The Circus of Adventure by Enid Blyton

This is the seventh book in the adventure series by Enid Blyton. It follows the exhilarating journey of four children, Jack, Philip, Lucy-Ann, Dinah and their talking parrot Kiki. In this book, they are also joined by the Tauri-Hessian crown prince, Gustavus.

The story starts with the four children coming back from boarding school for their easter holidays. As usual, they are to go on holiday with their mother and her husband, Bill Cunningham. Only this time, Bill has been ordered to look after Gustavus (or Fussy Gussy as Kiki calls him!), so the family is forced to stay in an isolated but cozy cottage, in a quiet village named Little Brockleton. 

The children and Gussy don't get along at all well- Gussy is much too wimpish for their tastes, but one night when Bill and his wife are suddenly summoned by a young couple, there seems to be a drastic change of events! Philip, Dinah, Lucy-Ann and Gussy are secretly kidnapped and taken away to Tauri-Hessia as pawns in the plan of the Tauri-Hessian Prime Minister to kill the king. Jack, however, wasn't kidnapped and manages to stow away in the plane. He soon finds his way around Tauri-Hessia and ends up befriending a circus boy, Pedro, who also happens to be somewhat of a linguist. With the help of the circus folk, Jack and Kiki discover many sinister secrets in the petrifying castle of Count Paritolen and manage a daring rescue for the trapped children. 

Once they are all together again, they cook up a plan to blend in with the circus crowd, without arousing suspicion within the Tauri-Hessian soldiers. Gussy plays his part marvelously, and his disguise is by far the most hilarious part of the book. As if by a miracle, they discover Bill in a disguise, who has been working day and night to locate them. United at last Bill, his friend Ronnie, Jack and Kiki all sneak into the castle, rescue the King-who thankfully hasn't been killed yet, and manage to scare the living daylights out of the frightened Count. As the book comes to an end, the four children receive a special invitation to the royal palace, along with their circus friends, and also get to know Gussy a little better.

Even after my first read, this book never fails to send a thrill of joy down my spine, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Circus of Adventure

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