Ted's review
Swallows and Amazons (Godine Storyteller) by Arthur Ransome
I read this to my kids. The plot is so simple- 4 siblings (2 brothers and 2 sisters) are allowed to sail a small sailboat (The Swallow) to Wildcat Island and camp out for a couple of weeks during the summer. During this time their world slips into a true children's world- grown ups are referred to as natives, the children become the ships' captain, the first mate, the able seaman and the ships' boy. A neighboring man living on a houseboat becomes Captain Flint- a retired pirate. This is a true adventure story based on imagination. The interesting part of this book is scale. We are never told how big or small of an area the story takes place in. There's a map in the front of the book with no scale. My guess it is a very small area made to seem epic in scale and depth through the eyes of children.
