The Third Form at St Clare's: Book 5

Whilst the Pamela Cox fill in St. Clare's books do not have quite the same charm as the original Enid Blyton books, they are worth getting for completeness of the series. However - I have two real beefs with these new books. A) Too much use of newer words and phrases (like mum instead of mother). If you read them between original Granada versions, for example, they don't quite flow. Further, these books are from the '40s and '50s and that's where they should remain being based. I do not believe that they need modernising. B) These new cartoony covers cannot compete in any way to the older, more realistic covers of the '80s, and previous to that.The original characters (Pat, Isabel, Carlotta, Hilary, Bobby, Mam'zelle, etc.) are very well rendered.

As a fan of Enid Blyton I was delighted to find that an author had added to the original books. Enid is a hard act to follow however Pamela Cox has done a marvellous job of recreating my favourite characters.

I have shared the St Clare stories with both my granddaughter and my own daughter. I read them mainly at bedtime and emphasised the italicised words and made sure I read them with enthusiasm. My daughter is now a teacher and my granddaughter is an extremely good reader who, when she reads out aloud, uses much expression making the stories so much more exciting. Her love of English seems to have been formulated from these early bedtime reads.

A+++++++++

Good service. My daughter enjoyed the book, as she has read the others in the collection. Easy to order and reasonably priced, saves trudging round the shops.