I read Swallowdale aloud with my kids over a few weeks, and we all enjoyed it so, so much! I think we may have liked it even better than Swallows and Amazons, which I read aloud to them last summer. We all agreed that we wish we could have had childhoods as uninhibited as these kids, sailing and fishing and hiking and getting into a little trouble now and then, but being resourceful and brave and getting out of trouble again without too much help from adults.
This series is such a delight that I'm tempted to read the next book aloud to them this summer too. I love how the kids in it aren't perfect and aren't horrible. They aren't unrealistically good at stuff, but neither are they hopelessly bad at it. They squabble and quibble and rescue each other and are just... absolutely awesome. I love them.
This book concerns four siblings, aka the Swallows, who camped out on an island the previous summer (in the first book) and eventually made friends with two sisters (the Amazons) who had similar attitudes toward important subjects such as piracy and fairness and adults. They are all hoping to be reunited for more jolly adventures this summer, but a horrible Great Aunt and a sailing mistake change all their plans and create new kinds of adventures for them instead.
Particularly Good Bits:
...Roger, who took things as they came and was content so long as things kept on coming (p. 91). (Roger might be my favorite...)
That was Susan's strong point. She never allowed excitements such as sleeping in the open half-way up a mountain, or a naval battle, or a dangerous bit of exploring, to interfere with the things that really matter, such as seeing that water is really boiling before making tea with it, having breakfast at the proper time, washing as usual, and drying anything that may be damp. Really, if it had not been for Susan, half the Swallows' adventures would have been impossible (p. 308-09). (Susan is my spirit animal. I identify strongly with her pretty much all the time.)
This has been my 44th book read and reviewed for my third Classics Club list, and my 28th read from my TBR shelves for #TheUnreadShelfProject2022.
Susan sounds delightful! <3 I always heard about these books, but never tried them. Although my sister Mary may have read them--I'll have to ask.
ReplyDeleteKatie, they are all awesome :-) In their own ways! Susan is definitely the nurturer.
DeleteI wish so much that I could have read these when I was a kid/teen.