I’m not going to deny it when I was given the chance to review Five and the Forgotten Treasure by Chris Smith I got a little excited! The book, is a sequel to Enid Blyton’s Famous Five books that were what kickstarted my love of reading. This has something for everyone—kids and those of us who’re maybe a little older kids… I went in expecting a decent nod to Enid Blyton’s Famous Five, and it didn’t disappoint.
You’ve got Fran, Tom, Maddy, and their scruffy mutt Gilbert crashing at Professor George Kirrin’s place—yes, that George, all grown up and dishing out wisdom like a cool aunt. We feel in familiar territory when a treasure map gets nabbed, these little sleuths are off to Kirrin Island, chasing clues and dodging trouble like it’s a 1940s summer holiday. It’s got everything you might expect from a Famous Five book, all the good stuff: secret maps, a thief, and a big, shiny treasure waiting to be found. I think that kids’ll eat up the action—it’s fast, it’s fun, and it’s got that “let’s grab a torch and explore the backyard”. For me what I particularly enjoyed was a tie-in to the old Famous Five, so it’s got a short Famous Five adventure in the text – I don’t know if anyone would read this without having read the originals but if they hadn’t it would be a good entryway to the originals.
The thing is if you’re a middle-aged guy like me who devoured the original books back in the days, this is a nostalgia trip to an earlier time and of course to Kirrin Island! Chris Smith nails that Famous Five vibe without all the bits that may seem dated like dodgy gender stuff or the casual “let’s leave the kids alone for a week” parenting. Seeing George as a professor, dropping tales of Julian, Dick, Anne, and Timmy made me smile, but there are slightly sad moments too, including George’s reasons for not liking Gilbert.
The story’s got that cozy, “lashings of ginger beer” charm—minus the actual ginger beer – the modern kids show their confusion on that point. Though I caught myself chuckling at the kids’ banter about hoew the past seems so alien to them. It’s not just a rehash; it’s a love letter to what made those books magic, wrapped up in a shiny new package.
Five and the Forgotten Treasure is a win-win. Kids get a great read that’ll have them begging for more, and us older kids get to relive the glory days through a new lens. It’s like Smith looked at us middle-aged fans of the original and realized that this should be as much for them as the younger readers. This is a kids book, as it should be, but if you’d be happy to reread and enjoy the classic books, I think you’d get the same out of this!