You can say what you like about Enid Blyton. You can say that she is horrifically sexist. You can say that all her villains are fundamentally the same: 'tough men', foreign, with 'thick necks' and 'piggy eyes' and with 'a brooding look'. You can say that all her characters are stereotypical and similar: the kind mother figure, the 'cross old uncle', the brave boy (or two) who always has a rope round his waist and his 'field glasses' round his neck, the timid little girl who gets frightened when the villains approach (of course, I omit the brilliant George). You can say that she is out-dated and old-fashioned, which she is, of course. You can say that her books are unrealistic in that there is always an unfathomably lucky escape route or two, and that at the end the children get off without a scratch with the policemen clapping them on the back and the villains into handcuffs. You can even say that she wrote far, FAR too many stories that all eventually get repetitive and boring.But you can never deny that Enid Blyton knew better than anyone else ever did how to write a truly brilliant adventure story.This, in my opinion, is one of the best books Enid Blyton ever wrote. For some reason I always liked the Adventure books better than the Famous Five. For one, there are less of them. Second, I'm utterly hipster and like something that's not totally mainstream. Third, lovely Timmy is taken out of the equation and replaced by KIKI, who I LOVE! And lastly, these books just feel a bit more sophisticated. It's common knowledge that Julian, Dick, Anne and George are eternally ten, eleven, eleven and twelve. I'm not sure how old the boys are but as Dinah is twelve and Lucy-Ann is eleven, I would imagine they are 13 or 14. And I don't know, the books just seem like more dramatic and interesting adventures.My little brother is 8 and loves the Famous Five. Being silly, he awkwardly refused for these books to be read to him. My grandparents have copies of The Valley of Adventure and The Castle of Adventure at their house, very old hardbacks with funny illustration with quotes underneath. I remembered reading them and loving them when I was his age, so I persuaded my brother to let me read my absolute favourite, this one, to him. I flicked through the dull first two chapters, narrating the events ("The holidays at last... oh, I'm looking forward to going for a ride in Bill's plane... I wonder if we'll have another adventure?"), then read him chapter 3 and 4.He LOVED it. This truly is an amazing story. The wrong plane, a beautiful deserted valley, a waterfall, treasure caves, a blocked pass, burnt buildings, a network of caves and tunnels... who comes up with this stuff? Plus, she inserted in some very interesting contextual information - the valley was in Austria and had been bombed in WW2, all that.My brother also LOVED Kiki, and found her hilarious. I would really recommend this book to basically anyone. It is lovely to read aloud. By reading this book to my little brother, I have renewed my love of Enid Blyton and (hopefully) thoroughly entertained him.
Barnen som boken handlar om är fångna i en dal med höga berg omkring och kan inte ta sig ur. Samtidigt upptäcker de ett par män i dalen och tvingas gömma sig för dem i en grotta med all sin packning som de har med sig och sin lite småjobbiga peppegoja.Jag tycker att denna boken är bra eftersom jag tycker att den är spännande nästan hela boken igenom samtidigt som det är roligt att det är barn som är fångna och man får följa eftersom vuxna oftast inte har lika roliga och spännande idéer som barn har.
What do You think about The Valley Of Adventure (2000)?
This adventure story is extremely exciting and perilous. The setting is superb, with plenty of hidden places and secret passages, all vividly and wonderfully realised.There is even historical context to get into, as the story is set firmly in the aftermath of the Second World War (thus rendering any misguided attempts to modernise the text or illustrations utterly pointless) and the children find themselves searching for a cache of Nazi treasure.All four children get their moments in the spotlight here. Fans of Jack will enjoy his tussle with a South American heavy and subsequent capture of the all the bad guys. Philip lovers will revel in his thrilling and dangerous rescue plan. Even Dinah and Lucy-Ann get to fool the baddies by taking off their clothes and capering about, thus saving the boys from imminent capture.This and The Castle of Adventure are definitely Enid Blyton's two greatest works in my opinion.
—Jake Collins
This might be one of my favourite Enid Blyton books. It's sheer magic!Jack, Philip, Dinah and Lucy-Ann (not to mention Kiki) are all set to go on a plane trip to their friend, secret agent Bill Cunningham's house for a few days. But a mix-up sees them boarding the wrong plane and falling headlong into another adventure - this time in a beautiful, abandoned, war-torn valley - involving a couple of escaped prisoners, a secret cave, a hostage, a daring rescue mission, a map and lost treasure!Seriously, who can come up with something like that AND make it believable? They don't make authors like Enid Blyton anymore.
—Mith
