Swallows and Amazons (Swallow and Amazons, #1)

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Swallows and Amazons (Swallows and Amazons #1)

by Arthur Ransome, Helene Carter (Illustrator)

3.97 of 5 stars 3.97 · rating details · 9,523 ratings · 332 reviews

Shortlisted for the Keith Barker Millennium Children's Books Award.
Aboard the Swallow, John, Susan, Titty and Roger find themselves under attack from the fierce Amazon Pirates, Nancy and Peggy.

343 pages

Published 1958 by J.B. Lippincott Company (first published 1930)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Jul 06, 2010 Abigail rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Children Who Enjoy Outdoor Adventures, or Reading About Them

Recommended to Abigail by: Emily

Shelves: childrens-fiction

Review Temporarily Removed.

9 likes · like · see review

Mar 08, 2013 Kristine rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: juvenile, fiction, series

SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS is the fiirst book in a good, old-fashioned English juvenile series penned by Arthur Ransome and published in 193O. The book is a relaxing, realistic fiction read though it is somewhat dated and rather slow-paced for readers from our fast-paced age of television, film, and technology.

Swallows is the name of a sailboat used by the Walker children (John, Susan, Titty, and Roger), the main characters who are spending the summer at a large lake with their mother and toddler s...more

2 likes · like · see review

Dec 30, 2007 Tim rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: childrensbooks

My daughter Arwen always loved this book, and I found her a copy from 1939 this year for Christmas. So of course I read it.

It's among the most charming childrens' books I've ever read. It has a marvelous blending of real life and imagination (and I'm sure it was an inspiration to CS Lewis for his Narnia books. Though they soon go off into a purely imaginative land, they begin in a world where a wardrobe can be a doorway to another world.) Swallows and Amazons is like that, about the way that chi...more

5 likes · like · see review

Jan 09, 2012 Jenne rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens-books, reviewed, ships, books-for-baby

One of my favourite children's books of all time. Not so well known in the States, but a children's classic in Britain.

John, Susan, Titty and Roger have gone to stay in the Lake country for the Summer with their mother while their father is away at sea. When they discover an island on the lake, they beg their mother to allow them to camp on the island for the remainder of the Summer holidays. So sailing out in the boat named "Swallow" they soon find that the island is not as uninhabited as they...more

3 likes · like · see review

Aug 02, 2007 CLM rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: childrensbooks, 20th-century, series, uk

Better drowned than duffers; if not duffers, won't drown...

In this first book of the series, the Walker children's father gives permission for them to spend the summer camping out and sailing in the Lake District of England. They expect to spend their time exploring, making maps, improving their sailing skills - and do not expect pirates or rivalry from others on the lake!

I recently tried to read this aloud to my nephew. I found that really did not work because there was too much nature and sail...more

3 likes · like · see review

May 05, 2013 Sam rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is somewhat magical - it takes you back to a time when not only childhood was more innocent and carefree but life and the world itself more wholesome and adventurous. If I could choose any decade in which to live, the 20s would probably be first or second choice and Swallows & Amazons is testament to that. The whole novel is a mix of childhood delight in the power of imagination and the timeless appeal of the great outdoors. I think a lot of its charm comes from the fact that this...more This book is somewhat magical - it takes you back to a time when not only childhood was more innocent and carefree but life and the world itself more wholesome and adventurous. If I could choose any decade in which to live, the 20s would probably be first or second choice and Swallows & Amazons is testament to that. The whole novel is a mix of childhood delight in the power of imagination and the timeless appeal of the great outdoors. I think a lot of its charm comes from the fact that this is not just a book written in the era of sailing boats and genuine global exploration, it is a book written from the child's perspective of these exciting things, thus romanticising it all the more. It's only when you think that the kids in the book would all be in their early 90s now that you realise those times aren't all that far away - there are people alive that will have grown up like this. Thereby making it all the more agonising that such antics just don't seem achieveable these days. Camping out alone on an island alone, in charge of a sailing boat and being allowed to charge about pretending to be pirates...fantastic.

This is a kid's book but lord knows how they're expected to get through 418 pages while keeping their attention span. In a way though the length is the only deviation from the fact that this isn't principally aimed at adults. For instance, in terms of the language, sentences are sometimes unintentionally humourous with their non-sequiters - it is isn't unusual for a chapter to end with a random utterance from a character like "'I'm tired', said John". I don't know if kids these days would 'get' the language and terms of reference so in a way, Swallows & Amazons has almost become a book that is best read by adults. I hasten to add though, that this is truly a shame because it is an absolutely splendid immersive experience.

