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The Adventurous Four #2
Stranded!
This is a story of the further adventures of four children who get into some hair-raising scrapes, but always manage to survive them. It is one in a series of adventure stories by Enid Blyton, and should appeal to both boys and girls.
221 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1947
15 people are currently reading
289 people want to read
About the author
Enid Blyton
5,093 books6,224 followersSee also:
Ένιντ Μπλάιτον (Greek)
Enida Blaitona (Latvian)
Энид Блайтон (Russian)
Inid Blajton (Serbian)
Інід Блайтон (Ukrainian)
Enid Mary Blyton (1897–1968) was an English author of children's books.
Born in South London, Blyton was the eldest of three children, and showed an early interest in music and reading. She was educated at St. Christopher's School, Beckenham, and - having decided not to pursue her music - at Ipswich High School, where she trained as a kindergarten teacher. She taught for five years before her 1924 marriage to editor Hugh Pollock, with whom she had two daughters. This marriage ended in divorce, and Blyton remarried in 1943, to surgeon Kenneth Fraser Darrell Waters. She died in 1968, one year after her second husband.
Blyton was a prolific author of children's books, who penned an estimated 800 books over about 40 years. Her stories were often either children's adventure and mystery stories, or fantasies involving magic. Notable series include: The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, The Five Find-Outers, Noddy, The Wishing Chair, Mallory Towers, and St. Clare's.
According to the Index Translationum, Blyton was the fifth most popular author in the world in 2007, coming after Lenin but ahead of Shakespeare.
See also her pen name Mary Pollock
Ένιντ Μπλάιτον (Greek)
Enida Blaitona (Latvian)
Энид Блайтон (Russian)
Inid Blajton (Serbian)
Інід Блайтон (Ukrainian)
Enid Mary Blyton (1897–1968) was an English author of children's books.
Born in South London, Blyton was the eldest of three children, and showed an early interest in music and reading. She was educated at St. Christopher's School, Beckenham, and - having decided not to pursue her music - at Ipswich High School, where she trained as a kindergarten teacher. She taught for five years before her 1924 marriage to editor Hugh Pollock, with whom she had two daughters. This marriage ended in divorce, and Blyton remarried in 1943, to surgeon Kenneth Fraser Darrell Waters. She died in 1968, one year after her second husband.
Blyton was a prolific author of children's books, who penned an estimated 800 books over about 40 years. Her stories were often either children's adventure and mystery stories, or fantasies involving magic. Notable series include: The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, The Five Find-Outers, Noddy, The Wishing Chair, Mallory Towers, and St. Clare's.
According to the Index Translationum, Blyton was the fifth most popular author in the world in 2007, coming after Lenin but ahead of Shakespeare.
See also her pen name Mary Pollock
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
April 13, 2023
This should have been called 'The Fat-Headed Four Again'! Really, there is no situation so dangerous that cannot wait until a meal has been eaten. Kidnapped and given a chance to get away.... well, lets have some food and see how things go, it really is that ridiculous. These children are not fit to lick the dust off the boots of Julian, Dick, George and Anne. If Timmy wore boots I would have included him too!
Tom is the most annoying character. Not a team player, he disobeys instructions and gets himself and the others into danger, then when he can escape he would rather have a meal and fall asleep instead of doing anything positive. The twins are indistinguishable, they are girls so make the food and stay back whilst the boys do the interesting stuff. Thankfully the bad guys are totally incompetent so at last the kids can escape and get home to raise the alarm.
Tom is the most annoying character. Not a team player, he disobeys instructions and gets himself and the others into danger, then when he can escape he would rather have a meal and fall asleep instead of doing anything positive. The twins are indistinguishable, they are girls so make the food and stay back whilst the boys do the interesting stuff. Thankfully the bad guys are totally incompetent so at last the kids can escape and get home to raise the alarm.
May 4, 2015
Enid Blyton is a famous children's author from some years ago. When I saw this book in a secondhand book shop, I picked it up to read so I could finally catch some of the references about her. This book was first published in 1947, and this copy was printed in 1977.
In 1947, rationing was still on, but this is a child's fantasy book, so there is plenty of food, copious amounts all the time. The children (well, pre-teens and teens) are let to go off on grand adventures on their own, with no pesky adults underfoot. And this is the story of an adventure these four friends have, entirely by accident, of course.
It was mostly well-written: my heart was certainly in my throat in a couple of scenes! (Thinking, "Will the bad guys catch them now?") The bad guys were unbelievably stupid on at least a couple of occassions, so it lost some of the magic there. I know it's a children's book, but still - children do have brains. It is almost timeless; you do need to know that rationing was on (it is referenced in the book, but only in passing once or twice), but that's all.
