Enid Blyton - The Secret Seven In Defence of the Secret Seven Article by Hari Menon (September 11, 2006) Secret Seven! The name evokes disdain or contempt among many readers who are otherwise ardent fans of Enid Blyton. What did this ragtag band of four boys, three girls and one dog do to arouse such revulsion? Okay, maybe I exaggerated. But for most of us the Secret Seven happens to be the least revered series in Blyton's canon. Is this because the books were written for a younger set of readers? Could it be the smaller format? The perpetual scowl on the face of their highhanded leader, perhaps? I expect all these factors do contribute to the—undeserved, if you ask me—negative reputation the Secret Seven has among many Blyton fans. And is it mere coincidence that the letters 'SS' have historical connotations that are not exactly pleasant? The series was written between 1948 and 1963, so such an 'inspiration' is not entirely far-fetched.

But I think it unlikely—Blyton doesn't seem the sort who would take a sly dig at her own characters, even as a joke. So, is the series really as juvenile as it's made out to be? Do the Seven have any redeeming qualities? Let's find out. Cast of Characters Peter: The head of the Secret Seven, Peter's word is Absolute Law. He usually decides the passwords, and seldom forgets them, unlike the others. Indeed, the easiest way to irk him is to forget the password or the SS badge (which others do with predictable regularity). Though he often acts like a dictator, he is annoyingly proved right on most occasions. The secret meetings are held in a shed at the bottom of the garden, some distance from his house. Janet: Peter's sister. Co-owner of the shed and Scamper the golden spaniel, but that ends her stake in the Secret Seven. She comes across as a little brighter than the other two girls in the club (in one instance she sensibly makes a drawing of some tyre prints when the other girls only titter), but that's probably because she's constantly under Peter's thumb and doesn't dare to giggle quite so frequently.

Her urge to dance in the moonlight comes in useful while trapping horse stealers on one occasion. Jack: Jack is one of the more colourful characters. He's apparently second-in-command (though this is mentioned only once or twice in the books). He's also disappointingly gullible sometimes. In Secret Seven on the Trail, he believes the tall tales his sister Susie and her friends make up. He also forgets the Secret Seven password with exasperating regularity; indeed, Susie seems to remember it better than he does! To his credit, he is as brave and loyal as a right-hand man can be. Pam: One of the two gigglers in the club. Perhaps her sole contribution to the club is when she "interviews" her grandmother in Three Cheers Secret Seven (and misspells the word "absolutely" in the process). She's a great friend of Barbara, for obvious reasons. Either of them is sportingly ready for a good cry when Peter starts shouting—at them or one of the others, it doesn't matter. Barbara: Giggles, squeals and shrieks come naturally to Barbara, as they do to Pam. Indeed, you can't easily tell one from the other.

Perhaps that's why Derek Lucas' illustrations show Pam in pigtails, while Barbara leaves her hair free. I used to consider her very pretty in those illustrations when I was ten years old. Ah, the follies of youth. Colin: Though he can be easily confused with George, Colin makes some interesting discoveries. For instance, he was the one who spots the escaping thief in Secret Seven Adventure, and the one who forgets the book about ships in the cubby-hole up a tree in Well Done Secret Seven. Oh, and it was at his granny's house that the robbery occurs in Secret Seven Fireworks. He also owns a complete set of (ahem!) Famous Five books, which provides hours of light reading to a petty thief in Secret Seven Win Through. George: Can pretend to be Colin, and nobody would know the difference, not even Peter—which is probably why Lucas gives him close-cropped fair hair. He's forced to resign from the club in Go Ahead Secret Seven, after being caught following a man, with rubber truncheon in hand. He claims to be at the bottom of the class in composition in Go Ahead Secret Seven, yet some books later he wins the second prize in an English essay. Remarkable improvement indeed!

