The Swallows and Amazons series was originally published in England in the late 1930's. They are described as "Children's books" but they are much more than that! True, I first read these books in my early teens but I've often thought about them over the intervening decades and wondered if I could ever locate them again as I couldn't remember the author or book names. Well, I mentioned them to a librarian friend and she knew at once what I was looking for.

I'm re-reading them now and have introduced my wife to them and she is equally enthralled by them. As I read them again, I have realized that I still use verbal expressions I learned from these wonderful books!

The characters are a group of adventurious youngsters vacationing in the English Lakes district. Sailing in a major theme in all of the books but a true love of nature and conservationism is always there as well. They lived in an idyllic time and enjoyed wildly unsupervised adventures, camping, sailing and exploring the countryside with little adult intervention. Wonderful books!!

Released on Friday, May 31, 2002 at The Coffee Scene in Fayetteville, North Carolina USA.