All in all, it makes one ache for not only the simpler times of childhood but the simpler times of the early 20th century. The fun had by the characters in this book is, I'll wager, a thousand times greater than any 'contemporary' young fiction. Must read.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Mar 27, 2013 Cleo rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

Swallows and Amazons was an interesting, but rather weird, book. It was entertaining, but also racist and really sexist. However, what can you expect from a book published in 1930? Swallows and Amazons is the quintessential British adventure tale...camping, sailing, fishing, etc. Four children set off to explore an island on their summer holiday and have all sorts of experiences. They call themselves the Swallows, after the name of their boat. The Walker children (a.k.a. the Swallows) encounter...more Swallows and Amazons was an interesting, but rather weird, book. It was entertaining, but also racist and really sexist. However, what can you expect from a book published in 1930? Swallows and Amazons is the quintessential British adventure tale...camping, sailing, fishing, etc. Four children set off to explore an island on their summer holiday and have all sorts of experiences. They call themselves the Swallows, after the name of their boat. The Walker children (a.k.a. the Swallows) encounter the two Amazons, Nancy and Peggy Blackett, and form an uneasy truce (punctuated by battles). There are lots of other characters who play the roles of "natives" and "savages" in their little game. See what I mean about the racism? The word native isn't inherently so, but the word savage certainly is. They're constantly talking about how the savages probably have eaten thousands of people. These so-called "savages" are indeed natives; natives of the area. The kids are just there for the summer.

I ended up enjoying Swallows and Amazons, but it was kind of difficult to relate to. Sure, we can all relish the excitement of adventure and exploration, but many aspects of the book felt so alien to me. John, the captain of the Swallow, is probably around twelve or thirteen, if that. The youngest of the crew is seven and doesn't know how to swim. Their mother just lets them sail off and camp out on an island for a seemingly indefinite period of time. And she says, "Oh, come back and check in every few days." Now, admittedly the place they're in isn't actually that dangerous whatever the kids may believe, but still, it felt strange, compared to our sheltered modern times. It might actually be a good thing, but that sort of thing doesn't happen now. I could hardly believe that the book was set in 1929; it felt like it was set in some timeless, idyllic place. But I suppose the years before World War II were idyllic in some sense.

You're probably wondering about the sexism. Well, the older girl's name is Susan, and her duties consist mainly of cooking their meals. Oh, and washing all of the dishes. She does have a helper, but it's the other girl of the family. While the girls are washing up, the boys get to do all the fun stuff. I might be being a bit unfair. Susan and Titty (yes, that's her name) get to do lots of interesting things as well. But every single meal is made by them. Which, as I said, was probably pretty typical of that period, but it was still annoying...It's kind of like Gone With the Wind; you just have to deal with the racism/sexism, get past it, and still enjoy the book. Putting aside the fact that the boys never do any menial work, Swallows and Amazons is a really good British adventure story. Incidentally, I love how I connect completely unrelated books with each other all the time. Swallows and Amazons, Gone With the Wind, really? The books have almost nothing in common. But I managed to find something. I also managed to get really hooked by this one; I couldn't wait to read more. I may try some of the subsequent books in the series.

3.5 stars.

www.novareviews.blogspot.com (less)

like · see review

Jan 13, 2013 Jane Williams rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I first met this as an extract in a Ladybird book - I suppose I'd have been about 4 at the time, and this would have been one of the first "real" books I met. A few years later, I got the full thing from the library, and was hooked. I read and re-read the series for years, and when we finally managed a visit to the Lake District, spent a lot of time exploring maps and lakes to find Wildcat Island and the rest of the places in the books.

Now, revisiting it as an adult, I'm still delighted, enthral...more I first met this as an extract in a Ladybird book - I suppose I'd have been about 4 at the time, and this would have been one of the first "real" books I met. A few years later, I got the full thing from the library, and was hooked. I read and re-read the series for years, and when we finally managed a visit to the Lake District, spent a lot of time exploring maps and lakes to find Wildcat Island and the rest of the places in the books.