All in all, a pretty good book! I definitely see why she was so popular.
In 1947, rationing was still on, but this is a child's fantasy book, so there is plenty of food, copious amounts all the time. The children (well, pre-teens and teens) are let to go off on grand adventures on their own, with no pesky adults underfoot. And this is the story of an adventure these four friends have, entirely by accident, of course.
It was mostly well-written: my heart was certainly in my throat in a couple of scenes! (Thinking, "Will the bad guys catch them now?") The bad guys were unbelievably stupid on at least a couple of occassions, so it lost some of the magic there. I know it's a children's book, but still - children do have brains. It is almost timeless; you do need to know that rationing was on (it is referenced in the book, but only in passing once or twice), but that's all.
All in all, a pretty good book! I definitely see why she was so popular.
Read
February 21, 2016" You don't suppose two adventures like that could happen, do you? said Andy's father. Little does he know that when Tom, Mary, Jill and Andy set sail on the Andy to the Cliff of Birds, adventure can't be very far behind. The second book in the series was another fun read. Tom was a little annoying in this one.
June 8, 2022
The Adventurous Four, not as many as the Famous Five and a little less interesting to read. Still a great book by Enid Blyton.
The cover show the 4 children on top of a cliff on the island where the are stranded. Happy faces all around and Tom holding something to eat. Eating is as usual with this author a main theme in the story, so is being stranded, secret tunnels and caves, being taken prisoner etc
Of course it was written in another time but still, it feels more artificial than the other series by Blyton, just as if these were written first and she believed she could do better by adding a dog.
Boy-girl sterotypes, strong silent man, worried mothers and hard criminals make up the main cast.
There is a lot to do about sailing but nothing technical, it is not a sailing instruction manual.
Definitely worth reading in the category nostalgic entertainment, adventure and humor.
The cover show the 4 children on top of a cliff on the island where the are stranded. Happy faces all around and Tom holding something to eat. Eating is as usual with this author a main theme in the story, so is being stranded, secret tunnels and caves, being taken prisoner etc
Of course it was written in another time but still, it feels more artificial than the other series by Blyton, just as if these were written first and she believed she could do better by adding a dog.
Boy-girl sterotypes, strong silent man, worried mothers and hard criminals make up the main cast.
There is a lot to do about sailing but nothing technical, it is not a sailing instruction manual.
Definitely worth reading in the category nostalgic entertainment, adventure and humor.
August 8, 2018
Tidak banyak buku Enid selain seri Famous Five dan Pasukan Mau Tahu yg saya baca. Buku ini lagi-lagi menghadirkan petualangan seru.
April 28, 2024
Sepertinya dahulu saya kelewatan menikmati seri ini. Baru tahu belakangan. Menemukan buku ini tanpa sengaja di lapak dagangan langganan.
Tom bersama kedua adik kembarnya, Mary dan Jil kembali menghabiskan liburan di pantai dengan Andy,anak nelayan sahabat mereka.
Semula mereka hanya ingin pergi ke Karang Burung agar Tom bisa memotret aneka burung di sana untuk lomba di sekolah. Siapa yang menduga jika mereka justru menemukan petualangan di Gua Penyelundup yang ada di sana.
Tom bersama kedua adik kembarnya, Mary dan Jil kembali menghabiskan liburan di pantai dengan Andy,anak nelayan sahabat mereka.
Semula mereka hanya ingin pergi ke Karang Burung agar Tom bisa memotret aneka burung di sana untuk lomba di sekolah. Siapa yang menduga jika mereka justru menemukan petualangan di Gua Penyelundup yang ada di sana.
May 31, 2017
Another truly enjoyable novel by Enid Blyton.
There definitely were a couple of things that bugged me (once again, there's a moment where someone is judged purely on looks!) but overall I had a great time reading this novel and loved the characters.
There definitely were a couple of things that bugged me (once again, there's a moment where someone is judged purely on looks!) but overall I had a great time reading this novel and loved the characters.
June 22, 2017
This time Andy and Tom are up against gun smugglers
(23 July 2013)
Well, I think I have now sampled all of the groups of child detectives/adventurers that I have of Enid Blyton (though I am sure there may be more, but I am not really going to go out of my way to locate any other Blyton Books that I don't have in my collection). This group consists of two boys and two girls though the girls don't actually play an active part in the story. They seem to be more along for the ride and to act as the damsels in distress. As for the two boys, Tom and Andy, it appears that Andy pretty much takes the centre stage while Tom tags along to keep Andy company. In fact a bulk of the book revolves around Tom and Andy making their way through a network of caves.
The bad guys seem to be a bit nastier in these books and the children (if we can call them children as they are actually teenagers, not that the concept of the teenager had been developed at the time of writing) are a lot more isolated than in other books of Blyton that I have read. This is the second adventure where they are trapped, this time along what seems to be some very rugged Scottish coastline. In the first book they were trapped on an island and had uncovered a plot involving a fleet of u-boats. In this one they uncover a sophisticated gun smuggling racket, which also differs from other books I read since this seems into involve enemy governments and organised crime. The other books seem to only involve petty thugs (not saying that the two antagonists in this book are more than thugs).
It was an enjoyable, and somewhat quick, read, but then again I can get through most Blyton books in a day, if I set aside most of the day to read them that is. As I also mentioned, the main character in this book appears to be Andy. He is a very cunning individual who works as a fisherman with his father. He doesn't go to school, unlike the rest of the characters in this book, though their private school education does not seem to show through. I also noticed that with this book the children are trapped longer than what their parents expected them to be away, where as most of the other books the mystery is solved and the children freed in less than half a day.
The last chapter was pretty ordinary with the colonel coming and explaining in very simple terms what had happened. The only thing that I didn't understand was that I thought guns where tightly controlled in England, where as it seems in this book that England (or at least Scotland) is being used as a staging place to smuggle guns elsewhere. Also the way they captured the head guy was very dubious. The only clue they had was a button, and they identified the head guy because the shirt he was wearing was missing a button. In reality, that is what is called circumstantial evidence, and one piece of circumstantial evidence will not convict anybody.
(23 July 2013)
Well, I think I have now sampled all of the groups of child detectives/adventurers that I have of Enid Blyton (though I am sure there may be more, but I am not really going to go out of my way to locate any other Blyton Books that I don't have in my collection). This group consists of two boys and two girls though the girls don't actually play an active part in the story. They seem to be more along for the ride and to act as the damsels in distress. As for the two boys, Tom and Andy, it appears that Andy pretty much takes the centre stage while Tom tags along to keep Andy company. In fact a bulk of the book revolves around Tom and Andy making their way through a network of caves.
The bad guys seem to be a bit nastier in these books and the children (if we can call them children as they are actually teenagers, not that the concept of the teenager had been developed at the time of writing) are a lot more isolated than in other books of Blyton that I have read. This is the second adventure where they are trapped, this time along what seems to be some very rugged Scottish coastline. In the first book they were trapped on an island and had uncovered a plot involving a fleet of u-boats. In this one they uncover a sophisticated gun smuggling racket, which also differs from other books I read since this seems into involve enemy governments and organised crime. The other books seem to only involve petty thugs (not saying that the two antagonists in this book are more than thugs).
It was an enjoyable, and somewhat quick, read, but then again I can get through most Blyton books in a day, if I set aside most of the day to read them that is. As I also mentioned, the main character in this book appears to be Andy. He is a very cunning individual who works as a fisherman with his father. He doesn't go to school, unlike the rest of the characters in this book, though their private school education does not seem to show through. I also noticed that with this book the children are trapped longer than what their parents expected them to be away, where as most of the other books the mystery is solved and the children freed in less than half a day.
The last chapter was pretty ordinary with the colonel coming and explaining in very simple terms what had happened. The only thing that I didn't understand was that I thought guns where tightly controlled in England, where as it seems in this book that England (or at least Scotland) is being used as a staging place to smuggle guns elsewhere. Also the way they captured the head guy was very dubious. The only clue they had was a button, and they identified the head guy because the shirt he was wearing was missing a button. In reality, that is what is called circumstantial evidence, and one piece of circumstantial evidence will not convict anybody.
October 26, 2022
Meine Meinung:
Zu Hause die Ferien zu verbringen, ist doch totlangweilig. Da hat Peggy eine Idee. Sie telefoniert heimlich. Doch um die Neuigkeit loszuwerden dauert es noch bis zum Abend. Wir freuen Sie sich, dass Sie nach Spiggy Holes fahren dürfen.
Einfach toll bei Fräulein Jones und Frau Faß zu sein.
Die Kinder sind selig. Was ich mir herrlich vorstellen kann dort draußen zu sein und das beste Essen genießen zu dürfen, dass man so haben kann. Natürlich geht's auch auf eine Bootsfahrt mit der Seemöwe. Doch sie sind nicht allein. Als dann auch noch Chris bemerkt dass er sein Fotoapparat vergessen hat, ist das Chaos perfekt.
Also ehrlich gesagt auf einer Insel und dann mit so komischen Typen, die nicht gerade ungefährlich sind, würde mir schon ganz schön die Muffe gehen. Man hofft die ganze Zeit, dass es glimpflich ausgeht. Irgendwie hat man aber die ganze Zeit das Gefühl, dass man die Zwei schon aus einer vorherigen Geschichte kennt. Irgendwie kommen Sie mir bekannt vor.
Mein Fazit:
Die verwegenen Vier, sind ein abenteuerlustiges Völkchen. Irgendwie ziehen Sie die Abenteuer und das Unheil, magisch an. Ich habe mich sehr gefreut dieses Buch, wieder zu lesen. Eine Geschichte die mir auch jetzt noch sehr gefallen hat.
Zu Hause die Ferien zu verbringen, ist doch totlangweilig. Da hat Peggy eine Idee. Sie telefoniert heimlich. Doch um die Neuigkeit loszuwerden dauert es noch bis zum Abend. Wir freuen Sie sich, dass Sie nach Spiggy Holes fahren dürfen.
Einfach toll bei Fräulein Jones und Frau Faß zu sein.
Die Kinder sind selig. Was ich mir herrlich vorstellen kann dort draußen zu sein und das beste Essen genießen zu dürfen, dass man so haben kann. Natürlich geht's auch auf eine Bootsfahrt mit der Seemöwe. Doch sie sind nicht allein. Als dann auch noch Chris bemerkt dass er sein Fotoapparat vergessen hat, ist das Chaos perfekt.
Also ehrlich gesagt auf einer Insel und dann mit so komischen Typen, die nicht gerade ungefährlich sind, würde mir schon ganz schön die Muffe gehen. Man hofft die ganze Zeit, dass es glimpflich ausgeht. Irgendwie hat man aber die ganze Zeit das Gefühl, dass man die Zwei schon aus einer vorherigen Geschichte kennt. Irgendwie kommen Sie mir bekannt vor.
Mein Fazit:
Die verwegenen Vier, sind ein abenteuerlustiges Völkchen. Irgendwie ziehen Sie die Abenteuer und das Unheil, magisch an. Ich habe mich sehr gefreut dieses Buch, wieder zu lesen. Eine Geschichte die mir auch jetzt noch sehr gefallen hat.
July 7, 2022
Fairly entertaining in places, but overall a very familiar story that Enid Blyton has written more than once, better than this and with much more defined and interesting characters. It's particularly annoying that the plot of this book relies heavily and often on one or more of the central quartet being unimaginably stupid. Tom was idiotic enough in their first adventure, but this time he's surpassed himself!
It also struck me how often and how much the four ate in a precarious survival situation i.e. too much and often even for an Enid Blyton adventure. Not only that but they have far too much to say about how their food and drink taste, even at times lamenting a lack of condiments. I don't feel that Enid really had much of a grip on these characters or their adventures; I am not surprised that she didn't write about them again after this.
It also struck me how often and how much the four ate in a precarious survival situation i.e. too much and often even for an Enid Blyton adventure. Not only that but they have far too much to say about how their food and drink taste, even at times lamenting a lack of condiments. I don't feel that Enid really had much of a grip on these characters or their adventures; I am not surprised that she didn't write about them again after this.
March 10, 2017
A little repetitive after the first book - but good clean fun. Enjoyed it.
January 12, 2025
The second adventure of the Adventurous Four. There would be a third one but only a short story by Blyton, that was later expanded into a novel by a different writer.
The children go again in Andy's boat (one has to wonder at their parents' allowing this after what happened last time) and again disappear, this time captured by a band of smugglers on a desolate part of the coast. A typical Blyton adventure follows, with sailing, caves, tunnels, cliffs and islands.
The adventure is quite exciting and dangerous, although compared with the author's best books at times it feels a bit rushed at times, with unlikely happenings (I mean, even more than usual in this kind of stories), and really incompetent criminals.
Some reviewers complain about the children, particularly Tom, making bad decisions, but I was fine with that. They are children, after all.
The children go again in Andy's boat (one has to wonder at their parents' allowing this after what happened last time) and again disappear, this time captured by a band of smugglers on a desolate part of the coast. A typical Blyton adventure follows, with sailing, caves, tunnels, cliffs and islands.
