‘The next moment the big motor cruiser was round the bend, bearing down on them, towering above them…’
The fifth in the Swallows and Amazons series, Coot Club is by Arthur Ransome. This book includes sailing terms but provides definitions. Coot Club also includes two maps: one for the Northern rivers of the Norfolk Broads and one of the Southern rivers.
Desperate to save a bird nest, Tom Dudgeon sets a motor cruiser adrift. With help from friends and a new crew, he manages to escape from his enemies again and again. But what if the motor cruiser finds him?
My favourite character, Tom Dudgeon, is daring, and loves nature and boats. During his first appearance, he leaps onto a moving train using a can of paint and a piece of rope. In order to protect a coot nest, he breaks his parents rules and sets a motor cruiser adrift. To make sure his boat, Dreadnaught, is safe from the enemy, Tom sinks her temporarily.
The overall theme is doing what’s right: despite respecting his parents’ rule, Tom mixes with foreigners by setting the Hullabaloos’ boat adrift and becoming friends with Mrs. Barrable, Dick and Dorothea. Also, Port and Starboard really want to go on a voyage but don’t so their A.P. (Aged Parent) can still participate in races. Another main theme is nature. Tom, Port, Starboard, Pete, Joe and Bill are part of the Coot Club: this club is named after a special coot with an extra white feather. Sailing is also a main theme, as Dick and Dorothea learn to sail during this book.
This book is set in the Norfolk Broads, a place in the United Kingdom. Like the other books in the series, Coot Club is set in the present and past: the author’s present is our past.
I believe this book has a lesson: whatever vehicle you’re using you must be careful. The Hullabaloos would not have caused as many problems or crashed if they had been slower and more careful.
I would recommend this book to nine-year-olds and older who enjoy books about sailing and nature.