Scamper: The golden spaniel's not one of the Seven (he's been described as a 'hanger-on' on more than one occasion) but he contributes a lot more than many of the real members do. Once, when George was forced by his father to resign from the club, Scamper had his fifteen or so days of fame as a full-fledged member. The Books One problem with the names of the Secret Seven books is that the British editions have such eminently forgettable titles. Well, I remember them all right, but that's because I've read each book a dozen times in the past 25 years. For all practical purposes, you could interchange the titles randomly (except Secret Seven Fireworks, but then that could be swapped with Good Work Secret Seven), and still end up with perfectly serviceable names.

Michael Edwards puts it very well: "Although the US titles don't strike me (as an Australian who has seen only UK editions) as properly and traditionally Blytonesque, I have to say that they are far more descriptive of the content of the stories, whereas most of the British titles—the ones chosen by Blyton herself—simply allude to mysteries and adventures in general, or else merely congratulate the Seven and say nothing about the actual story." The first book in the series (informatively titled The Secret Seven) is their very first adventure. But there are hints that the Secret Seven have been active even earlier. For instance, there's a reference to how they raised money to send Lame Luke away to the sea. We never hear of Lame Luke again, so the ungrateful wretch presumably decided never to come back. Perhaps he acquired a wooden leg, an earring and a parrot, and launched a successful career as a brigand... Interestingly, animals play a significant part in many of the Secret Seven books.

Plots often revolve around horses (The Secret Seven, Fun for the Secret Seven), dogs (Go ahead Secret Seven, Shock for the Secret Seven), a kitten (Well Done Secret Seven), an entire circus (Secret Seven Adventure) and so on. Horses and riding stables play a significant part in Secret Seven Mystery. The Seven aren't as humourless as they are made out to be. Colin is one of the jokers; once he makes up a funny (and rather rude) song about Susie's best friend Binkie, in which he describes her rabbit teeth and woffly nose. On another occasion, he elicits a chuckle by describing how his grandmother's foreign maid sat on a bag of eggs that he had left on a chair. But it's often Susie who provides comic relief, mostly at Peter's expense. The wild goose chase she leads them on in Secret Seven Mystery is a prime example of her resourcefulness. Blyton has also used the Secret Seven as a plug for the Famous Five. In Secret Seven on the Trail, Susie and friends form a club called the Famous Five.

"We've named ourselves after the Five books—much better idea than the Secret Seven!" she gloats for Jack's benefit. Then, in Secret Seven Win Through, Colin staggers into a cave (the temporary meeting place for the club) with a pile of his Famous Fives. Later in the story, one of the books goes missing (Five Go Down to the Sea). Could this be a subtle way of getting young readers interested in a series meant for slightly older children? Unlike characters in some of the other Blyton series, the Seven don't age. Indeed, their ages aren't mentioned at all. In the Find-Outers series, the characters do age a bit. For instance, Fatty breaks his voice at the beginning of the Mystery of the Missing Necklace. The Famous Five also become older as they progress through the series, but this isn't kept up consistently, probably because they would no longer have been teenagers by the end of the series. And George would have had to resort to drastic measures to continue masquerading as a man. I assumed the Secret Seven were 9-10 years old, because they play tag and go biking, but (for instance) never go on overnight expeditions.

And they definitely look like pre-teens in the Knight paperback illustrations by Derek Lucas. In the older (Brock) illustrations by George Brook, Burgess Sharrocks and Bruno Kay, they are attired in caps, blazers, shorts and school sandals, and look even more youthful. One blow against the Secret Seven is that the plots for some of the stories aren't original. Two of the books—Go Ahead Secret Seven and Shock for the Secret Seven—deal with kidnapped dogs, and the latter even recycles a plot from one of the Find-Outers mysteries (Invisible Thief, where some funny footwear is crucial to the plot). Even the name of the gangster in Secret Seven on the Trail (Cheeky Charlie) doesn't show much originality. And in Good Work Secret Seven, the car in which Peter and Janet are in is hijacked by a pair of rogues. A similar instance can be seen in a short story in the anthology of stories called Sunshine Book. But Blyton wasn't above reusing a perfectly good plot.

