Strong Winds series allusion to Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series as well as other works, particularly R.L. Stevenson's "Treasure Island" and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "Song of Hiawatha". Cassandra Jardine, reviewing for "The Daily Telegraph", wrote ""The Salt-Stained Book"... is not just a homage to the Swallows and Amazons stories. Donny and Anna, Jones's fictional characters, live in the contemporary world, escaping social workers, rather than pirates. There's far more emotion than in Ransome's books" but "they share the same confident, risk-taking spirit..." Amanda Craig, reviewing "The Salt-stained Book" for "The Times" "...wasn't sure about the historical framing device that gives the novel
Swallows and Amazons series in the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. They describe the story of "Peter Duck" being made up by the Walkers and Blacketts on a wherry in the Norfolk Broads during the winter following the events described in "Swallows and Amazons". This composition was later referenced in "Swallowdale", but not in "Peter Duck" itself. The final complete book, "Great Northern?" is set in the Outer Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland. This book is sometimes included with "Peter Duck" and "Missee Lee" as metafictional because the story would involve the children being away from school during the nesting