An image of a selection of classic children's books on a dark blue background with a lighter blue shape that has spots inside of it.

Article-Card-Which-Classic-Should-You-Read-Update

Children's quizzes

Quiz: Which classic children’s book should you read next?

A photo of a selection of children's crime books on a red background with a magnifying glass hovering over the book The London Mystery by Siobhan Dowd

Article-Card-Puffin-Crime-Mystery-Books-UPDATE.jpg

Children's reading lists

16 must-read crime and mystery books

Great Northern?

The Swallows, Amazons and Ds are united again for Arthur Ransome's final story in the series

[Ransome] makes a tale of adventure a handbook to adventure. His characters are more eager, more resourceful than the majority: that surplus of vitality is their magic

Written in the most beautiful English, this is one of the books which I would be proud to give to anyone

Arthur Ransome was born in Leeds in 1884. He had an adventurous life - as a baby in he was carried by his father to the top of the Old Man of Coniston, a peak that is 2,276ft high! He went to Russia in 1913 to study folklore and in 1914, at the start of World War I he became a foreign correspondent for the Daily News. In 1917 when the Russian Revolution began he became a journalist and was a special correspondent of the Guardian. He played chess with Lenin and married Trotsky's personal secretary, Evgenia Petrovna Shelepina. On their return to England, he bought a cottage near Windermere in the Lake District and began writing children's stories. In a 1958 author's note, Ransome wrote: ''I have been often asked how I came to write Swallows and Amazons. The answer is that it had its beginning long, long ago when, as children, my brother, my sisters and I spent most of our holidays on a farm at the south end of Coniston. We played in or on the lake or on the hills above . . . Going away from it we were half drowned in tears. While away from it, as children and as grown-ups, we dreamt about it. No matter where I was, wandering about the world, I used at night to look for the North Star and, in my mind's eye, could see the beloved sky-line of great hills beneath it. Swallows grew out of those old memories. I could not help writing it. It almost wrote itself.'' He published the first of his children's classics, the twelve Swallows And Amazons books, in 1930. In 1936 he won the first ever Carnegie Medal for his book, Pigeon Post. He died in 1967.

Flat on his front, binoculars to his eyes, alone at dusk, Dick makes a remarkable discovery: two rare birds, never before seen in the British Isles. Captain Flint and his crew decide to consult an expert to confirm the discovery. But when the man they ask turns out to have his collector’s eye on the birds’ eggs, not to mention skins, an enjoyable voyage around the Outer Hebrides becomes a desperate race to save the birds, and themselves…

or Not Welcome At All

The Picts and the Martyrs

The poor old Amazons become Martyrs and the Ds become Picts who live in the woods, in Arthur Ransome's 11th adventure.

Stands out in triumph. It is firm, intelligent, in tune with twentieth-century mentality and well-written

Quite up to the best standards of its predecessors, and to all old Ransome devotees the return to the lake of the first novels gives an added pleasure

Arthur Ransome was born in Leeds in 1884. He had an adventurous life - as a baby in he was carried by his father to the top of the Old Man of Coniston, a peak that is 2,276ft high! He went to Russia in 1913 to study folklore and in 1914, at the start of World War I he became a foreign correspondent for the Daily News. In 1917 when the Russian Revolution began he became a journalist and was a special correspondent of the Guardian. He played chess with Lenin and married Trotsky's personal secretary, Evgenia Petrovna Shelepina. On their return to England, he bought a cottage near Windermere in the Lake District and began writing children's stories. In a 1958 author's note, Ransome wrote: ''I have been often asked how I came to write Swallows and Amazons. The answer is that it had its beginning long, long ago when, as children, my brother, my sisters and I spent most of our holidays on a farm at the south end of Coniston. We played in or on the lake or on the hills above . . . Going away from it we were half drowned in tears. While away from it, as children and as grown-ups, we dreamt about it. No matter where I was, wandering about the world, I used at night to look for the North Star and, in my mind's eye, could see the beloved sky-line of great hills beneath it. Swallows grew out of those old memories. I could not help writing it. It almost wrote itself.'' He published the first of his children's classics, the twelve Swallows And Amazons books, in 1930. In 1936 he won the first ever Carnegie Medal for his book, Pigeon Post. He died in 1967.

The Ds can't wait to go and stay with Nancy and Peggy in the Lake District during the summer holidays. But when the Amazons’ dreadful Great Aunt invites herself to stay too, the summer is threatened with dullness. Staying indoors and reading poetry is not what anyone had in mind. To save the Ds from total boredom, the Amazons arrange for their friends to stay in a tumble-down hut in the woods. And as long as no one discovers they're there they can sail all summer long... 
 
In the Backstory you can learn how to make a campfire! 
 
Vintage Children’s Classics is a twenty-first century classics list aimed at 8-12 year olds and the adults in their lives. Discover timeless favourites from The Jungle Book and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to modern classics such as The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Missee Lee

In the tenth instalment of the Swallows and Amazons series, the young crew come face-to-face with the fiercest pirate of the South China Seas

He makes a tale of adventure a handbook to adventure

There is plenty of excitement, a little danger, a quality of thinking, planning and fun which is delightful and stimulating

Arthur Ransome was born in Leeds in 1884 and went to school at Rugby. He was in Russia in 1917, and witnessed the Revolution, which he reported for the Manchester Guardian. 
 