A strongly redeeming feature of the purportedly juvenile Secret Seven is that they often do worthwhile things, such as rehabilitating an old caretaker and his ill wife (in Three Cheers Secret Seven); finding a missing schoolgirl (Secret Seven Mystery); helping a blind boy (Puzzle for the Secret Seven); recovering a general's stolen medals (Look Out Secret Seven); and helping a decrepit old horse stay with his even more decrepit master (Fun for the Secret Seven). What have the Famous Five ever done, except whizzing off on their bikes and falling into serendipitous adventures? Even if they've rescued people and found heaps of treasure, it's more by chance and good luck than any good intentions. All said and done, the Secret Seven may not have the sophistication of the Famous Five or the brainpower of the Find-Outers, but they do make for interesting reading if you have half an hour to spare.

Copyright © 2004-2017 EnidBlyton.net Fun for the Secret Seven by Enid Blyton American: The Secret Seven and the Case of the Old Horse German: Viel Spass Schwarze Sieben French: Le Cheval du Clan des Sept Dutch: De Grote Zeven redden het weer Spanish: Los Siete Secretos se Divierten Portuguese: Os Sete Salvam o Cavalo Finnish: SOS ja vanhan hevosen tapaus Greek: Oi Myetikoi Eota Eo Mia Aekeaaetikh Catalan: Els Set Secrets Es Diverteixen Brief Summary by Julie Heginbotham: The Seven hear about an old man called Tolly, who lives in a tumbledown house on the top of a hill, with his horse Brownie and his dog, Codger. But Brownie is almost lame from hard work and the vet's bill was more than Tolly could afford, and the owner of the horse wants him to be shot!

But help is at hand for Tolly, Brownie and his dog, as the Seven find somewhere safe for them all to stay and Peter's father buys Brownie from his horrid farm owner, Mr Dinneford. And everyone is so pleased when Brownie is a great help with some awful horse thieves! Full Reviews (These may contain spoilers): Dennis Worley's Review Fun for the Secret Seven starts off with Jack sending Peter a note asking him to call a meeting so they can help his friend Bob Smith. He ends his note with a slightly provocative statement "isn't it about time we met again, before we all forget we're the Secret Seven?" Peter is embarrassed by the fact that they haven't had any meetings for a while. It also turns out that he is very untidy and his room is like a pigsty. Despite his request, Jack is quite surprised when Peter calls a meeting as he thought the Secret Seven had 'gone west'. This could be a sign that they are getting a bit older, as they never used to make comments like that.

It is almost as if they are looking back on the series and past events in that Peter also has some friendly banter with Jack: "I suppose you've lost your badge as usual?" Jack is indignant, and replies that he only lost it once and it wasn't really lost as Susie took it. This is in the second book; though one might be forgiven for thinking it happens in most of the books (as Peter implies), such is Susie's reputation (and Jack's for that matter). As mentioned earlier though, on another occasion Susie was the one who found it for him, so that evens it up. Peter has mellowed somewhat at last. He is still authoritative, but more polite, so we have "Stop chattering please, Pam and Barbara" rather than the customary "Shut up you two". Even Pam at last says the right thing at the right time and gets praised. Old Peter has never been in such a good mood and with Susie and Binkie safely out of the way at a party, maybe everything will go smoothly for the Head of the Secret Seven. Bob is allowed to attend the meeting and is made a temporary member. "Is it the Secret Eight now?" he wonders to himself.

(No, temporary members aren't counted I would think). Bob explains that he wants them to help old man Tolly pay the vet's bill for the horse Brownie who was in an accident that left him lame. Tolly works for the farmer who owns the horse. The farmer is not interested in Brownie anymore, as the horse cannot earn its keep. Enid Blyton believed in teaching children to help others. She wanted them to become responsible grown-ups. This book is putting that into practice. Janet gets quite bossy and calls for a meeting without Peter's knowledge and even orders him to go and deliver the notes that she wrote. This is a sudden turn around and is quite refreshing. Peter does return to form briefly and threatens to turn her out of the Secret Seven if she doesn't stop misbehaving. That's more like the Peter we know. It's quite funny how everyone wants to own a piece of the horse. Even the vet wants his bit. There is a moral in all of this. The vet's kindness impresses George in particular and he remembers this when he is grown up and does similar acts of kindness. He is already very generous in this book as he gives his prize money to the horse fund.

Pam is in tears of happiness because of all the kindness. It's a 'feel good' story. There's one more plug for the Famous Five. Janet is reading a "very exciting book" about smugglers, featuring four children and their dog Timmy. The story is so riveting that she is still awake at 11 o' clock and thus it is because of the Famous Five that she is able to go for help when the horse thieves strike in the middle of the night. A violent fight ensues, in which a poker and a pitchfork are used as weapons. It seems to be a free-for-all with even Peter's mother joining in. So the series ends as it started in a way, with horse thieves at work, but Janet is the heroine this time with Peter sleeping through most of it. Janet seems to take over here, and perhaps one can draw a parallel in some ways with the last Famous Five book (written in the same year), in which George 'takes over' from Julian. Review by David Cook The final Secret Seven story was issued simultaneously with the last Famous five book, Five Are Together Again, and was thus one of the final full-length stories that Enid ever wrote.

(The Five, whilst not named, do get a final plug when Janet reads a story about four children in a smuggler's cave with their dog, Timmy!) This tale is quite different to the other stories in this series and, whilst a relevant, worthwhile, and eye-opening story for younger readers, it is marred by Enid's obviously waning powers as there is much contradiction, repetition and confusion in the telling of the story. It is quite serious in tone — Susie and Binkie are mentioned briefly but they and their usual pranks are noticeably absent. Chronologically it follows on nicely from the previous story, taking place at the end of the summer holidays, just prior to the start of the Autumn term. The Seven are alerted by their friend, Bob Smith, to the plight of old Tolly and Brownie, the horse he looks after. Farmer Dinneford, Brownie's owner, has caused injuries to the horse's back legs by making it pull an overloaded cart, but refuses to accept responsibility for this and pay the vet's bills, blaming Tolly and saying the horse must be destroyed.

The Seven temporarily recruit Bob to their ranks and determine to find somewhere to keep the old horse safely (plus Tolly and his dog, Codger) and then pay for the vet's bills and the horse's upkeep. This is done by persuading the vet to lower his bill, help from Peter's father and doing jobs to earn money. But, from the start, there is confusion in this story. Enid calls the village Peterswood, the home of the Find-Outers. Prices quoted throughout seem very cheap, even for 1963. On page 48, Tolly says that he has given notice to Mr Dinneford who tells him to leave at once and Peter's father offers him a job, yet on page 54 he says he shall soon be leaving the farm on the hill, he can't work for Mr Dinneford anymore, and that he could go elsewhere with Brownie and get a job! Enid has Bob attending the Seven's meetings, yet she and Burgess Sharrocks both forget he's there. Tolly says none of the Secret Seven owns horses which is why they want to share in Brownie, yet they are staying in Peter's father's stables!

Finally, Janet awakens one night to find horse thieves attacking Tolly and rouses her parents who go to the rescue and effect the horse thieves' capture aided by Scamper and Codger, yet minutes later Tolly claims credit aided by Brownie and a pitchfork! All in all, a confusing end to the series. English literary characters: Secret Seven Costumes of English Literary Characters: Secret Seven Figure 1.--This illustration by Burgess Sharrocks appeared in a 1957 edition. At the time it was an accurate depiction of what children were wearing in English preparatory schools. The Secret Seven is another group of English children created by Enid Blyton. The books are about a secret club with official meetings and everything. The club members were Peter, Jack, Barbara, George, Pam, Colin, Janet and of course Scamper (the dog). These books are not great literature, in fact, English teachers one discouraged children from reading them. HBC has, however, included them because of the huge number of children who read them and Blyton's enormous ability to interest children in books and reading. Author The Secret Seven is another group of English children created by Enid Blyton.