Now, revisiting it as an adult, I'm still delighted, enthralled, and impressed. I'd forgotten enough of the plot details that I was genuinely interested to find out what happens next, but since I was now reading it with adult critical faculties, could appreciate some aspects even more (and to some extent appreciate my own 1970s childhood even more).

The distinction between the children's real lives and fantasy lives is expressed beautifully, right from the start, as Roger tacks up the field to his mother. They're concerned with real, practical things, like how to get a tent to stay up, and eggs not to stick to the pan, but at the same time have rich fantasy lives that for the most part they distinguish from the mundane with no trouble at all, even when swapping between the two mid-sentence: "...we'd have given you broadside for broadside until one of us sank, even if it had made us late for lunch," says Nancy.

A lot of reviews here put emphasis on the freedom the children had, and the risks they were allowed to take. That wasn't something that struck me as odd as a child in the 1970s, and doesn't much now, though I'm impressed by John's ability as a sailor. They had access to a boat, and a lake: I had a bike, and fields, and a town. No, I didn't stay out overnight alone at that age, but that was mainly due to lack of a tent, and anywhere sensible to use it. Away all day, completely alone? Yes, of course. Why not? Competent to look after myself, to do my own shopping, my own basic cooking, at eleven or so? Naturally. And, reading it again as an adult, I see how closely the local community were in fact keeping an eye on them. Reading it then, I missed it, just as the children did.

The practical details all show an author who's done all this, not just read about it. How to pack a small boat, how to set up a tent, the problems of wet ropes, uncooperative plant life, and food that never cooks at the speed you want it to. I don't know myself if the details of sailing are right, but there's no problem there with the intense flood of nautical terminology, each term is explained, either explicitly or by context.

It's a gentle, subtle book, compared with more modern things. The children are polite - they don't scream and shout about their feelings. They go red, and walk away. They tell themselves firmly that the reason they can't see down the telescope is from looking too hard, wipe their eyes, and refuse to consider the possibility of tears due to loneliness. They may be competent (mostly), but there's no Mary-Suism, they each have faults, and make mistakes. I liked them when I was five, I liked them when I was 12, and I like them now, with Titty still being my favourite. They may be decades before my time, and have a lot more money than I did, but they're my sort of people - the sort to whom being called a liar is the worst insult possible, and to be a "duffer" is a complete disgrace. Neither they nor I argue with the idea of "better drowned than duffers".

(less)

like · see review

Aug 29, 2012 Trisha rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

This was a pleasant YA novel that reminded me a lot of Tom Sawyer and Huckelberry Finn, with the young characters having all sorts of "adventures" without actually being in any real danger. The imaginative adventures made me remember the fun of being a child and pretending with friends. It also did a great job describing how easily the children go from "enemies", to allies, to being at war, to being allies again, but always remaining friends, forming bonds, the disappointment of summer coming to...more

like · see review

Aug 19, 2012 Tim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's a shame that the original illustrations were not used for the covers.
I was brought up on this marvellous series. It was probably the reason for my wanting to learn how to read as quickly as possible and not be tied to my mother reading out aloud!
Whether this book and the others will be appreciated today by children remains to be seen. What John, Susan, Titty, Roger, Nancy and Peggy, plus others, got up to unsupervised much of the time, is almost unthinkable nowadays although feasible in my...more