After escaping to Scandinavia, he settled in the Lake District with his Russian wife where, in 1929, he wrote Swallows and Amazons. And so began a writing career which has produced some of the real children's treasures of all time. In 1936 he won the first ever Carnegie Medal for his book, Pigeon Post. 
 
Ransome died in 1967. He and his wife Evgenia lie buried in the churchyard of St Paul's Church, Rusland, in the southern Lake District.

‘So long,’ called the harbourmaster. ‘Don’t run into Missee Lee!’ 
 
The Swallows, Amazons and Captain Flint don’t pay much heed to the harbourmaster’s friendly warning as they set off for China. They are on a round-the-world voyage aboard the Wild Cat and it’s been plain sailing for a hundred ports. But when Gibber, the ship’s monkey, accidentally sinks their faithful boat things take a serious turn for the worse. Separated, captured, miles from home, the Swallows and Amazons are about to meet their fate and the pirate who holds it: the legendary Missee Lee... 
 
In the 'Backstory' you can learn to decipher Nancy's Morse code and find out about the real life inspirations for Missee Lee 
 
Vintage Children’s Classics is a twenty-first century classics list aimed at 8-12 year olds and the adults in their lives. Discover timeless favourites from The Jungle Book and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to modern classics such as The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

The Big Six

Plunge into the Norfolk Broads as the Ds join up with the Coot Club once again - this time to solve a very baffling crime

Mr Ransome again equals or perhaps excels himself...every boy will vote this detective story super

In my early teens I read Arthur Ransome's books, The Coot Club and The Big Six... They impressed me so much that I persuaded my father to take me on holiday to the Norfolk Broads where we had great fun teaching ourselves to sail, all on the impetus of Ransome's books

A continuation of Coot Club and as good as ever

The adventure, though engrossing, is only part of a book in which the cry and flight of birds, the small of water and tarry ropes, and the jargon of men and boys brought up to use their hands and senses are all delightfully plain to us

Arthur Ransome was born in Leeds in 1884. He had an adventurous life - as a baby in he was carried by his father to the top of the Old Man of Coniston, a peak that is 2,276ft high! He went to Russia in 1913 to study folklore and in 1914, at the start of World War I he became a foreign correspondent for the Daily News. In 1917 when the Russian Revolution began he became a journalist and was a special correspondent of the Guardian. He played chess with Lenin and married Trotsky's personal secretary, Evgenia Petrovna Shelepina. On their return to England, he bought a cottage near Windermere in the Lake District and began writing children's stories. In a 1958 author's note, Ransome wrote: ‘I have been often asked how I came to write Swallows and Amazons. The answer is that it had its beginning long, long ago when, as children, my brother, my sisters and I spent most of our holidays on a farm at the south end of Coniston. We played in or on the lake or on the hills above . . . Going away from it we were half drowned in tears. While away from it, as children and as grown-ups, we dreamt about it. No matter where I was, wandering about the world, I used at night to look for the North Star and, in my mind's eye, could see the beloved sky-line of great hills beneath it. Swallows grew out of those old memories. I could not help writing it. It almost wrote itself.’ He published the first of his children's classics, the twelve Swallows And Amazons books, in 1930. In 1936 he won the first ever Carnegie Medal for his book, Pigeon Post. He died in 1967.

‘Why shouldn’t we be detectives too?’ 
 
When Dick and Dorothea arrive in the Norfolk Broads all set for a blissful summer on the river, they find their friends the Death and Glories in a very bad situation. Accused of setting boats adrift, sabotage and theft, the boys are under suspicion by everyone on the river. And in the meantime, the real culprits are still at large. There’s no choice but to form a crime-busting team: The Big Six. As the evidence stacks against them, can they solve the mystery and trap the real criminals? 
 
Includes exclusive material: In ‘The Backstory’ find out about birds, boats and fish and put your own detective skills to the test! 
 
Vintage Children’s Classics is a twenty-first century classics list aimed at 8-12 year olds and the adults in their lives. Discover timeless favourites from The Jungle Book and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to modern classics such as The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea

The Swallows are out on the water once again, this time in a bigger boat and on a bigger adventure than ever before

The seventh of the Arthur Ransome books about the Swallows and the Amazons, and I really think it is the best

The most exciting of the whole Swallows and Amazon series

This book is Ransome at the top of his form

The book is a record of an uncovenanted voyage, which ended in Holland, of the rain and wind, the darkness and the wild water, the escapes from buoys and from ships crossing in the night, the courage and resource of the children

Perhaps the best of all ... Just what does happen is told with all the wealth of practical detail and satisfying sense of reality which make Mr Ransome so unfailingly successful

