruin, and eager to watch a family of golden eagles nesting in it, the children explore the place. Jack decides to stay overnight in the castle courtyard, and finds he is not alone. He finds men doing bad things, and quickly alerts his friends who get help.
The Valley of Adventure
Preparing for a trip by plane with Bill, the four children inadvertently go into the wrong plane, which takes off under frightening circumstances — and find themselves stranded in an isolated valleyValley
In geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...
scarred by war, and at the mercy of sinister men looking for a long-lost treasure.
The Sea of Adventure
Bill takes the foursome on a trip to a ScottishScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
island to help them recover from measles
Measles
Measles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...
. But amongst the islands, they stumble upon a sinister plot; Bill disappears, and the children are left alone to find out where he is and what is going on.
The Mountain of Adventure
Hoping for a quiet holiday for once, the children, Kiki, Mrs. Mannering and Bill go to a mountain farmFarm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
for some wandering. But on the search for the Vale of Butterflies, the children get lost and find themselves near a mysterious mountain. Ominous rumblings from the ground, a pack of wolves roaming the area, a black fugitive, and Philip's disappearance are but a few of the mysteries the children have to unravel about the mountain.
The Ship of Adventure
All the children are aboard for a quiet cruise among the Greek islands. But when Philip's pet monkey breaks a birthday present, all the children are plunged into an exciting quest to find the lost treasure of the 'Andra' with some ruthless villains hot on their trail.The Circus of Adventure
Who is the strange pompous boy whom Bill has invited to his home for the holidays? The children soon discover that he is a prince, named Aloysius Gramondie, and has enemies on his trail. The enemies want to overthrow his uncle, who is too strong a ruler for his enemies, and to place the prince, who is just 11 years old, on the throne as a puppet rulerPuppet ruler
A puppet ruler is a person who has a title indicating possession of political power, but who, in reality, is controlled by outside individuals or forces. Such outside power can be exercised by a foreign government, in which case the puppet ruler's domain is called a puppet state...
. Jack and Kiki find themselves following the others, who are kidnapped and taken to a strange country of Tauri Hessia; but they find help in a circus, and with his new friends Jack will soon decide the fate of an entire nation.
The River of Adventure
Recovering from a very bad flu, the four children and their family make a river trip in the Middle EastMiddle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. But there is another reason for this choice of destination: Bill has been asked to watch a crook named Raya Uma. The children soon find another adventure revolving around a magnificent buried city filled with treasure beyond imagination.