Enid Blyton, the author of the series, wrote over 400 children's books by the time she died in 1968, including the sister series, The Famous Five. Blyton is probably the most successful children's author of all time--although not the most famous. She published an amazing number of children's or juvenile books, 600 by one account. She certainly was the most prolific author of all time, and with over 700 books and 10,000 short stories to her name, she is likely to remain so for years to come. Her importance is that she wrote books that children loved to read and attracted them to books--much like J.D. Rowlings. Blyton's most famous series was The Famous Five. Blyton's works painted an idyllic vision of rural England and hearty Englishness and in recent years she has been criticized for this. It is interesting that Rowlings who also attracts children to books has been criticized for just the opposite--a dangerous forbidding world of wizardry. The Group The books are about a secret club with official meetings and everything.

The club members were Peter, Jack, Barbara, George, Pam, Colin, Janet and of course Scamper (the dog). They fancy themselves a pretty sharp group of detectives, and, they prove themselves to be. The Seven manage to retrieve stolen goods, capture crooks and scoundrels, and having the most brilliant adventures, they also contribute to good causes. They helped buy a violin for a destitute blind boy called Benny Bolan, after his was destroyed in a fire. They retrieved stolen medals for an elderly war veteran, who lived next door to Colin, and whose medals had enormous sentimental value to him. They also raised money to send Lame Luke to the sea. The Seven The members of the Secret Seven include: Peter Peter is the official leader of the Secret Seven, and he founded the club with fellow member and sister Janet. He is very strict about the club rules and likes them to be kept. He gets very annoyed when somebody forgets the password or their club badge (a frequent occurrence!). Peter and Janet own the eighth, unofficial member, referred as a hanger-on by the Seven: Scamper the Golden Spaniel. Peter goes to an all boys� preparatory school, with fellow members Colin, Jack and George.

English Preparatory schools in the 1950s were mostly single gender schools, but are now increasingly coeducational. Janet Janet is Peter's sister and the co-owner of Scamper, the Golden Spaniel. She is the co-founder of the Secret Seven. Alongside Peter, and has made many worthwhile contributions, one example lies in The Secret Seven On the Trail when she comes up with a brainwave that has set the Seven going again when they thought they had come to a dead-end. She attends the same school as Barbara and Pam. Jack Blyton depicts Jack as the Secret Seven�s second in command. He goes to the same school as Colin, Peter and George. Susie is his sister and the Seven�s worst enemy, fooling and outwitting them on many occasions. She plays many tricks on them, with friends such as Binkie, just because Peter won�t let her join. Jack loses his badge a lot of the time (due to Susie!), and once resigned from the society because of it. He got into a terrible row with Peter, and walked out throwing his badge on the floor. He soon rejoined, though, after he solved the mystery, so all was well!

Colin Colin's experiences have led the Seven onto a great many adventures; for instance, in Secret Seven Adventure, when he spotted the thief of a pearl necklace while playing a game of Red Indians. Another was when he went to his grandmother�s house, and found the place ransacked, and the safe broken open, all the contents stolen. Also, he spotted something worth looking into when he was practicing shadowing people, and discovered a man and dog going up an ally-way. The man returned minus a dog, and there was no obvious solution to where the dog could have gone to. Colin also fancies himself as a poet, too, thinking up a rather rude poem about Binkie, after she had made up one about the Secret Seven (Puzzle for the Secret Seven). George George was once forced by his father to resign from the Secret Seven, in Go Ahead, Secret Seven, when he was caught by a rather nasty young man when shadowing a man for practice. It didn�t help, though, that he was caught swinging a brown genuine-looking truncheon, even if it was made of rubber. He attends the same school as Peter, Jack and Colin.

