Swallows and Amazons series facts for kids
Detail from Missee Lee cover
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| Author | Arthur Ransome |
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| Illustrator | Steven Spurrier Clifford Webb |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's literature, Adventure fiction |
| Publisher | Jonathan Cape |
| Published | 1930–1988 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover and paperback) |
| No. of books | 12 |
The Swallows and Amazons series is a collection of twelve exciting adventure books for kids. They were written by the English author Arthur Ransome. These stories are set between the two World Wars, mostly during school holidays in England.
The books are all about outdoor fun, especially sailing. A literary expert named Peter Hunt said these books changed British literature. They also influenced how a whole generation thought about holidays. The series helped create the image of the English Lake District. Arthur Ransome became one of the most famous British children's authors.
The books are still very popular today. They inspire many people to visit the Lake District and the Norfolk Broads. These real places are where many of the stories happen. There are also groups dedicated to studying Ransome's work. The Arthur Ransome Society in Britain has members from all over the world.
Contents
What are the Swallows and Amazons books about?
The series begins with Swallows and Amazons, published in 1930. In this book, the Walker children from London are on holiday. They stay at a farm by a lake and sail a small boat called Swallow. Across the lake live the Blackett girls, who have a boat named Amazon.
The Walkers pretend to be brave explorers. The Blacketts call themselves fierce pirates. They meet on an island in the lake. Soon, they become friends and have many adventures together. Their games of pirates and exploration mix with their everyday life in the English countryside. In later books, the children take on new roles like explorers or miners.
New Friends and New Places
In Winter Holiday (1933), the Walkers meet Dick and Dorothea Callum. These siblings, called "the Ds," are also visiting the area. Dick loves science and wants to be a scientist. Dorothea enjoys writing stories.
Two books, Coot Club and The Big Six, focus only on the Callums. These stories take place in the Norfolk Broads. This area is famous for its rivers and lakes, especially around the village of Horning. Two other books are set near the River Orwell in Suffolk and Essex. One of these even involves an accidental trip across the North Sea to the Netherlands!
Some books, like Peter Duck and Missee Lee, are a bit different. They are like made-up stories within the series. The children imagine exciting voyages to faraway lands.
Who are the main characters?
The series features several groups of children. Each group has their own boat and adventures.
The Swallow Crew
The Swallow is sailed by the Walker siblings: John, Susan, Titty, and Roger.
- John is the oldest and the captain. He usually makes the decisions.
- Susan is the first mate. She takes care of the supplies, cooking, and makes sure everyone is well. She's almost like a mother figure.
- Titty is an "able seaman" and the most imaginative. She often creates her own adventures. She becomes a hero in many books. For example, she wins the "war" in Swallows and Amazons. She also finds an underground spring in Pigeon Post.
- Roger is the youngest. He starts as the ship's boy but later becomes an able seaman.
- Their youngest sister, Bridget, joins the crew in Secret Water. She is very young in the first book but grows up quickly.
The Amazon Crew
The Amazon is sailed by the Blackett sisters: Nancy and Peggy.
- Nancy doesn't like her real name, Ruth. Her uncle says pirates should be "ruthless," so she calls herself Nancy. She is a very strong and adventurous character, often leading both groups of children. She uses many sailing and pirate words.
- Peggy (whose real name is Margaret) tries to be as tough as Nancy. But sometimes she needs Nancy's encouragement for harder adventures. She is afraid of thunderstorms.
The Scarab Crew
Dick and Dorothea (Dot) Callum are introduced in the fourth book, Winter Holiday.
- Dick is very smart about science.
- Dorothea is clever with art and writing.
The Callums later get their own boat, the Scarab. The Swallows are first unsure about Dot, wondering what an "astronomer" would do. But they are very impressed by Dick's amazing ice skating skills.
The Callums connect the series to new places and characters. In Coot Club and The Big Six, they meet the Coot Club members in the Norfolk Broads. These include Tom Dudgeon, the twins Port and Starboard, and the three sons of boatbuilders: Bill, Joe, and Pete. These boys are also known as the "Death and Glories."
Adult Characters
While the children are the main focus, many kind adults appear in the books.
- The Blackett sisters' uncle, Jim Turner, is called Captain Flint by the children. This is after a character in Treasure Island.
