Winter Holiday
An Arctic Adventure of Ice Skating, Codes, and Self-Reliant Children in the Lake DistrictBy Arthur Ransome
Length10h 52m
About this audiobook
Published in 1933, *Winter Holiday* extends Arthur Ransome's celebrated Swallows and Amazons series into the frozen landscape of England's Lake District. The novel introduces Dick and Dorothea Callum, whose arrival at the railway station leads to an imaginative alliance with the Walker and Blackett children. Snow, ice, skiing, and scientific observation transform the familiar countryside into an Arctic field of exploration, while the children's invented "Great Northern Expedition" gives the narrative its adventurous structure. Ransome combines precise topographical description, nautical and technical vocabulary, comic dialogue, and a carefully sustained alternation between reality and imaginative play. Like the best children's adventure fiction of the interwar period, the book celebrates independence and practical competence, yet its psychological subtlety lies in showing how fantasy enlarges, rather than escapes, the ordinary world. Arthur Ransome (1884–1967) was an English journalist, author, and sailor whose experiences profoundly shaped his fiction. His work as a foreign correspondent, including extensive reporting from Russia during the revolutionary period, developed his powers of observation and his interest in political and social organization. His later life in the Lake District, together with his deep knowledge of sailing, weather, maps, and outdoor life, supplied the authentic setting and technical confidence evident here. Ransome understood children as capable interpreters of their environment, not merely recipients of adult instruction. Readers interested in classic adventure literature, imaginative play, or the cultural history of children's fiction will find *Winter Holiday* both exhilarating and richly rewarding. It is an ideal introduction to Ransome's humane, intellectually serious vision of childhood, where friendship, resourcefulness, and disciplined imagination turn winter into a world of discovery.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 4.4 (5.6K)
Includes Goodreads, LibraryThing, StoryGraph, Amazon
GenreChildren's Literature
Length10 hrs 52 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateOct 20, 2021
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1The Emily Star Collection (Annotated)
2Author’s Note
3Chapter I. Strangers
4Chapter II. Signalling to Mars
5Chapter III. Strangers No More
Show all chaptersShow less
6Chapter IV. The Igloo
7Chapter V. Skating and the Alphabet
8Chapter VI. Snow
9Chapter VII. Arctic Voyage
10Chapter VIII. Lost Leader
11Chapter IX. Quarantine
12Chapter X. Doing Without Nancy
13Chapter XI. Cragfast Sheep
14Chapter XII. Ambulance Work
15Chapter XIII. To Spitzbergen by Ice
16Chapter XIV. Nancy Takes a Hand
17Chapter XV. Days in the Fram
18Chapter XVI. Sailing Sledge
19Chapter XVII. Nancy Sends a Picture
20Chapter XVIII. The Fram at Night
21Chapter XIX. The D.’s Take Charge
22Chapter XX. Captain Nancy Gets Two Bits of News
23Chapter XXI. Captain Flint Comes Home
24Chapter XXII. Next Morning
25Chapter XXIII. The Uses of an Uncle
26Chapter XXIV. Flag at Beckfoot
27Chapter XXV. Council in the Fram
28Chapter XXVI. The North Pole
29Chapter XXVII. To the Rescue
30Chapter XXVIII. Arctic Night
31Chapter XXIX. And Afterwards2
32Footnote
More from Arthur Ransome
SwallowdaleArthur Ransome13h 42m4.3 (7.8K)$0.99 · $0.00
The Greatest Russian Fairy Tales & Fables (With Original Illustrations)Arthur Ransome, Valery Carrick, W. R. S. Ralston, Nisbat Bain35h 11m4.3 (47)$0.99 · $0.00
Old Peter's Russian TalesArthur Ransome7h 25m4.2 (623)$0.99 · $0.00
Coot Club (Annotated)Arthur Ransome11h 30m$2 · $0.00
The Big SixArthur Ransome11h 18m4.0 (1.6K)$1 · $0.00
Greatest Russian Fairytales & Legends (Illustrated Edition)Arthur Ransome, Valery Carrick, W. R. S. Ralston, Nisbat Bain36h 22m4.3 (18)$2 · $0.00
Open Letter to AmericaArthur Ransome1h$2 · $0.00
