Somewhere between Pippi Longstocking and Tracy Beaker is Betsey Biggalow, who stars in these short, pacey stories, is an imaginative and enquiring girl who is sometimes mischievous but always endearing

In my early teens I read Arthur Ransome's books, The Coot Club and The Big Six... They impressed me so much that I persuaded my father to take me on holiday to the Norfolk Broads where we had great fun teaching ourselves to sail, all on the impetus of Ransome's books

A continuation of Coot Club and as good as ever

The adventure, though engrossing, is only part of a book in which the cry and flight of birds, the small of water and tarry ropes, and the jargon of men and boys brought up to use their hands and senses are all delightfully plain to us

A lovely, forgotten classic that deserves to be reprinted

A charming tale for readers old and new

I read it a dozen-odd times as a child – and nowadays it’s my flu book. If I’m ever under the weather, I read it and cheer myself up