Flapping not floundering
Living pancakes, flapping not floundering.
‘He emptied the bucket into the creek, and the two little flounders...
Battering-ram power
Nancy is a character with battering-ram energy in all she does, exuberantly seeking opportunities to go to ‘war’ with her...
Leadership … Daoist style
As you know, a good children’s book has much to teach grown ups and often far more entertainingly than any...
Splatchers
‘Splatchers?’ said Roger. ‘Splatchers,’ said the boy. ‘For walking on the mud.’ ‘Gosh!’ said Roger. ‘Like snowshoes?’
When these children...
Trim, trig and tickety-boo
Came across the upright word 'trig' in another of Arthur Ransome's charming children's adventure stories, Winter Holiday, which I read...
A waste of an island
Wonderful notion this, from one of the best of Ransome's enchanting children's books. Of course if you land on an...
A blank map
‘You’ll start with a blank map, that doesn’t do more than show roughly what’s water and what...
Foreign-going steamship
All the romance and none of the hardship in these three words.
Source: Arthur Ransome, Coot Club
...
Civilization, one scoop or two?
‘What is civilization?’ A deep and vital question we need to keep asking. I liked this pithy response, particularly one...
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