SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS: finished

SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS by Arthur Ransome was first published in 1930. My copy was on Kindle, this was because I could not find it as a book. I found the rest of the series but not this first book. I was told that the first book is always the least amount published because publishers are not sure how the book will take off. I have found this in many current series and go crazy trying to find the first book. But back to my review.

This book is set in the summer of 1929. The Swallow and the Amazon are boats that the children vacationing on this lake have named. The Swallows are on holiday with there mother, the youngest child and the nurse. The children are Susan, John, Titty and Roger they imagine themselves as explorers of far away places. There are several islands on this lake and their mother lets them take the Swallow and sail to one of the islands to spend a couple of weeks on the island. The youngest is eight. They have labeled themselves John is Captain, Susan is Second Mate, Titty is Able-bodied Seaman and  Roger is simply known as the boy. They are loaded with provisions, such as tents and camping gear. Sent on their way and pretty much left to their own devices. They call everybody not in camp natives, they call a houseboat a pirate ship and they name the islands after places that they would like to explore.

The Amazons are two girls from the Blackwell family. They are related to the man in the houseboat and also call him a pirate. They have done things to his boat, but the Swallows get the blame. The Amazons land on the island and say that it is theirs. So the two boats decide to have a "battle" to see who claims the island. All of this is in good fun.

This is a book that is definitely for children and is full of adventure. I do not think it is something a parent would allow in our current culture. Sending 4 children to be on there own for a couple of weeks, though the mom did visit once and awhile and she had in place a system to make sure they were okay, as the children were required to sail to a farmhouse for mil and eggs. But other then that they were alone on an island with many other boats on the water. This book reminded me of several other books of this era, where children had much more imagination and freedom to do many things without thinking about crazy people trying to hurt them. Good book.