Even the children's ship, the Pole Star is not so very far removed, in title, (only five letters in fact) from the ship Enid herself travelled on, which was called the Stella Polaris. The real strength of this book, like the Adventure book, is the fact that the cruise is a real one, and Enid's descriptions bear this out, for they help the story immensely. The trip the family take is the exact trip Enid experienced in the early thirties with Hugh the trip that also served for The Ship of Adventure cruise, incidentally written in the same year as The Pole Star Family. Mummy asks 'How would you like to miss school for a few weeks and go holidaying with me and daddy and Granny?' and of course, within a few pages everything is arranged, despite the fact the children had 'been rather looking forward to going back to school'.! This happens throughout the school summer holidays, giving the children the opportunity to take even more time off school in order to recover on board the Pole Star in September. Once again, this story begins in a very realistic way, with everyone, including Granny and the children, developing ailments of one kind or another. As had happened before, Enid immediately plunged into the next adventure, this time re-titling the family The Pole Star Family when it began in March.

Review by Robert Houghton The Saucy Jane Family came to a close in February of 1947, and was published in book form in 1948.

Polar star book