Arthur Ransome was born in Leeds in 1884. He had an adventurous life - as a baby in he was carried by his father to the top of the Old Man of Coniston, a peak that is 2,276ft high! He went to Russia in 1913 to study folklore and in 1914, at the start of World War I he became a foreign correspondent for the Daily News. In 1917 when the Russian Revolution began he became a journalist and was a special correspondent of the Guardian. He played chess with Lenin and married Trotsky's personal secretary, Evgenia Petrovna Shelepina. On their return to England, he bought a cottage near Windermere in the Lake District and began writing children's stories. In a 1958 author's note, Ransome wrote: ‘I have been often asked how I came to write Swallows and Amazons. The answer is that it had its beginning long, long ago when, as children, my brother, my sisters and I spent most of our holidays on a farm at the south end of Coniston. We played in or on the lake or on the hills above . . . Going away from it we were half drowned in tears. While away from it, as children and as grown-ups, we dreamt about it. No matter where I was, wandering about the world, I used at night to look for the North Star and, in my mind's eye, could see the beloved sky-line of great hills beneath it. Swallows grew out of those old memories. I could not help writing it. It almost wrote itself.’ He published the first of his children's classics, the twelve Swallows And Amazons books, in 1930. In 1936 he won the first ever Carnegie Medal for his book, Pigeon Post. He died in 1967.

'Like to spend a night in the Goblin?’ 
 
The Swallows are staying on the Suffolk coast while they wait for their father to return home from China. But although the harbour is bursting with bobbing yachts, barges and steamers, this year there's no chance of any sailing for the landlocked Swallows. That is until they rescue young Jim Brading and his boat the Goblin from a sticky situation and to their delight are recruited as crew members. Mother agrees they can go, on one condition – they absolutely must not sail out past Beach End Buoy and into the open sea… 
 
Includes exclusive content: In the 'Backstory' you can test your knowledge of the book, and learn all about the art of sailing! 
 
 Vintage Children’s Classics is a twenty-first century classics list aimed at 8-12 year olds and the adults in their lives. Discover timeless favourites from Peter Pan and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to modern classics such as The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Secret Water

The Swallows are marooned with just a little sailing boat for company - will they survive their chance to become true explorers?

Once more the Swallows and the Amazons have a magnificent exploring adventure, one more Mr Arthur Ransome has kept a complete record of their experiences, terrors, triumphs, and set it down with the cunning that casts a spell over new children and old

This time the Walker children are 'marooned' on an island somewhere in England, and for their adventures there is but one word - enchanting!

Many of the adventures were set in the Lakes, but my favourite is the one set at the other end of the country: Secret Water

'You’ll start with a blank map, that doesn’t do more than show roughly what’s water and what isn’t’ 
 
When the Walker family’s holiday plans are ruined by Daddy having to work, the whole summer seems lost at sea. But a dull holiday for the children is too miserable to bear so their parents hatch a plan. The Swallows are to be marooned on an island with only a blank map and a little sailing dinghy. Their task? To explore and chart the area, avoid the endless mud and survive. And what do they discover? Well, they might not be as alone as they first thought… 
 
Includes exclusive content: In the 'Backstory' you can find out about some real life explorers! 
 
 Vintage Children’s Classics is a twenty-first century classics list aimed at 8-12 year olds and the adults in their lives. Discover timeless favourites from Peter Pan and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to modern classics such as The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Arthur Ransome

I absolutely loved this book as a boy…. The simple line drawings were just wonderful; they gave the feeling of wide open spaces and freedom.

My childhood simply would not have been the same without this book. It created a whole world to explore, one that lasted long in the imagination after the final page had been read

All the thrills of Treasure Island and Robinson Crusoe

Thrilling not only to young readers fond of the sea, but also to older readers who remember how they enjoyed sea stories when they themselves were young

For the Walker children, sailing the boat Swallow to an island for a camping trip is a fantastic adventure. But soon they find themselves under attack from the fierce pirates of the Amazon, Nancy and Peggy. And so begins the battles, alliances and discoveries in a summer like no other.

Arthur Ransome

Praise for Swallows And Amazons

I absolutely loved this book as a boy…. The simple line drawings were just wonderful; they gave the feeling of wide open spaces and freedom.

My childhood simply would not have been the same without this book. It created a whole world to explore, one that lasted long in the imagination after the final page had been read

All the thrills of Treasure Island and Robinson Crusoe

I absolutely loved this book as a boy…. The simple line drawings were just wonderful; they gave the feeling of wide open spaces and freedom.

My childhood simply would not have been the same without this book. It created a whole world to explore, one that lasted long in the imagination after the final page had been read

All the thrills of Treasure Island and Robinson Crusoe

I absolutely loved this book as a boy…. The simple line drawings were just wonderful; they gave the feeling of wide open spaces and freedom.

My childhood simply would not have been the same without this book. It created a whole world to explore, one that lasted long in the imagination after the final page had been read

All the thrills of Treasure Island and Robinson Crusoe

Books by Arthur Ransome

Series by Arthur Ransome

Swallows And Amazons

Articles featuring Arthur Ransome

Quiz: Which classic children’s book should you read next?

16 must-read crime and mystery books

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter