Observations on Children’s literature by members of the Arthur Ransome Group

I have been told that the 1974 film ‘Swallows and Amazons’ has been broadcast on television more than any other British film. Arthur Ransome’s well loved series can be found on the shelves of most book shops. Many of his devoted readers belong to the Arthur Ransome Group on Facebook where they share interesting observations some of which I have collected here:

Jill Goulder was interested to learn that the film of ‘Swallows and Amazons‘ was made with EMI Film’s box office revenue from ‘The Railway Children‘ (1970), the adaptation of E Nesbit’s book starring Jenny Agutter . “So we have ‘The Railway Children‘ partly to thank! I’m thinking about themes in common. A focus on a family of children with father absent and mother in the background; the children fairly realistic (‘The Railway Children‘ may win on points here as the children argue among themselves); beautiful scenery; a key point of interest in the landscape (railway, lake) which influences the plot; male characters who aren’t always amiable but who are basically very attached to the children; an episode involving an accusation (false in the case of the firework, true in the case of the coal theft); etc!” The two films were bought out together on VHS.

Jill later pointed out, “In World War II, spy catchers interrogating possible German spies would check their knowledge of Arthur Ransome as a classic test of Britishness.”

I thought this ironic given the spy themes in The Railway Children and the 2016 film adaptation of Swallows and Amazons. And why did Commander Walker send such cryptic telegrams. Was he more than a Naval Officer? Was his ship really in Malta or on its way to Hong Kong?

Maurice Thomas noted that, “both Ransome and Nesbit (and CS Lewis) liked the fit of two girls and two boys, though the second boy is absent from ‘The Railway Children‘. Both ‘Swallows and Amazons‘ and ‘Five Children and It‘ have a “ship’s baby”. The trope of four seems to go wider, though – four hobbits, for example. I suppose it’s the smallest group where you can have “split quests” that still allow for character dialogue, otherwise it’s just one person and their thoughts. Lewis does it, of course, when Edmund becomes evil, but at least he has Jadis to talk to.”

My sister Tamzin played Anthea in the 1976 BBC adaptation of The Phoenix and the Carpet, when E Nesbit features a family of five children: two girls, two boys and a baby. The Captain Flint character, who facilitates their adventures, is the Phoenix, his houseboat/the Wildcat is a magic carpet. I wonder if Ransome, who knew E Nesbit, was influenced by this story.

Janet Mearns noted, “Louisa M Alcott’s ‘Little Women’, features four children, all girls but Jo is a forerunner of Nancy, one parent absent. Capt Marryat’s ‘Children of the New Forest’: two boys and two girls living off the land, both parents absent.”

Matthew Jones wrote, “What’s lovely about AR’s stories is how they pull his characters out of gloom (along with his readers) into the world of friends and connection and purpose.”

The question, ‘How old is John Walker in Swallows and Amazons?’ is often typed into Google.

John Fenn expressed an interest in Captain John’s character. “In his illustrations Arthur Ransome found it hard to keep John young enough. I suspect that John was the boy Arthur Ransome wished he had been, easily gaining his father’s approval (especially in ‘We Didn’t Mean To Go To Sea‘ and ‘Secret Water’) which was so often withheld from Ransome himself. It’s not surprising he ‘saw’ John as more grown up than he was, and therefore could not keep him young in his illustrations. The upshot is that in the 1974 film it is a shock to us to see a John who looks the age he is supposed to be – about 12.” And yet Simon West, who was only aged 11 when he played Captain John, was adept at handling boats, climbing pine trees and negotiating with adults. He fell easily into the part.

The author Jon Tucker writes, “An enduring children’s book is like an onion – multi-layered. The seven-year old is focused mainly on the action embedded in the narrative. The ten-year old is more aware of the underlying emotions. By a third reading at 13 or 14 years, the more mature teen reader can grasp the inter-relationships between the characters entwined within the outer layers. If the book has real substance, an adult reader will absorb those three layers, with a further understanding of the adult characters’ perspectives.”

“Taking Swallows and Amazons as an example, we adult readers can understand Titty’s slightly apprehensive emotions alone on Wildcat Island, alongside Mother’s somewhat concerned puzzlement on finding her eight/nine-year-old daughter apparently abandoned. We can also reach out to Captain Flint’s realization that he needs to pull out all stops to make amends for his nearly unforgivable behaviour towards John. A huge part of the success of this novel is the battle for Houseboat Bay, with Captain Flint’s endearing actions to put things right. Ransome’s enduring appeal lies in having a readership which has survived into adulthood.”

Michael Shaw said Titty is his daughter’s absolutely favourite character “because she makes everything into an adventure story” but not everyone can cope. Someone commenting elsewhere on Facebook wrote,”I could never read ‘Swallows and Amazons’, because one of the characters was named ‘Titty.’ It pulled me right out of the story. I just could not imagine everyone calling her that.” And yet the character was based on Titty Altounyan, a real person who was known as Titty all her life.

One Arthur Ransome enthusiast wrote: “Random thought, as it’s on @TalkingPicsTV tomorrow, but why has there never been a ‘Swallows and Amazons’ board game? There’s a brilliant strategy game somewhere in there.”

Do add any other thoughts in the comments below.

‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons’ is now available on as an audio book on all the platforms including Audible where you can listen to a free sample.