‘You’ll start with a blank map, that doesn’t do more than show roughly what’s water and what isn’t.’

What a metaphor!   Doesn’t that describe so many of the journeys we begin?  The book even includes a black ink sketched version of this rudimentary map, allowing you to fill in the spaces yourself as you build a better understanding of the terrain. This life-message inspired me to match the quotation to a number of wonderful images of water – hope you enjoy them. If I can get the copyright permission, I will make some postcards for you to send to all your friends and family.

Secret Water is part of the Swallows & Amazons series of English children’s books. There are several beautiful editions available, with Vintage Children’s Classics being an affordable paperback with wonderful front cover illustrations (to be explored in a future post).  The books are also printed on FSC certified paper from sustainable sources.

For more of a taster of these timeless classics, see our review here, or simply enjoy some splendid cover illustrations for the books.

Source: Arthur Ransome, Secret Water, (London: Vintage Children’s Classics, 2014), p. 20

Image credits: Wil Stewart, stocksnap.com   I   NASA, unsplash.com   I   Monika Majkowska, unsplash.com   I   Tim Marshall, unsplash.com   I   Tim Marshall, unsplash.com   I   Andrew Bertram, unsplash.com