What to Read Next If You Love Swallows and Amazons
Summer means adventure in these old-fashioned stories about independent children making their own fun.
Of course you should schedule a screening of the recent movie adaptation (pictured above), but even if you've read the whole series through multiple times, you can get a similar taste of old-fashioned summer adventure with these books. The reading levels skew on the younger side if you’re worrying about Lexiles — but it’s summer, and your kid wants to read! Why are you worrying about Lexiles?
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall
Four sisters spend their summer exploring the grounds of a neighboring estate in this delightfully nostalgic summer story. Modern day independent kids look a little different from the free range kids of the past, but there’s still plenty of adventure and self-discovery in this surprisingly sweet tale. Like Swallows and Amazons, it sometimes feels more like a meandering journey than a Big Plot working toward a climax, but frankly, that is part of its charm — and why it’s a great readaloud for summer, when you may need to put down a book for several days at time.
Half Magic by Edward Eager
Jane, Mark, Katharine, and Martha find a magic talisman on their way home from the library one summer afternoon, but it only grants wishes in halves. My kids found it really fun that the kids in the book were imagining what magic in the modern world might look like — in a world that seemed very old-fashioned to them! The adventures the siblings go on with the aid of their magic talisman — including a visit to Camelot and being able to communicate with their very disgruntled cat — are equal parts zany and practical.
Like Bug Juice on a Burger by Julie Sternberg
At first Eleanor’s excited to spend the summer at Camp Wallunmwahpuck — but the annoying bugs, disgusting camp food, and especially swimming class soon change her mind. Summer camp is maybe the closest modern day kids get to the free range adventures of the Swallows crew, and I like that Eleanor does not immediately love the adventure she’s on. Not all of us are cut out to live in the wild for weeks at a time, however charming books may make it sound!
How Tia Lola Saved the Summer by Julia Alvarez
Summer seems like it’s going to be a bummer for Miguel and his sister — until his aunt Lola steps in and sets up a summer camp full of seasonal adventures. Tia Lola feels like a kinder, Latinx version of Mary Poppins, but the adventures she sends the siblings on definitely have the free-spirited, open-possibilities vibe you get in Swallows and Amazons. This one may ultimately be a little more emotionally resonant than Swallows and Amazons, but that really just made us like it more.
Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright
Discovering the abandoned remains of an old summer community — and its two last inhabitants — makes for a magical summer for Portia and her cousin Julian. It’s doubly old-fashioned: Portia and Julian are charmed and delighted by the turn-of-the-century childhoods of their new friends; my kids were just as charmed and delighted by the 1950s adventures of Portia and Julian. There’s something really delightful about the nerdy enjoyment these cousins take in the world around them — they’re as fascinated watching a colony of ants abscond with their sandwich scraps as they are learning about the history of the philosopher’s stone.
Linnets and Valerians by Elizabeth Goudge
The author of The Little White Horse also wrote this charming tale of four siblings who run away from their ruthless grandmother to live at their uncle’s country manor. Nan, Robert, Timothy, and Betsy find a mix of everyday magic (bees, cats, and gardens) and suspiciously magical magic (witches and disappearing families) at their uncle’s ramshackle country house and its surrounding village. There’s also a nice nod to homeschooling — the children are all required to spend a certain amount of time every day studying with their uncle, but then they’re free to spend the rest of the day however they like.
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