Swallows & Amazons (ALL 12 Adventure Novels)Arthur Ransome135h 57m4.5 (149)$1 · $0.00
We Didn't Mean to Go to SeaArthur Ransome11h4.4 (3.2K)$2 · $0.00
Swallows and AmazonsArthur Ransome11h 14m4.2 (44K)$1 · $0.00
The Greatest Russian Fairy Tales & Fables (With Original Illustrations)Arthur Ransome, Valery Carrick, W. R. S. Ralston, Nisbat Bain36h 22m4.4 (11)$2 · $0.00
Pigeon PostArthur Ransome11h 36m4.3 (4.7K)$1 · $0.00
The Greatest Russian Fairy Tales & Fables (With Original Illustrations)Arthur Ransome, Valery Carrick, W. R. S. Ralston, Nisbat Bain36h 22m4.4 (16)$2 · $0.00
Winter HolidayArthur Ransome10h 40m4.4 (4.9K)$1 · $0.00
Swallows and AmazonsArthur Ransome11h 13m4.1 (43.2K)$1 · $0.00
Swallows & Amazons (ALL 12 Adventure Novels)Arthur Ransome136h 58m4.5 (4.1K)$1 · $0.00
Swallows & Amazons (ALL 12 Adventure Novels) (Annotated)Arthur Ransome136h 30m$2 · $0.00
Swallows and AmazonsArthur Ransome11h 13m4.2 (45.7K)$2 · $0.00
A Wolf Called FireRosanne Parry4h 7m4.7 (1.2K)$7 · $0.00
The Daughter of AuschwitzTova Friedman3h 2m4.6 (15.6K)$18 · $0.00
RevolutionariesSanjeev Sanyal7h 25m4.6 (1.9K)$24 · $0.00
Warriors #6: The Darkest HourErin Hunter8h 8m4.6 (70.2K)$26 · $0.00
Bible 09: 1 SamuelKing James2h 28m4.6 (1.6K)$12 · $0.00
The Complete Works of Beatrix Potter: 22 Children's Books with Original IllustrationsBeatrix Potter5h 3m4.6 (3.9K)$1.99 · $0.00
The Violet Fairy Book (Annotated)Andrew Lang11h 39m4.7 (304)$2 · $0.00
Little Lord Fauntleroy (Annotated)Frances Hodgson Burnett7h 56m4.6 (1.5K)$0.99 · $0.00
The Nutcracker and The Mouse King (Annotated)E.T.A. Hoffmann4h 4m4.6 (1.5K)$2 · $0.00
REBECCA OF SUNNYBROOK FARM & NEW CHRONICLES OF REBECCA (Children's Book Classics) (Annotated)Kate Douglas Wiggin15h 32m4.6 (1.4K)$0.99 · $0.00
Just William (Illustrated) (Annotated)Richmal Crompton6h 30m4.6 (1.2K)$2 · $0.00
The Labors of Hercules BealGary D. Schmidt8h 17m4.6 (10.4K)$8 · $0.00
Clancy of the Overflow (The Matilda Saga, #9)Jackie French14h 24m4.6 (471)$33 · $0.00
The Great Fairy Tales - Oscar Wilde Edition (Illustrated) (Annotated)Oscar Wilde6h 31m4.6 (1.1K)$2 · $0.00
Alice's Adventures in WonderlandLewis Carroll3h4.5 (5.9K)$7.99 · $0.00
The Boy Who Followed His Father into AuschwitzJeremy Dronfield6h 54m4.5 (28.5K)$24 · $0.00
Bat and the End of EverythingElana K. Arnold2h 40m4.6 (2.3K)$18 · $0.00
Chronicles of Ancient Darkness #6: Ghost HunterMichelle Paver6h 20m4.5 (11.7K)$24 · $0.00
Masterminds: PaybackGordon Korman6h 51m4.5 (5.8K)$24 · $0.00
The House at Pooh CornerA. A. Milne, E. H. Shepard3h 6m4.5 (107.8K)$2 · $0.00
You may also like
SwallowdaleArthur Ransome13h 42m4.3 (7.8K)$0.99 · $0.00
With the Indians in the Rockies (Complete Edition)James Willard Schultz5h 2m4.3 (752)$1.99 · $0.00
Sailing Alone around the WorldJoshua Slocum7h 25m4.3 (31.2K)$17
Audubon's BirdsJohn James Audubon1h 29m4.4 (752)$15 · $0.00
Farthest NorthFridtjof Nansen31h 40m4.3 (3K)$1.99 · $0.00
Winnie-the-Pooh and the North Pole AdventureA. A. Milne12m4.2 (508)$2
Through the Brazilian WildernessTheodore Roosevelt12h 2m4.1 (2.6K)$2.30
My African Journey (Unabridged)Winston Churchill5h 49m3.9 (1.8K)$1.99 · $0.00
Audubon's BirdsJohn James Audubon1h 40m4.6 (387)$13.50 · $0.00
Shackleton in the Antarctic, Being the Story of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907 - 1909Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton6h 24m4.4 (668)$2.30
Farthest North (The Complete Two-Volume Edition) (Annotated)Fridtjof Nansen31h 50m4.4 (865)$2 · $0.00
Axel the Truck: Rocky RoadJ. D. Riley4m4.0 (294)$4 · $0.00
The Complete Young Alaskans Series – All 5 Books in One Volume (Illustrated Edition)Emerson Hough34h 36m$1.99 · $0.00
Swallows & Amazons (ALL 12 Adventure Novels)Arthur Ransome135h 57m4.5 (149)$1 · $0.00
A Book-Lover's Holidays in the Open (Annotated)Theodore Roosevelt7h 52m3.7 (42)$1.99 · $0.00
NonstopBoris Herrmann3h 32m$10 · $0.00
Zion National Park Travel GuideEthan Norwood1h 28m$11 · $0.00
By motor to the Golden GateEmily Post6h 42m4.0 (65)$1 · $0.00
Roy Blakeley, PathfinderPercy Keese Fitzhugh4h 7m$1 · $0.00
Across IcelandW. Bisiker5h 26m$2 · $0.00