Winter Holiday by Arthur Ransome

Written in 1933, Winter Holiday is the fourth in the Swallows and Amazons series of novels penned by Arthur Ransome. Many people will not realise that there are actually twelve books in the series of children’s books; most people recognising only the first book, Swallows and Amazons.

Winter Holiday is a return to the timeline and style of the first two books in the series, and is in essence a story about an adventure; rather than a story about a story as happened with Peter Duck.
Set in the school winter holiday, Winter Holiday does away with the boats that had been the mainstay of the previous novels. The cold winter has seen the Lake, upon which the Swallows (Walkers) and Amazons (Blacketts) sail, freeze over. This though sets up the possibility of other activities; most notably ice skating, ice sailing and signalling. The ultimate activity though is an expedition to the “North Pole” (a far corner of the lake), although the elements are a natural danger that has to be overcome.

Winter Holiday by Arthur Ransome - PD-life-70

Winter Holiday also introduces the Ds, Dick and Dorothea (Dot) Callum. The Ds are perceived as intellectual townies, as compared to the practical country folk as seen in the Walkers and Blacketts. There is continued friendly competition between the children, just as there had been in the original Swallows and Amazons. Winter Holiday also sees a return to interaction with the locals and observations of everyday life around the Lake.

Those that have read other books in the Swallows and Amazons series will find no great surprises within Winter Holiday. Ransome continues to make use of his personal knowledge of the Lake District, as well as his own knowledge about winter activities (primarily picked up in trips to Russia). Indeed, Ransome goes into a great detail about many activities undertaken by the children.

The details offered do extend the book to about 350 pages, but this is broadly in line with other books in the series. The detail though does offer certain sophistication in the writing which is perhaps missing from the likes of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five or Five Find-outers. It is also this sophistication which has ensured that Ransome has a reputation of being one of the greatest children’s writers, whilst Blyton’s work is not so universally praised.

Even after eighty years, Winter Holiday remains a book enjoyed by both children and adults, and is just a good tale of adventure where the only adversary is nature.