1 like · like · see review

May 22, 2012 Wayne S. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What did kids do to amuse and entertain themselves before television, video games, computers, and smart phones? They played outside and used their imagination. That’s exactly what Captain John Walker, his sister Mate Susan, their sister Able-seaman Titty, and brother the Boy Roger do. Their father, probably in the Royal Navy, is on a ship at Malta but under orders for Hong-King, so for their summer vacation their mother has rented a cottage on a farm at Holly Howe located next to a huge lake. Th...more What did kids do to amuse and entertain themselves before television, video games, computers, and smart phones? They played outside and used their imagination. That’s exactly what Captain John Walker, his sister Mate Susan, their sister Able-seaman Titty, and brother the Boy Roger do. Their father, probably in the Royal Navy, is on a ship at Malta but under orders for Hong-King, so for their summer vacation their mother has rented a cottage on a farm at Holly Howe located next to a huge lake. They also have a baby sister, Vicky, who is taken care of by a nurse. The children have been taught how to sail, and they have use of the farm’s sailboat, the Swallow. While out on the lake, they find an island where they receive permission to camp.
During the course of their adventure, they meet up with the Blacketts, Captain Nancy (real name Ruth) and sister Mate Peggy, who have their own pirate sailboat, the Amazon, along with the girls’ uncle James Taylor who lives on a houseboat near the island and becomes “Captain Flint” to the children. The Swallows and the Amazons declare war on each other with victory going to the side who can take the others’ ship, then together they declare war on Captain Flint. Who will win? How will a burglary at Captain Flint’s houseboat affect their relationship? And what will they do when a huge storm comes up over Wild Cat Island? The book had its beginning long before when as a child author Arthur Mitchell Ransome, with his brother and sisters, spent most of their holidays on a farm at the south end of Coniston and played on the nearby lake, but it was further inspired by a summer in which Ransome taught the children of his friends, the Altounyans, to sail. In fact, three of the Altounyan children's names are adopted directly for the Walker family.
Swallows and Amazons, a paean to children’s make-believe play and exploring their surrounding world, is a very pleasant story that involves the great outdoors, boats, fishing, and camping, with rich characterization, vivid descriptions, wholesome reading, and old-fashioned ideals. It includes a good deal of everyday Lakeland life in the early twentieth century, from the local farmers to charcoal burners working in the woods. Seldom have I ever come to the end of a book and felt sorry that it was over. If you read it and reach the same conclusion, you’re in luck! Ransome wrote eleven more books in the “Swallows and Amazons Forever” series: Swallowdale (1931); Peter Duck (1932); Winter Holiday (1933); Coot Club (1934); Pigeon Post (1936); We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea (1937); Secret Water (1939); The Big Six (1940); Missee Lee (1941); The Picts And The Martyrs: or Not Welcome At All (1943); and Great Northern? (1947). A thirteenth book, Coots in the North, was left incomplete at the time of Ransome's 1967 death and published in an unfinished form in 1988 with some other short works. In subsequent adventures in the series, the children progressively grow older, change their usual roles, and become explorers or miners.(less)

like · see review

Jan 18, 2012 Christian Dabnor rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

SPOILERS AHEAD

I feel like one of those people that strikes down holy cows just to get a reaction, but... weak characters, a shallow morality, no real plot, no character arc... all these things make for a poor story in my opinion. Some particular things that annoyed me - a policeman comes to investigate the camp. Nancy tells him to clear off, which he does, because his mother used to work for Nancy's. So, essentially, there's a real support of class structure here. It's not even as if Nancy has d...more

1 like · like · see review

Dec 08, 2011 Louise rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-children-s-books

I wish I'd found this book when I was a kid. I would have loved it. Instead I devoured Enid Blyton. Is it just me, or is the plot of Five on a Treasure Island eerily evocative of Swallows and Amazons? I'm hoping to get my son to read it. He seems interested. He's already been through the Enid Blyton stage. I think he'd like this tale of childhood adventure. It has a lot still for the new adult reader though. I loved the language of this book- I'm totally intrigued with the concept of pemmican, l...more

2 likes · like · see review

Sep 21, 2011 Jan-Maat added it · review of another edition

Shelves: british-isles, childrens-ya, fiction, 20th-century

This was a book that I never took to as a child. The sailing, the fantasy of being an explorer, making camps were appealing, but maybe too alien and unreal for an inner city child who occasionally got to go out on the row boats in London parks, or maybe it was simply the kind of childhood that I would have wanted but didn't have - safer to leave the book on the shelf rather than feel disappointed.

However there was a time when I had a compass that I carried about whenever I could and a big ungain...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 18, 2011 Jennifer Black rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My husband read these books as a kid - I did not. He introduced them to me when we started dating, and we read them out loud together.

Now we have a 10 year old and we are enjoying reading the series out loud with her as well. She claims they're her favorite books (and to have unseated Harry Potter in that position is high praise from her indeed).

