I know this is far below the age-range of books I normally read, but I have a huge soft spot for Enid Blyton (given that she’s one of the main reasons I love reading so much) and when I saw this collection of three books with stories I haven’t read, I just couldn’t resist.

These stories are a bit shorter than her usual adventure stories, but they’re still pretty fun:

The Secret of the Lost Necklace: Bob and Mary go to live with their grandmother for the holidays. Unfortunately, their cousin Ralph is also there. Ralph is a braggart and a crybaby and pretty much not a nice boy. But there are mysteries (a lost heirloom necklace) around and Bob and Mary are going to get to the end of them.

This was fun but not particularly noteworthy. Ralph was probably the most interesting character, with his insecurities hiding behind a facade of bravado. Bob and Mary are the usual plucky protagonists. There’s also a fun reference in the books that Bob reads, described as “exciting ones” and are “all about seven children who make a secret society and have adventures” – sounds like the Secret Seven to me!

Mischief at St Rollo’s: When Mike and Janet arrive at St Rollos, they quickly make friends and settle into life at the boarding school. However, sulky, cheating Hugh repeatedly causes trouble time and time again – why?

This is a little like The Naughtiest Girl, if you took the story from the point of view of the one of Elizabeth’s classmates. When you find out the story about Hugh, it’s pretty easy to sympathise with him (as the children do). I like they way Blyton layers on misunderstandings and how easy it is for children to be outcasted. It’s interesting that she made her protagonists the bullies and had them learn the error of their ways as well.

The Children of Kidillin: Set in Scotland during the war, Sandy and Jeanie are happy to have their English cousins, Tom and Sheila, come and stay until a bad first impression leave the two pairs of cousins at loggerheads with one another. But when the four stumble across a mystery, they will have to work together to get to the bottom of things.

This was the only book that referenced the war and the evacuations that took place. But since this is Enid Blyton, the tragedy of war doesn’t really enter the book. There are references to Tom and Sheila’s homesickness, and the plot definitely involves the war, but for the most part, the children are safe in Scotland. It’s the most classic adventure story of the three and unsurprisingly, I enjoyed it the most.

Overall, this was a fun collection of stories. The copy I have is pretty old but still in pretty good condition and I’ll probably pass this on to my niece when she’s old enough to start reading slightly longer stories.