Posted by Claire on February 26, 2009 at 17:57:53 user Claire_Morgan.
We have a wonderful opportunity we have here - to discuss "new" Arthur Ransome children's books. These books are so rare that it is doubtful that many of us are familiar with them. The recent bandwidth problems that Dave Thewlis alluded to show that there is lots of interest among us.
I am taking my time reading them, but wanted to start off the discussion. We probably can skip the obvious - the clumsiness of the Imp, Elf, and Ogre designations, plus the over use of "jolly". But because these were outdoor descriptions, something that AR excels at, it is possible to get glimpses of his future work.
I find these little books far more important to his future writing than his more serious writings of biographies, short stories, and critiques. It is true that all of his writing helped him to hone his skills, but the books we all love did not appear suddenly. I think that the Nature Books not only give us a glimpse of what was supposed to appeal to children of over a hundred years ago, but also give us yet another glimpse of how AR's style developed.
How wonderful to have a chance like this, thanks to Clint, Dave, and the Literary Executors!
Claire