As a child I used to love reading the famous five books written by Enid Blyton and have recently started reading them to my 7 year old son. The books were written in the 1940's so the language can seem a bit dated and the books are often sexist, but that aside they are still wonderful stories that really appeal to my son as much as they did to me many years ago!

Five go off in a caravan is the fifth book in the famous five series. The famous five consist of two boys, Julian and Dick and two girls, Georgina (or George as she insists of being called) and Anne. The fifth member of the group is the endearing dog, Timmy.Julian.Dick and Anne are siblings and George is their cousin. In the first book we learn that Julian is the oldest at 12. Dick and George are both 11 and Anne is the youngest at 10. In this book we are not told how old the children are or how many years have passed since the first book and adventure.

The story begins with the children all together at the home of Julian, Dick and Anne. It is the beginning of the summer hols and the children are planning how to spend their time. George's parents don't want the children with them as it would be too much! As they continue to make plans a circus troupe appears. The children watch the troupe go past and are very excited to see a young boy turning cartwheels. The children decide it would be wonderful if they too could go off caravanning like the circus folk. They persuade their parents and are allowed to take the family horse and borrow another to pull the caravans. Their parents arrange to hire two caravans and the children start to decide what they will need to take on their exciting trip.

The story continues with the children and Timmy traveling around the countryside stopping at various farms on the way where they purchase supplies. The children eventually catch up with the circus troupe and make friends with a circus boy called Nobby. Nobby has two dogs, barker and growler and a pet chimpanzee called Pongo. Nobby has a nasty, abusive uncle known as tiger Dan. Dan has a friend who is equally as nasty called Lou.

The famous five find a lovely spot to camp overlooking the lake where the circus are staying. We are introduced to the kindly farmer's wife who keeps the children supplied with good food. Everything seems perfect until it becomes clear that Dan and Lou are trying to get rid of the children and will stop at nothing to get their way! Why are the two men so keen to get rid of the children? What is in the men's cart that they are so keen to keep hidden from view and why are the men so interested in the area where the children are camping?

It isn't long before the famous five find themselves in the middle of another exciting adventure!

My thoughts.
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I think this is the best of all the famous five books. I love the humour in this book, something than is not really present in the rest of the series. The descriptive writing is brilliant and makes you almost feel the warm summer sun and taste that ginger beer! The description of the countryside captures everything perfectly including the stereotypical rotund, farmers wife.

The book also depicts a lot of extreme cruelty both to the animals and Nobby the circus boy. Nobby is badly beaten by his uncle and his dog is poisoned. There is no mention that keeping circus animals is cruel, but then this book was written in the 1940's when attitudes were different.

The idea that a group of young children would be allowed to go off on their own with a couple of horses and caravans to look after is of course far fetched even by 1940's standards! However this is what makes the book so appealing to children, who wouldn't have wanted an adult free holiday?

The adventure whilst exciting, is never scary making it an idea bedtime story for a wide range of ages. The acts of cruelty may well provoke discussion however.

The version I have of this book is part of the famous five collection that includes five go to smugglers top, and five on Kirrin island again. The rrp is £9.99, but I paid just £3 in my local Tesco. The book is published by Hodder children's books. The only negative with this version is that there are no illustrations. Amazon has an illustrated copy for £3.30, also published by Hodder.

Highly recommended!