Swallows and Amazons (2016 film) reminder of the value of allowing children to get outside and explore instead of being mollycoddled by fearful parents." He added, "The film adds an espionage subplot that feels a little underpowered to really provide the intended narrative oomph, danger or excitement, but in an age in which the teen heroes and heroines of YA adaptations are routinely given ridiculously proficient combat skills, there's something nice about watching kids mucking about and learning basic wilderness skills." Geoffrey Macnab in "The Independent" began by saying, "This new adaptation of Arthur Ransome's novel evokes a long-lost era in which kids didn't just
Swallows and Amazons series Steven Spurrier that were commissioned by his publisher, Jonathan Cape, that the only pictures in the first edition were the endpaper map of the lake and a map of Wild Cat Island. For the second edition, Clifford Webb was commissioned to produce the illustrations, which met with grudging approval from Ransome. Webb also illustrated "Swallowdale", but Ransome decided that he would personally illustrate the third book, "Peter Duck". As this book was supposedly based on information supplied by the children themselves, Ransome drew the pictures as though done by the characters. These illustrations were so popular that Ransome illustrated the