Winter Holiday (novel) Winter Holiday (novel) Winter Holiday is the fourth novel of Arthur Ransome's "Swallows and Amazons" series of children's books. It was published in 1933. In this story, the third set of major characters in the series, the Ds — Dick and Dorothea Callum—are introduced. The series' usual emphasis on boats and sailing is largely absent, as the story is set in the winter. Instead, the children's activities focus on ice skating, signalling with semaphore and Morse code, and sledging. Ransome draws on his schoolday memories of the Great Frost of 1895 when Windermere froze completely. Another major influence is Fridtjof
Swallows and Amazons Forever! (father of Tom) and Frank Farland (father of the twins) plus in "Coot Club" five obnoxious adults in a motor cruiser, the "Margoletta" who are called the Hullabaloos by the children. Despite the title, Ramsome's other groups of children the Swallows and the Amazons do not appear. A Puffin paperback with the same title was published in 1983; it is a condensation of Coot Club (omitting the postscript) and The Big Six.(omittiing 7 chapters). It was reissued as a Red Fox paperback in 1993 with the title "Swallows and Amazons for Ever!" Swallows and Amazons Forever! Swallows and Amazons Forever!