SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS

From somewhere Micki and I got a copy of a movie called "Swallows and Amazons."  It looked like a kids movie and so we put it off until bored enough to watch it, and WOW!  It pulled both of us back to the adventures of childhood - adventures we lived or dreamed about.  It was fun!  We got to know and live with the Swallows (Walker children):  John (Captain), Susan (Mate), Titty (Able-Seaman), and Roger (Ship's Boy); and the Amazons (Blackett children):  Nancy and Peggy, who claim Wild Cat Island.

We wanted more, and found that the movie was based on a 12-book series, written in the 1930s and 40s by English author and journalist, Arthur Ransome (1884-1967).  The series is very popular in England, with the adventures mostly taking place in the Lake District and the Norfolk Broads, but I don't think it's very well known in the U.S., unfortunately.

And so of course I collected all 12, the entire series, and read them all.  It was a different experience.  Not as fast moving as most children's series, it imbeds a whole new world into your heart.  Ransome's writing is detailed, sometimes even how-to, and puts you right there.  In writing about the series here, I feel like reading it all over again.  

1    Swallows and Amazons    (1930)

2    Swallowdale    (1931)

3    Peter Duck    (1932)

4    Winter Holiday    (1933)

5    Coot Club    (1934)

6    Pigeon Post    (1936)

7    We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea    (1937)

8    Secret Water    (1939)

9    The Big Six    (1940)

10   Missee Lee    (1941)

11   The Picts and the Martyrs    (1943)

12   Great Northern?    (1947)

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