The Big Six (Puffin Books)

The D's return to the S & A series and to the Norfolk Broads in a late summer adventure. This time, they come to the aid of their friends, the Coot Club, who find themselves suspects when boats are repeatedly set adrift along the broads, always when they're around. The police are questioning them and the townspeople are hostile. The kids, sadly realizing that they can't count on the law, start gathering evidence on their own. What follows is a fun low-tech version of CSI as they inspect bicycle tire tracks, handprints in paint, and other clues. But when a theft heats things up, the kids have to set a cunning trap to reveal the real culprits. This is a fun, stimulating novel for kids. Lots of independent adventure and some practical material for budding criminalists. And there's Ransome's affectionate portrait of the Norfolk Broads and its waterside lifestyle that (by all reports) is mostly gone now. One debit: A character briefly cuts loose with some language that was innocent for the time period but is objectionable today. (The dreaded "N" word...) It's not done maliciously but parents might want to ready a discussion with their kids about it. But don't let that stop you from enjoying this fine book. Next in the series: A problematic fantasy with MISSEE LEE.

I loved this book and all the other books by Arthur Ransome. My Mom read them when she was young and said I should read them too. She was right. The story is exciting, the characters are fun and I couldn't put this book down.

The other group of children that Arthur Ransome created, the Death or Glories and Tom Dudgeon, Port and Starboard, collectively known as the Coot Club are here embroiled in another adventure. Accompanied by the Ds, whom avid readers will know from earlier AR books, they turn detective and track down the villians who are casting off boats on the Norfolk Broads. As usual Arthur Ransome was writing in a class of his own. A note of caution: don't imagine that Norfolk and the surrounding countryside, especially Lowestoft, bears any resemblance to the places described in these books. The last two thirds of the 20th century were not kind to our poor old country and nowhere is this more starkly illustrated than in our seaside towns. Read the book instead and dream of life before the car was king.

An outstanding example of Ransome's work. A wonderful childern's book that is woth reading at any age. Teaches you a lesson about sticking to it. Three boys are thought to be casting off boats in a small English village. They are implicated by everyone in town. They do not give up, but become detectives to extricate themselves. In an ingenious and evolving plot they manage to catch the real perpetrators. The night time ending is as exiciting as anything. Whether you read it once or a 100 times you'll love it