Swallows and Amazons (Swallows and Amazons Series #1)

by Arthur Ransome

Overview

Friendship, resourcefulness, adventures! Here’s the classic tale of two families of children who band together against a common foe: an uncle who claims he’s too busy for his nieces.

The Walker children (John, Susan, Titty and Roger) are on school holiday in the Lake District and are sailing a borrowed catboat named “Swallow,” when they meet the Blackett children (Nancy and Peggy), who sail the boat, “Amazon.” The children camp together on Wild Cat Island where a plot is hatched against the Blackett’s Uncle Jim who is too busy writing his memoirs to be disturbed.

Fireworks—literally—ensue along with a dangerous contest, a run-in with houseboat burglars, and the theft of Uncle Jim’s manuscript. How all this is resolved makes for an exciting and very satisfying story. Uncle Jim ends up apologizing for missing his nieces’ adventures all summer—thankfully, readers won’t miss a thing.

Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons series has stood the test of time. More than just great stories, each one celebrates independence and initiative with a colorful, large cast of characters. Like the entire series that follows, this book is for children or grownups, anyone captivated by a world of adventure and imagination, exploring and setting sail.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780879235734
Publisher:	David R. Godine, Publisher
Publication date:	07/16/2010
Series:	Swallows and Amazons Series , #1
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.54(w) x 7.96(h) x 0.93(d)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Arthur Ransome spent his childhood in England’s Lake District, and after a career in journalism that took him to Russia (where he married Trostsky’s secretary), China, and Egypt (interspersed with summers of cruising through the Baltic Sea and the canals of Europe), he retired to Coniston where he could practice his favorite pastimes of sailing and fishing and where he wrote the Swallows and Amazons series.

Table of Contents

I The Peak in Darien 15

II Making Ready 25

III The Voyage to the Island 35

IV The Hidden Harbour 47

V First Night on the Island 58

VI Island Life 68

VII More Island Life 81

VIII Skull and Crossbones 91

IX The Arrow with the Green Feather 104

X The Parley 113

XI In Alliance 123

XII Leading Lights 136

XIII The Charcoal-Burners 143

XIV The Letter from Captain Flint 157

XV Captain John Visits Captain Flint 168

XVI The Birthday Party 178

XVII A Fair Wind 188

XVIII Robinson Crusoe and Man Friday 199

XIX The Amazon River 209

XX Titty Alone 219

XXI Swallows in the Dark 231

XXII The White Flag 246

XXIII Taking Breath 259

XXIV Grave News from Houseboat Bay 273

XXV Captain Flint Gets. The Black Spot 285

XXVI He Makes Peace and Declares War 289

XXVII The Battle in Houseboat Bay 305

XXVIII The Treasure on Cormorant Island 323

XXIX Two Sorts of Fish 334

XXX The Storm 348

XXXI The Sailors' Return 360

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"A most enjoyable tale… A book for almost any age."—New York Times Book Review

"A master storyteller, sympathetically in touch with real children and their interests, has created plots which are eminently plausible and unexpected."—Sunday Times, in an article listing Swallows & Amazons among the "99 Best Books for Children"

"A ‘white-knuckle-ride action adventure' that could capture the imagination of the Harry Potter generation."—The Guardian

Editorial Reviews

Clean and lively prose, with an earnest whimsy…The 12 books in the series are justly ranked as classics, standing with the children’s stories of Kipling, Barrie and Grahame.”—The Telegraph

“The author really does know how to write for children: in other words, he writes of what he himself delights in and so pleases without any effort both young and old.”—The Nation

“This book is both silvery present and golden retrospect. All that is tedious and sullen and deceptive vanishes in its sunniness as clouds vanish in the tempered air of a summer day. . . We think that the book will last, too, from edition unto edition.”—Saturday Review

“There is plenty of excitement, a little danger, a quality of thinking, planning and fun which is delightful and stimulating.”—Times Literary Supplement

“He makes a tale of adventure a handbook to adventure.”—The Observer

“For those who regret the hemming-in of childhood, the Swallows and Amazons are free-range children to gladden the heart.”—The Wall Street Journal

From the Publisher