Ransome Joins Vintage Children’s Classics

Vintage Classics, an imprint of Random House Ltd, have today announced the launch of their new list, Vintage Children’s Classics, which aims to inspire 8 – 12 year olds with a lifelong love of reading.

The initial list of twenty titles will be launched in August, 2012. It will include Swallows and Amazons and Swallowdale, the first two novels in Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons series.

E-books Available Once More

Further to our last update, the twelve Swallows and Amazons e-books are now back on sale.

Swallows and Amazons E-books Will Soon be Back

We have been advised by Random House Children’s books that the twelve Swallows and Amazons series e-books will be back on sale in the next few days.

The series was originally released on 30 June, but subsequently withdrawn pending the correction of a number of minor errors.

Random House advise that the books should be available by this Friday, 28 October, but it may take a few more days before they are listed by online retailers.

Update on E-book Publication

We have been advised by Random House Children’s books that they have discovered a few minor problems with the Swallows and Amazons series e-books released on 30 June.

As a result they are temporarily withdrawing the books from sale. Retailers, such as Amazon and ibooks, will be updating their websites accordingly. This will take a little time, but should be done by tomorrow (Saturday).

RHCB expect to issue corrected versions next week. In the meantime they offer sincere apologies for any disapppointment caused.

Swallows and Amazons E-books Now Available

Arthur Ransome’s twelve Swallows and Amazons novels were released in e-pub format by Random House Children’s Books on 30 June.

The novels should now be available from a wide range of e-book retailers, as well as via Random House’s e-book website.

Expanded Bibliography

We have expanded the Bibliography section of the website, and hope that it provides an interesting and useful resource about Arthur Ransome’s works.

The expanded Bibliography now has three sections: Books by Arthur Ransome, Book Contributions and Articles.

Swallows and Amazons Series Scheduled for E-Publication

Random House Children’s Books will publish electronic editions of Arthur Ransome’s twelve Swallows and Amazons novels for the first time at the end of June, 2011.

Forthcoming publication was first announced by Random House in early May. Subject to their final confirmation, publication of all twelve illustrated novels is currently scheduled for 30 June.

You can find out more about Random House’s e-publications, and view their online catalogue, at Random House’s e-book website. We anticipate that information about the the twelve Swallows and Amazons titles will be added in the near future.

Media Interest Grows in Swallows and Amazons Movie

There has been plenty of media interest in BBC Films’s announcement that they and Harbour Pictures have appointed Tom and Charlie Guard to direct their new cinema adaptation of Swallows and Amazons.

We expect further news on the film in the next two or three weeks. It is still possible, although very unlikely, that filming could take place this autumn. If not, the earliest start date for principal photography will be in the late spring of 2012. 

Development Work Continues on Swallows and Amazons Movie

Development work on the proposed movie adaptation of Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons was originally announced by BBC Films and Harbour Pictures in 2007. According to reports in The Hollywood Reporter and Variety, the producers have now appointed brothers Tom and Charlie Guard as Directors. Neither pre-production nor a start date have been announced yet, but we’ll report further progress as and when we can.

Swallows and Amazons inspires Treasure Island at Bristol

Bristol Old Vic are following up their recent smash hit musical production of Swallows and Amazons with another piratical production: an open air version of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island.

This isn’t the first link between these two classic books, with Arthur Ransome drawing inspiration from Stevenson when writing Swallows and Amazons.