- Mrs. Barrable is an important adult in Coot Club.
- Timothy Stedding, a shy geologist, joins the children's adventures in Pigeon Post. He also appears in The Picts and the Martyrs.
Where do the adventures happen?
The Swallows and Amazons series feels very real because its settings are based on places Arthur Ransome knew. This makes the stories feel very authentic.
The Lake District
The first book, Swallows and Amazons, and four others are set around an unnamed lake in the English Lake District. These books include Swallowdale, Winter Holiday, Pigeon Post, and The Picts and the Martyrs. The unfinished book Coots in the North would also have been set here.
The lake and surrounding hills combine features of Windermere and Coniston Water. Ransome spent a lot of his childhood and later life in these areas. Many places in the books match real locations, even though Ransome changed them for his stories. The lake's shape is like Windermere, but Wild Cat Island has parts of Peel Island from Coniston Water. The hills are more like the Coniston area.
The Norfolk Broads
Coot Club and The Big Six are set in the Norfolk Broads. This area is shown very accurately. It features the small village of Horning and its many rivers and broads (lakes). Coots in the North also starts in the Broads before moving to the northern lake.
Coastal Adventures
We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea and Secret Water take place along the coasts of Suffolk and Essex.
- We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea describes an accidental and sometimes scary journey. The children sail from Pin Mill on the River Orwell to Flushing in the Netherlands.
- Secret Water is about exploring the islands of Hamford Water near Walton-on-the-Naze.
Imaginary Voyages
Peter Duck and Missee Lee are different. They describe voyages of the schooner Wild Cat to the Caribbean and the South China Sea. These stories are like imaginary tales told by the children themselves. They include more danger and violence than other books. Also, such long trips would have kept the children out of school for too long. The title pages of these two books say they are "based on information supplied by the Swallows and Amazons." This phrase is not on the other books.
The last complete book, Great Northern?, is set in the Outer Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland. This book is also sometimes seen as an imaginary story. The children would be away from school during bird nesting season. Also, using guns in this story is different from the more peaceful adventures in most of the series.
Timeline of the books
The image below shows the order of the books in the series. S stands for the Swallows, A for the Amazons, and D for Dick and Dorothea.
How the books were illustrated
Today's editions of the Swallows and Amazons series have pictures drawn by Ransome himself. However, the very first edition of Swallows and Amazons had almost no illustrations. Ransome did not like the pictures made by Steven Spurrier. So, the first edition only had maps of the lake and Wild Cat Island.
For the second edition, Clifford Webb drew the pictures. Ransome approved of these, though not enthusiastically. Webb also illustrated Swallowdale. But Ransome decided to draw the pictures for the third book, Peter Duck, himself. Since this book was supposedly based on the children's own stories, Ransome drew the pictures as if the characters had drawn them.
These illustrations were very popular. So, Ransome illustrated all his later books himself. In 1938, he even drew new pictures for Swallows and Amazons and Swallowdale to replace Webb's. Ransome's pictures were done in pen and ink without color. Later publishers sometimes added colors. Often, the figures in his pictures are shown from behind. This is because Ransome found drawing faces difficult.
List of books in the series
- Swallows and Amazons (published 1930)
- 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)
- Great Northern? (1947)
- Coots in the North (This book was not finished when Ransome died in 1967. Parts of it were published in 1988 with other short works.)
How the books became films and shows
The Swallows and Amazons stories have been made into TV shows and movies.
- In 1963, the BBC made a television series. Susan George played 'Kitty'. Ransome did not like that Titty's name was changed.
- In 1974, EMI made a film version of Swallows and Amazons. It starred Virginia McKenna and Ronald Fraser.
- In 1984, the BBC adapted the two Norfolk-set stories, Coot Club and The Big Six. This TV series was called Swallows and Amazons Forever!.
- In 2010, the first book became a stage musical at Bristol Old Vic. Helen Edmundson adapted it, and Neil Hannon wrote the music. It toured and even played in London's West End.
- A new film version of Swallows and Amazons was released in the United Kingdom on August 19, 2016. This film also changed Titty's name, this time to 'Tatty'. This name comes from the original fairy tale that inspired Titty's nickname.
- In 2018, a stage play based on the series by Bryony Lavery opened at Storyhouse, Chester.
