The Secret Seven by Enid Blyton

This is my collection of The Secret Seven series, considerably less as the books used to be thinner than Famous Five hence I was never keen on buying them as they finished too soon.

The Secret Seven were a group of child detectives. Lead by Peter, the society consisted of his sister Janet, their dog Scamper and their friends: Jack, Colin, George, Pam, Barbara. The secret seven normally met at a shed in Peter and Janet's house. To enter there meetings, all of them had to say the password that they had decided upon in the previous meeting and had to carry the secret seven badge.

The seven got into all sorts of adventures: recovering a stolen violin, tracing a dog thief, finding stolen medals in the woods, getting curious about what is going on in a curious castle....

I think there were 3 major reasons why I liked the books:

One because of the sort of independence those kids had, going off to movies by themselves, running off after thieves and robbers in the night, cycling off to watch the circus and so on...

Second was the description of food. Things as simple as lemonade and cookies were described so well that they made my stomach grumble. I remember sitting down to have biscuits and water in an elegant manner after finishing yet another book, pretending to eat what they were eating in the books!:) (I got a similar craving last night when I re-read one of the books in the series). As for when Enid Blyton described tea, my stomach shouted out aloud! Ham and cheese, bacon and eggs, cream tarts, hot chocolate and what not! That got me my love for salami sandwiches which holds till date.

Third was Scamper! What a name for a dog. I can imagine a healthy golden spaniel with mischievious eyes running around licking every person in sight. I loved it when the Secret Seven kept passwords related to Scamper: Scamper, Wuff (his bark), and Thump ( the sound his tail made on the floor). I think that made me laugh a lot as a kid, when Scamper could also pronounce the password.

The town where the seven lived, was an idyllic one, modern yet traditional. They had access to telephones and motor cars, and also to the nearby woods. I always enjoyed the way she described the woods.
"The woods were full of springing bluebell leaves, their long green spikes standing guard over the flowers pushing up between them. "
"They had their lunch in the bluebell wood with the blackbirds and thrushes singing loudly overhead, and a little robin hopping around their feet, waiting for a crumb."

As this was my first series ever (rather first book ever) I have a soft corner for them, even though Famous Five are a much better read with the characters more defined.

But still as Enid blyton used to conclude her books, Way to go Secret Seven!