Barbara Barbara is obviously best friends with Pam because they were always going off to parties and such together. She is an awful giggler and gets into a lot of trouble with Peter, for that and her loud mouth. She does have her useful side, though, and has helped the Seven with the tackling of adventures by coming up with some bright ideas. Barbara goes to school with all the girls from the Secret Seven, as well as Susie. Pam A bit brighter and more helpful than Barbara, although Pam is still a terrible giggler, and gets severely ticked off by Peter regularly. I feel, however, that she has contributed more than Barbara to helping the Secret Seven. She attends ballet lessons with Barbara, and the same school. Scamper Scamper is the Golden Spaniel belonging to Peter and Janet, and a fierce one when he wants to be. He has on many occasions saved the Secret Seven from the grasp of the enemy. He likes a scamper after rabbits, as do most dogs, and a bit of potted meat on a big dog biscuit. Scamper isn�t an official member, although when George reluctantly resigned Scamper took his place.

But throughout most of the books, Scamper is referred to as a �hanger-on � and a very nice one at that!� Popularity These books are not great literature, in fact, English teachers one discouraged children from reading them. HBC has, however, included them because of the huge number of children who read them and Blyton's enormous ability to interest children in books and reading. The question emerges. Just what was Enid Blyton�s success? Here are some thoughts: 1. Excellent marketing. Blyton made sure of this by marrying her publisher. No writer could do better than that! 2. A huge number of books on book shop and library shelves. There�s nothing like having readers staring all the time at your name on the spine of a book! 3. Children started with Noddy books and by the time they were ready for novels Blyton�s name was firmly established in their minds. 4. Blyton always delivered what children wanted (even if they had to wait for it!) and that is, quite simply, lots of action and adventure, usually in mysterious, spooky places.

With few exceptions (such as Harry Potter) today�s publishers are giving children what they (and others) think is good for them rather than what they think children will enjoy. 5. Blyton never preached. Her books have absolutely no depth, but at least readers can rest assured that they will be allowed to escape from their problems (i.e., the bully at school, parents� divorce) rather than have the problems shoved down their throats. 6. The children solved the mystery themselves, got out of trouble without adult help, and often presented the police with the solution to a crime before the police had done much more than start on the case. The child reader therefore feels empowered. 7. The children roamed all over the English countryside on their bicycles, whereas today�s children are taken everywhere by car and don�t have anywhere near the freedom of Blyton�s characters. A New Zealand reader comments, "My sisters and I certainly didn�t roam the countryside like this. Wwe were city kids and didn�t have bicycles anyway, but we thought nothing of playing on the tree-clad hills above deserted paddocks (now mostly swallowed by one of Auckland�s motorways) where all that could be seen was an occasional horse.

Even the presence of a horse was cause for comment. We never once imagined someone evil might be lurking under the thick cover of the trees." 8. Of course it was parents who bought the books. Many parents as they were familiar with Enid Blyton from their own childhood, felt safe with buying the books for their children. Reader Assessments Michael Edwards One reader comments, "There's no doubt about it: the Secret Seven stories are rather simpler than most of Enid Blyton's other mystery and adventure stories, and are probably intended for a younger audience than most of the others. However, seen within that context, they are quite effective mystery stories with a few elements of dangerous adventure, although less so than some of the other adventure stories for slightly older children. They are, in Enid Blyton's mystery/adventure stories, at the opposite end of the complexity and sophistication spectrum from the Adventure series, the 8-book series featuring Jack, Lucy-Ann, Philip, Dinah, and Kiki the parrot, which are full-length novels of considerable complexity and excitement, and sometimes incorporating within their international settings quite complex political elements.

The main problem I have with the Secret Seven books is that the characters do not seem to have much personality, and are not easy to distinguish from each other. The boys are vaguely boyish, the girls girlish - but otherwise they are rather alike, except perhaps that Peter can be distinguished for his occasional bossiness as head of the Secret Seven and his pedantic insistence on the letter of the rules being observed, which sometimes makes him appear a little unpleasantly peevish and petty. But I honestly cannot tell Pam from Barbara, Colin from George, and so on." Other Another reader comments, "When I was a child and she already had a huge body of work to her credit. I remember I loved the Famous Five and the Secret Seven, but I grew up not even remembering their names let alone any of their adventures! However, I do remember wondering why I had to read a good two-thirds of the book before something exciting--really exciting--happened." Experiences HBC will archive here recollections of readers about the Secret Seven" "As a child, my brother did not read a whole lot. But one time when he was sick and BORED, I suggested he read one of my Secret Seven books. He was hooked.

