Swallows and Amazons

[Jdege]

A year or so ago I read Ellen MacArthur's book Taking On The World.

In it she discusses the importance of Arthur Ransome's Swallow And Amazon books had in her life.

I'd never heard of them before. They don't seem to be well known in the U.S., but they seem to have a huge following in the U.K.

That inspired me to read a few of them, and I'm just finishing up the first. It is marvelous.

Turns out that there was a movie done back in 1974, and a TV series. A new film version was released in the U.K. just last year.

Swallows And Amazons - 2016

Does anyone know whether a U.S. release is planned? Or if it will be available on any of the streaming services?

[JPA Cate]

Jedge,

Yes, you've had an awakening. Those stories are of a far kinder time. Today's kids are stuck in front of computers, not out adventuring, and learning a little about making do.

Loved them, Jim introduced me to the series, and we've given Pigeon Drop to a friend with a 6 yr. old.

Enjoy, everybody.

Ann

[Jdege]

When I was a kid, my grandmother's place was full of books, including a lot of the juveniles that she and her older brother had read when they were kids, which included first editions of Tom Spade, Pewee Harris, Nancy Drew, Tom Swift, et al.

I've always liked the old juveniles, no matter how formulaic they might be.

But Ransome was new to me.

[Cormorant]

"We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea" is one of my all-time favorites. They oughta make a movie of that.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

Jedge,

Yes, you've had an awakening. Those stories are of a far kinder time. Today's kids are stuck in front of computers, not out adventuring, and learning a little about making do.

Loved them, Jim introduced me to the series, and we've given Pigeon Drop to a friend with a 6 yr. old.

Enjoy, everybody.

Ann

Well, Ann almost had that right! The book in question was "Pigeon Post", not "Pigeon Drop". The latter does not sound like something that one would give to a friend.

Anyhow, I read those books as a child, and they lurked in the recesses of memory until I finally began sailing in my thirties. They just might have been a formative factor that helped me into this life of cruising.

And yes, "Didn't Mean to go to Sea" was good, but my favorite is still "Peter Duck", in which they did a voyage to an unnamed island in the Caribe. Good stuff, involving voyage planning, dastardly villains, great sailing, buried treasure that wasn't really much, storms and waterspouts, crew issues, and much more.

I'm not sure that modern children will find them exciting enough, but in my eyes, they were and are wonderful books.

Jim