Konigsburg as one of the best children's books of all time, because it never breaks character, so to speak. I have often cited Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth by E.L. What truly sets a children's book apart, in my mind, is how deeply it is able to immerse itself into the mind of a child. Also in on the game are the Blackett girls, Nancy and Peggy, who call themselves pirates and challenge the Swallows to a war. From the start of their adventure, the Walkers allow their imaginations to rule their every move, considering the adults all around them to be 'natives', and the man living in the nearby houseboat to be a retired pirate. Susan, the mate, takes care of the meals, and Titty and Roger, though subject to the authority of the oldest two siblings, serve as able-seaman and ship's boy. Aside from very occasional visits from their mother, and a once-daily row across the lake to fetch milk from a neighboring farm, the Walker children are completely on their own for the duration of their stay on the island. After receiving permission from their father, who is in the Royal Navy and away at sea, the four kids set off in their boat, Swallow, to camp on an Island in the middle of the lake. The story is set in the English Lake District, where the Walker family - John, Susan, Titty, and Roger - are spending a summer holiday at a farm called Holly Howe. My childhood prejudices didn't stop me from falling in love with this book as an adult, however, and I think I will be thinking about Swallows and Amazons for a long, long time to come. I'm not even sure I would have been interested in the book as a child, as it was old by my standards and involved adventure, which I was staunchly against as a kid. I never read this book as a child, or even heard of it, honestly, until Elizabeth Bird's Top 100 Children's Novels Poll in early 2010. Swallows and Amazons was originally published in 1930 in the UK, but the version I read is the 1958 US edition.

Arthur ransome books