The Mountain of Adventure

Enid Blyton's The Mountain of Adventure is a summer holiday adventure for 9 year olds on a lonely Welsh farm, with a donkey each and mountains that hardly anyone lives on.

What happens

This time the grown-ups aren't taking any chances. Mrs Mannering and Bill are BOTH coming, and they mean to keep the four children out of trouble for eight whole weeks (or so Bill says).

The farm is a treat from the moment they arrive. There's a huge high tea waiting, with ham and chicken and scones and honey. Hens wander in and out of the kitchen. Kiki gets stuck into the raspberries and has picked up the farmer's way of talking before the meal's even over.

Philip, of course, starts collecting pets straight away. A tiny white kid called Snowy leaps into his arms and won't leave him alone, even at bedtime. Then a slow-worm goes into his pocket. Dinah is horrified (it's a legless lizard, not a snake, as Philip keeps telling her).

The big plan is a camping trip by donkey to the Vale of Butterflies, two days away over the mountains. Everyone picks a donkey and practises for days. Lucy-Ann gets Clover and Mrs Mannering gets the quietest one, called Patience.

Then an accident at the farm throws everything up in the air, just before they're due to set off.

What makes the opening so lovely is how much happens before any adventure at all. It's sunny and slow and full of food, animals and squabbles. If your reader wants danger by chapter two, they'll need a little patience. If they love the farm-holiday bits as much as the thrills, they'll be very happy.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

Mr and Mrs Evans, who run the farm, have their Welsh accents spelled out on the page ("whateffer", "indeed to gootness"). It's played for laughs, and Kiki copies them too. It's an old-fashioned sort of joke.

They're also very kind hosts, so most children will just enjoy them. But it might be worth a quick chat about how people really talk, especially if your reader has Welsh family or friends.

This is the fifth book about these four. A pair of puffins from their last holiday gets a mention, but nothing from earlier is needed to follow it.

What to read next

For the same four on a quieter holiday, try The Castle of Adventure. The four of them are in a thatched cottage on a hillside, with an empty castle at the top that they're told to keep well away from.