I do think they take a special kid or an adult with the right frame of mind to enjoy. Knowledge of sailing terminology is helpful. The plot doesn't move...more

3 likes · like · see review

Nov 05, 2010 Jonathon Dabell rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The original Swallows and Amazons story from Arthur Ransome charts the adventures of a group of children who camp on an island in a lake in the Lake District. This hardback edition is beautifully presented with a gorgeously illustrated sleeve.
The book itself is a nostalgic and evocative story of a past that never quite existed (at least not quite the way Ransome tries to tell it!) The description is the book's strong point - wonderful sights, sounds and smells are conjured up, and by the end we...more

like · see review

Nov 02, 2010 Ariel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mg

I loved these books so much as a child growing up in Manhattan, I read all 17 or so of them over and over again. Re-reading this first one as an adult, I see that the level of independence and competency enjoyed by the children in the Swallows and Amazons books were as far removed from my reality as the shenanigans of the flying demi-gods in today's Percy Jackson series. The four children's ages are never stated (except maybe Roger, the youngest, is 6 and one assumes John, the eldest, is at leas...more

like · see review

Apr 08, 2009 Holly rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Luke loved this book, despite the overabundance of sailing terms. I think the independence and confidence of the kids sailing really resonated to him. Arthur Ransome seemed to know what details to camping and exploring kids would love. I loved how often the group stopped to make a fire for tea. It's a charming book and part of a series.

I'm copying the below summary from Wikipedia.

The story follows the Walker children (John, Susan, Titty and Roger), who sail a borrowed dinghy named Swallow, and...more

like · see review

Feb 06, 2011 Nikki rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: for-class, classics, children-s-and-ya

I really didn't like Swallows and Amazons when I was younger, and having read it now for Children's Lit, I'm not really sure why. It's rather like tons of other stuff I read, like the Famous Five books and the like.

I didn't love it now, given that it is like so much else that I read, and it's quite slow, but I can see why people think highly of it. It's got quite a realistic feel to it: the parents' reactions are believable, the kids feel pretty much like kids (to an adult reader, anyway, which...more

2 likes · like · see review

May 26, 2011 Kate rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children-s

It's hard to comprehend now, when parents won't even let their kids play out in the front yard, that children at one time were allowed to roam free outdoors like this, sailing and camping and being resourceful, and letting their imaginations run wild. This a wonderful book that is too often forgotten and overlooked these days. Instead of buying marketing gimmicks like The Dangerous Book for Boys, do your kids a favor and let them read this.

2 likes · like · see review

Aug 01, 2012 Michelle rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

How in the world did I miss this series? I read straight through library shelves as a kid, never happier than when I came across a series offering sometimes dozens of volumes of adventures by the same plucky or winsome characters. Somehow Ransome's books never turned up in our libraries, or I would have devoured them rapidly. IN this introduction to the Swallows series, four kids on summer vacation are, unimaginably, alowed to camp out by themselves on an island in a lake. While there, they live...more

like · see review

May 29, 2012 Andrea rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1900s-1950s-era, childrens, lashingsofadventure

BETTER DROWNED THAN DUFFERS
IF NOT DUFFERS WONT DROWN.

Thus permission is given for four children, the youngest aged seven, to take the sailing boat "Swallow" and camp on an island near their summer holiday home. This is a story of being explorers: Captain, Mate, Able-seaman, and Ship's Boy. Of Amazon raids, wars, night hunting, stolen treasures, an excess of detail about sailing, and a most irascible pirate.

There's no magic in this story, beyond that of the imagination, and the sheer pleasure fou...more

like · see review

Jul 04, 2010 Kay rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: borrowed-library, read-in-2010

What a well-written book - written from the prospective of children without "talking down" in any way. I loved the childrens' imagination as they encountered various situations.

I pondered the freedom they were given to basically live on an island during the summer - but throughout the book the reader saw that the community was actually keeping a fairly close watch on them. Things are different today; children aren't given as much freedom to just be kids and learn through a combination of real an...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 27, 2011 Secret Housewife rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone!

Recommended to Secret by: my dad.

If I could relive my childhood I wish I could be one of the Swallows or Amazons. What a joy this novel is!! The summer of 1929 and 2 brothers and their sisters are spending their holidays in the Lake District. They are allowed to camp on an island, sailing the Swallow and living the life of pirates.

Their lives are lived decently, honestly - out in the fresh air with milk fresh from the farm to drink and food cooked over an open fire.The story takes place in a time where children were allowed to...more

like · see review

Jun 06, 2012 Claire rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What a great summer read this was! This isn't exactly the edition I read (an illustrated hardcover from 1937), but it was the closest I could find here. My copy was the book's 12th reprint in 7 years. Popular and deservedly so.

The novel is about 4 siblings who go on a proper adventure made epic with their imaginations. By "proper," I mean the characters are people living in the real world. No portals to parallel worlds, no magic. It's refreshing actually.

I hate spoilers but I will say that they...more

like · see review

Apr 05, 2012 Marlowe rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: re-reads

This is a re-read.

This delightful book from 1930 captures the imaginitive and innocent childhood adventures of its six protagonists, the Walker and the Blackett children, as they sail and camp and tramp around a (semi-)fictional Lake District lake.

The story unfolds gently, as the four Walker children (not including baby!) take to the waters on the little sailboat Swallow and make camp on an island they name Wildcat Island. There they are brought to the attention of the two Blackett girls, Nancy...more

like · see review

Jul 10, 2011 Jason rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: schell-games-book-club

This may be the most boring book I've ever read. I almost certainly wouldn't have finished it if it wasn't for book club.

I guess I'm supposed to give it some slack because it was published in 1930, but Mark Twain's classics were written in the 19th century, and they were orders of magnitude less boring than this book.

The reasons it is boring:
- The characters are basically all the same, distinguished only by age and gender.
- Most of the book is devoid of conflict. When there is conflict, it is ge...more

like · see review

Oct 02, 2011 Peter rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Adorable kids' lit book, the type Disney made into movies in the 1960s starring Haley Mills. While not great literature, it held my interest and was fun, although it's from that genre of of story where a group of kids can live on their own and do better than with adults. Imagination is the key to this book, and an interest in sailing and pirates helps. Great for 10-12 year olds.

A brief summary: 4 siblings in 1929 England are staying on a lake for the summer. They get permission to camp on an is...more

like · see review

Jul 24, 2011 Mike Steven rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's a children's classic and, as such, can only really be appreciated if you read it as a child.

I read it solely because it is on the BBC Big Read Top 100 list from 2003 and I'm trying to read all 100 books. Also, I was visiting the Lake district so I thought it would be appropriate to read (alongside Wordsworth of course).

I hesitate to describe it as 'posh children titting about on boats all summer' - but the children are posh, and one of them is even called 'Titty'.

Amusing names aside, it is...more

like · see review

Feb 11, 2011 Mark rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Mark by: My niece

Shelves: children-s-books

Fun, easy to read and the language was wonderfully dated. ' Duffers ', ' awfully fun' and ' oh how beastly ''s abound. The children never argue or if they do its all swiftly resolved with a stern older brother or sister's knowing look or controlling word. Oceans of independence and oodles of excellent adventure is rather mixed up with riotously patronizing treatment of ' the natives ' and the two Walker sisters do seem to fall rather into the mould of the little housewife type but to be fair as...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Amazon	6	23	Apr 07, 2013 10:58pm
Children's Books: June 2010 - Swallows and Amazons	31	57	Jul 20, 2010 06:36am

combine
Other Editions (35)

More editions...

Genres

Childrens

127 users

Classics

82 users

Adventure

49 users

Young Adult

45 users

European Literature > British Literature

11 users

Historical Fiction

11 users

Childrens > Juvenile

11 users

Literature

8 users

Childrens > Middle Grade

7 users

Childrens > Childrens Classics

7 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Arthur Ransome

Arthur Mitchell Ransome was born in Leeds in 1884 and educated in Windermere and Rugby. His family spent their summers at Nibthwaite, to the south of Coniston Water.

In 1902, Ransome abandoned a chemistry degree to become a publisher's office boy in London. He used this precarious existence to practise writing, producing several minor works before Bohemia in London (1907), a study of London's artis...more

More about Arthur Ransome...

Books by Arthur Ransome

Winter Holiday (Swallows and Amazons, #4)

We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea (Swallows and Amazons, #7)

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Swallows and Amazons

13 trivia questions
2 quizzes

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from Swallows And Amazons

“BETTER DROWNED THAN DUFFERS IF NOT DUFFERS WONT DROWN” — 23 people liked it

“Swallows and Amazons for-ever!” — 6 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Swallows and Amazons
avg rating	preview: Swallows and Amazons Goodreads rating: 3.97 (9523 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/384755.Swallows_and_Amazons?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1277838493l/384755.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/384755.Swallows_and_Amazons?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome[/url]

Swallows and Amazons (Swallows and Amazons #1)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website