I grew up reading Enid Blyton -- The Famous Five, The (whatever) of Adventure, lashings of boarding school stories (see what I did there?) -- I loved the hearty, rosy-cheeked English children with their pluck and their tinned pineapple and potted meat sandwiches (I was mostly too young to catch all the casual racism and misogyny). I never read Arthur Ransome until a few years ago, but gosh would I have loved it back then. The Swallows and Amazon books are like Enid Blyton's adventures written by a much better writer, starring funnier kids, with parents that aren't appallingly neglectful. Strongly recommended.