He didn't become a bookworm, but he asked for Secret Seven books every time he was sick. In fact, I think he snuck a few even when he was well. What child wouldn't like Secret Seven--mysteries, secret club.... " Editing American Editions The American editions were revised and edited by M. Hughes Miller. I'm not sure just how they are edited for American readers. Presumably the spelling is changed. Many of the titles were changed for the American readers. The differences between the titles of the American and English versions are an interesting case study in linguistics. The Secret Seven story known as The Secret Seven and the Grim Secret in the U.S. and as Three Cheers Secret Seven in the U.K. and English-speaking Commonwealth countries. Apparently the editors assumed that Americans needed a new title, but not readers in other English speaking countries. Although the U.S.

titles may not be properly and traditionally Blytonesque, they are far more descriptive of the content of the stories, whereas most of the British titles (the ones chosen by Blyton herself) simply allude to mysteries and adventures in general, or to being on the trail, and so on, or else merely congratulate the Seven and say nothing about the actual story. It is not clear what else may have been changed in the American editions. [Michael Edwards, 2001] Updating Amazon.com reports that the Secret Seven books are "carefully and sympathetically updated for today's young readers." HBC is not sure at this time just how the books are updated. There is some "sanitizing" of some editions. In one of Blyton�s books "woolly black hair and a watermelon smile" had been changed to read "dark curly hair and a cheerful expression"! Blyton would have been extremely upset to hear that her very evocative phrase is now regarded as offensive. So if you want to read the real Enid Blyton, go to the second-hand book shops rather than the library or retailers of new books.

And make sure the publication date on the book you are buying is from the 1960s or earlier. Titles Blyton published 15 Secret Seven books from 1949 until 1963. All were published by Brockhampton, later shortened to "Brock". The titles included, THE SECRET SEVEN (1949), SECRET SEVEN ADVENTURE (1950), WELL DONE SECRET SEVEN (1951), SECRET SEVEN ON THE TRAIL (1952), GO AHEAD SECRET SEVEN (1953), GOOD WORK SECRET SEVEN (1954), SECRET SEVEN WIN THROUGH (1955), THREE CHEERS SECRET SEVEN (1956), SECRET SEVEN MYSTERY (1957), PUZZLE FOR THE SECRET SEVEN (1958), SECRET SEVEN FIREWORKS (1959), GOOD OLD SECRET SEVEN (1960), SHOCK FOR THE SECRET SEVEN (1961), LOOK OUT SECRET SEVEN (1962), and FUN FOR THE SECRET SEVEN (1963).

Sample Book Review: Michael Edwards A good example of a Secret Seven book is Three Cheers Secret Seven (1956). The U.S. title was the The Secret Seven and the Grim Secret. The need to change the title for American readers is both an interesting exercise in American and English usage and a variety of cultural factors. Enid Blyton enthusiast Michael Edwards has prepared a fascinating review of this volume. Readers interested in the Secret Seven might want to have a look at his review. It will give you a good idea of what the Secret Seven books are like. Michael tells us that The Secret Seven books are only a small part of her work, and in fact are not of his favourite series. This links goes to a page that has additional infotmation on Blyton's work. Chronolgy Considerable changes occurred in boys wear in England between 1949 when the first volume was published. The last one was published in 1963. HBC is unsure to what extent changes in clothing fashions were reflected in the books. The drawings in many new editions were updated with more modern looking clothingm but I'm not sure if there have actually been changes to the text.

