By Arthur Ransome, Christina Hardyment (author) , Christina Hardyment (illustrator)
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July 2010 Guest Editor Marcus Sedgwick : "I think this was the book that more than any other gave me a love of folk and fairy tales. Written by Ransome years before his Swallow and Amazon series, it's full of delightful writing, and things both light and dark. Ever since I started writing myself I've tried to find ways to work folk tales into my stories."
Old Peter's Russian Tales by Arthur Ransome, Christina Hardyment
Arthur Ransome was born on January 18, 1884, in Leeds, where his father was a Professor of History. His father was a lover of the hills and lakes of Furness, and carried the baby Arthur up to the top of Coniston Old Man (later to become 'Kanchenjunga' in the books) when he was only a few weeks old. Every summer, he took his family by train to Greenodd, complete with their belongings packed into a large tin bath, and then by cart along the valley to Lowick and, finally, to Nibthwaite, on the shores of Coniston Water.
It was to be a long time before the memories came to life in Swallows and Amazons and the rest of the books about the children who sailed and explored the lakes and mountains of England. Always fired by ambition to be a writer, Arthur Ransome took his first job with a London publisher and then with the famous newspaper, the Manchester Guardian, for whom he worked for many years as a foreign correspondent.
As a young man, Ransome spent many more happy holidays on the shores of Coniston with his friends the Collingwood family. Mr and Mrs Collingwood treated Arthur as a son and he pays them grateful recognition in his autobiography by saying 'My whole life has been happier for knowing them'. He spent hours on Peel Island, which was to become famous all over the world as Wildcat Island, picnicking there with the Collingwood daughters Dora and Barbara.
Christina Hardyment has written books and articles on a dizzying range of subjects (including her collection of historical sewing machines, domestic technology, family life and a biography of Sir Thomas Malory). She lives in a rambling house in Oxford with a huge garden, where she is already planning camps and a treehouse for her grandchildren. Time off is spent sailing on the river, in a British Moth dinghy.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed Old Peter's Russian Tales and determined it is suitable for children aged 7-8 years old
Old Peter's Russian Tales features in the following genres: Recommended Children's eBooks, Recommendations, Featured Books for 7+ readers
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Old Peter's Russian Tales was written by Arthur Ransome, Christina Hardyment and published by Jane Nissen Books
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