Posted by Jonathan Labaree on December 08, 2000 at 19:27:20 from 207.228.204.170:
In Reply to: Recommendations sought posted by JOHN NICHOLSON on December 07, 2000 at 13:28:20:
You ask an excellent question when wondering about other books to read that follow in the spirit of S&A. Surely one of the amazing things about AR’s writing is his uniqueness insight into childhood adventures.
My answers will be from the US, but might be helpful.
I remember reading "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George as a kid. It's the first in a trilogy about a young boy who ventures out to live by himself on a mountainside. It certainly deals with issues of orienteering and camping with minimal equipment, but doesn't deal with nautical navigation.
Borders.com has this to say about the trilogy: "In 1959, Jean Craighead George published My Side of the Mountain. This coming-of-age story about a boy and his falcon went on to win a Newbery Honor, and for the past forty years has enthralled and entertained generations of would-be Sam Gribleys. The two books that followed--On the Far Side of the Mountain and Frightful's Mountain--were equally extraordinary."
For your youngest, you might try Robert McClosky's unparalleled tales "One Morning in Maine", "Time of Wonder", etc. They are for young ones, but will not fail to instill in your children a life-long love of sailing, adventuring, and tide-pool exploring. Having grown up spending summers on an island in Maine near where these stories are set, and now living and working nearby, I find these stories resonate like few others.
Jean Latham's "Carry On Mr. Bowditch" is a fictional biography of the great early American navigator Nathaniel Bowditch which might appeal to your older children. I remember devouring it when I was about that age.
I hope others respond with their thoughts.