The Famous Five (series)

The Famous Five (series)

The Famous Five is the name of a series of children's novels written by British author Enid Blyton. The first book, Five on a Treasure Island, was published in 1942.

The novels feature the adventures of a group of young children – Julian, Dick, Anne and Georgina (George) – and their dog Timothy. Blyton created several similar groups for her detective series, including The Secret Seven, The Adventurous Four (not to be confused with The Adventure Series) and Five Find-Outers, but the Famous Five is the best-known and most popular of these.

Blyton only intended to write about 6 to 8 books in the series but, owing to their high sales and immense commercial success, she went on to write 21 full-length Famous Five novels. By the end of 1953, more than 6 million copies of these books had been printed and sold. Today, more than two million copies of the books are sold each year, making them one of the biggest-selling series for children ever written. Over a hundred million books have been sold. Nearly all of the novels have subsequently been adapted for television.

A feature of the last page of the original books (and reprints) was an invitation to readers to join the Famous Five Club. Proceeds went to paediatric charities. Eileen Soper illustrated the original Famous Five series.

In 2008 Chorion, who now own the rights to Blyton's books and characters, published through Hodder's Children's Books the Famous Five's Survival Guide, a book that combines survival tips and facts with a story in which the grown-up characters revisit a case they failed to solve in their childhood.