The adventure is quite exciting and dangerous, although compared with the author's best books at times it feels a bit rushed at times, with unlikely happenings (I mean, even more than usual in this kind of stories), and really incompetent criminals.
Some reviewers complain about the children, particularly Tom, making bad decisions, but I was fine with that. They are children, after all.
February 13, 2021
Buku kedua empat petualang. Setelah baca buku pertama kirain udah paling bahaya karena risiko kehilangan nyawa tinggi, setelah baca ini ternyata lebih berbahaya lagi. Mungkin bisa dibilang seri empat petualang ini tingkat bahayanya no 2 setelah seri petualangan (Jack, Philip, Dinah, Lucy-Ann). Awal petualangan bisa dibilang karena Tom karena satu perbuatannya yang sembrono (dan SANGAT bahaya). Seperti biasa petualangan dominan dialami sama cowok (Andy, Tom) dan menurut saya cara nangkep 'dalang'nya juga agak maksa. Secara keseluruhan cerita seru dan beberapa part kerasa tensionnya, penjahatnya juga lebih tega dari penjahat-penjahat umumnya di buku enid blyton.
August 31, 2023
Enid Blyton was my favourite author when I was a child. I read a large collection of her books from my school's library. I got this book for my 11th birthday, and found it when I was emptying my parents' house a few years ago. Needless to say, I did not remember the story!
Sadly, this book turned out to be pretty boring. The characters were annoying, and the adventure was entirely unrealistic. Also, there were far too many descriptions of meals (including SPAM, canned tongue, and canned peaches). Oh well.
Enid Blyton helped foster my love of reading, so I am grateful to her. And I feel lucky to have discovered so many great books and authors since this book was gifted to me.
Sadly, this book turned out to be pretty boring. The characters were annoying, and the adventure was entirely unrealistic. Also, there were far too many descriptions of meals (including SPAM, canned tongue, and canned peaches). Oh well.
Enid Blyton helped foster my love of reading, so I am grateful to her. And I feel lucky to have discovered so many great books and authors since this book was gifted to me.
September 26, 2021
After their previous adventure, the parents of Andy, Tom, Jill and Mary actually let the kids go off by themselves again!!!!! After Tom leaves his valuable camera in a cave on Bird Island, the kids discover themselves trapped on a nearby island by smugglers with no obvious way of escape. A lot funnier than the first book, if not quite so heart-tugging
December 23, 2019
Still incredibly sexist (you could get rid of the two twin sisters and it would change the plot little) and Tom is still an annoying git, but the adventure is more involving and gets started sooner in this one. A fun and breezy read.
August 18, 2023
An exciting story for young children about a dangerous smuggling ring in a remote area. The story is intricate and well thought out. Incorporating the stubbornness of children and their rash unthought out desisions.
I particularly like the cave systems as they're the type of place I like exploring.
I particularly like the cave systems as they're the type of place I like exploring.
Read
October 20, 2019Also known as stranded
April 14, 2021
In the end it was so exciting that I couldn't stop reading!
May 19, 2023
Great book for children. Being a teen, I still loved it. It was the most refreshing and adventurous book. It was a great break from YA and refreshing! Recommended read!!
April 25, 2024
Another exciting Blyton classic
May 30, 2025
eh, better than the last one?
March 13, 2017
Thoroughly enjoyable. Completely forgotten about Adventurous Four. Loved it- now need to hunt out the others.
Read
August 22, 2021Beautiful just beautiful read, loved it. Never thought that childrens' books will make me feel whole again as I am now feeling after finishing both the adventurous four and this one. Certainly will finish Enid Blyton's other works too:)
December 29, 2024
This was a fun continuation of the Four's adventures but I did find it pretty similar to the first book.
The plot was interesting although again I found the female characters tended to be left out of a lot of the adventure.
However the adventure was pretty exciting and dangerous and the boys characters were expanded and filled out.
There was plenty of fun and just enough danger to make this the perfect literary escape for a child and that for me was always Blyton's gift.
The plot was interesting although again I found the female characters tended to be left out of a lot of the adventure.
However the adventure was pretty exciting and dangerous and the boys characters were expanded and filled out.
There was plenty of fun and just enough danger to make this the perfect literary escape for a child and that for me was always Blyton's gift.
Read
April 4, 2017It was fun, Tom is the one who gets into the exploring mood and leads others to adventure.
January 11, 2011
Enid Blyton, just how she is :-)
July 3, 2011
EB's formula always gives a jolly good read. This series is not my favourite because the female characters are so weak. Other than that, it is exactly as it says it is - light, fun and engaging.
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September 12, 2012nice!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews