Posted by Catherine Lamont on September 13, 2026 at 11:59:56 user clamont.
In Reply to: Re: Are thye natives essential for climatic plot resolution? posted by Robin Selby on November 26, 2025 at 08:17:06:
I think the whole point about Ransome's books is they are about "real life" - people of all ages interacting. But because they have children in the foreground, it's called children's literature. Which is really quite bizarre, when I think about it. A "classic" should have people of all ages. "Adult" literature (the stuff that only has adults in it) is the literature that is limited and should be treated as a "specialization", if you ask me!
While the parents may often be absent or in the background, all the Swallows and Amazons books have "alloparents" (adults acting in place of parents) in the foreground - Uncle Jim, Mrs Barrable, Jim Brading, the Dutch Pilot and Cook - except for that one rather large section of We Didn't Mean to go to Sea when it is just the kids.
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