Probably as the clothing was not normally described in great detail, this was not necessary. Figure 2.--Many of the 1970s editions of the Secret Seven included obvious attempts to update the clothing the children were wearing. In this Derek Lucas illustration, caps and blazers are still seen, but the boys now wear long trousers in this 1973 edition. Illustrators HBC has noted the following illustrators in various editions of the Secret Seven. The original editions of the books had illustrations with very traditional school clothing. Later editions attempted to update the clothing. Unfortunately we have been able to find little information about the careers of the various illustrators and the other books they have illustrated. George Brook Derek Lucas Derek Lucas illustrated some of the Secret Seven books in the 1970s. He attempted to update the clothing the children were wearing. The boys still had caps and blazers in some of the illustrations, but they were all wearing long trousers. Some boys still wore school sandals. I did not notice any sneakers or American innovations like baseball caps. Burgess Sharrocks appeared in many of the original editions of the Secret Seven.

His drawings in the 1950s depict the children in traditional school attire, caps, blazers, jumpers, short pants, kneesocks, and school sandals. An Australian View "I went to primary school in Australia in the early 1960s, and my school uniform then was quite similar to that the Secret Seven are depicted wearing by the original illustrators - jacket, shorts, long socks, and school cap. What's notable in the Secret Seven books, though, is that the boys seem to wear their uniforms even when going about town or on picnics, etc., which I would never have done. I would normally have changed into ordinary clothes immediately upon arriving home after school: partly because I would feel uncomfortable wearing school uniform out of school, and partly to preserve the school uniform, which was probably more expensive than casual clothes. I do recall that, around 1970, my school abolished the school cap, perhaps feeling it was getting a little too obviously old-fashioned; and my younger brother promptly ritually destroyed it with considerable glee (I myself being a little more sober, and not given to such destruction).

Those caps were never again used by the school, and are now memorabilia -- items of historical interest -- and sought after by the school historian and archivist. A few years before that, at an earlier school which also used caps, my brother's lack of respect for the school cap was demonstrated by his filling it with blackberries picked wild, the juice of which completely wrecked the cap, turning it a deep, blotchy purple -- to the considerable displeasure of our parents." [Michael Edwards, 2001] The Secret Seven | Children's Books Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Colin Scamper the dog. Each book is a different story in which they end up having an adventure, be it sorting out a gang of thieves or stopping people from stealing jewels! Apart from the wrong-doers there is also another main protaginist: Susie, Jack's irritating sister. Reader's Reviews You should read these. A good read if not brilliant literature. 2 Please add your review here. As I girl growing up, every year for my birthday I was given 10/- for my birthday so I used to go and buy a Secret Seven book.

Now I have a granddaughter who is 7 yrs old, so I have bought her the series of Secret Seven books for her. I hope she enjoys these books as much as I did. I am in my 60s now. Books in the Series The Secret Seven by Enid Blyton [ Member login ] The Secret Seven The Secret Seven Society consists of Peter, his sister Janet, and their friends Jack, Colin, George, Pam and Barbara. Although not an official member of the Secret Seven, Peter and Janet's golden spaniel Scamper also attends meetings. After all, he can be trusted not to give away any secrets to Jack's interfering sister Susie! The children meet in a shed with "S.S." on the door. Admission is by password only and badges must be worn. Peter, as head of the society, makes jolly well sure that everyone complies with the rules! While munching rock-buns and guzzling home-made lemonade, the Seven puzzle over peculiar goings-on in their local community, aiming to solve mysteries and put things right. Their work often involves hiding and keeping watch, hunting for clues, shadowing suspicious characters and questioning people.

Burglaries, stolen animals and missing children feature in various stories — as do fireworks, a tree-house, a telescope and Susie's toy aeroplane. Exciting stuff for young readers, and no doubt the Secret Seven books have inspired many children over the years to form secret societies of their own. The Secret Seven, which is the first of the fifteen titles in the official Secret Seven series, was published in 1949. However, Peter and Janet had appeared in an earlier book called At Seaside Cottage (1947) and the story of the formation of the society had been related in Secret of the Old Mill (1948.) The original illustrators of the main series of fifteen books were George Brook, Bruno Kay and Burgess Sharrocks. Evelyne Lallemand wrote a number of continuation novels in the 1970s-80s. Secret Seven Books, Stories and Games

Question: What is the name of the dog in the Secret Seven series of books?
Answer: Scamper