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Treasure Island or Kidnapped?
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I am planning our next quarter and since we are studying Robert Louis Stevenson for our poetry, I thought it would be fun to use a Robert Louis Stevenson book for our literature read aloud as well. I’ve not read either of these, shame on me I know, so which one would be best or more interesting for a 5 yo girl, 7 yo boy and 9 yo girl (tomboy)?
Thanks!!
Heather
I haven’t read either in their entirety but my 11 year old son read them both himself this past school year. I asked him what he thought of your question and he said he’d rather hear Treasure Island read aloud. He said it does have a lot of pirates killing each other in it, just to forwarn you. I did read some of Kidnapped myself and I thought it was very good, but definitely difficult. My son thought Kidnapped was more difficult as well.
Hope this helps.
Thank you, and thank your son too! Treasure Island it is. We are also doing Apologia’s Swimming Creatures for science this year, so I have Island of the Blue Dolphins, Moby Dick, Swiss Family Robinson and more island/ water oriented literature planned for read alouds. Treasure Island will fit in nicely!
I second the Treasure Island choice. My kids loved it read aloud, but did not like the abridged version we started with! That was just me trying to make it a quicker read, should have known better. My kids didn’t like Island of the Blue Dolphins, just found it really sad, and they liked Swiss Family Robinson but really talked a LOT about how it wasn’t as good as Robinson Crusoe and how all the things that happened on the Island could never really happen. I found it funny hearing them critique the book so I asked them if they would rather not finish it? NO way! We HAD to finish it, they were just comparing 🙂 Funny how we are raising book critics with this education. I like it!
I think Kidnapped is the better book. But with your ages of kids TI might work better as a read-aloud. DON’T miss reading Kidnapped, though, it’s been one of our family’s favorite books. We all love it.
Heather, Island of the Blue Dolphins is very sad. It’s another book I love but keep it for teen years. Moby Dick is a miserable read-aloud. I read fast and it would take me approximately three years to read it aloud. OK, maybe I’m exaggerating a little. I cannot imagine reading it to a 5 and a 7yo, honestly. I only make my SENIORS read it and you couldn’t pay me enough to read it aloud, and I love above all things to read! LOL
My kids thought Swiss Family Robinson was hopelessly silly. We much preferred Robinson Crusoe. SFR is NOT a comedy book, but my kids laughed so hard through the whole thing I thought they were going to split. They wanted to find other books by the same guy on Amazon and trash them in all the reviews. I told them they couldn’t. lol.
Okay, looks like I need to rethink Island of the Blue Dolphins, huh?… Oh, and I have the Illustrated Classics (cheater’s version) of Moby Dick. I can’t imagine reading the full version to my children! I have Robinson Crusoe already on the schedule…even Peter Pan. Any more good read aloud suggestion with my pirate/ water/ island theme? This theme my children would never tire of!
Pinnochio? A fair bit is around water, including the whale stuff. Our library had a non-abridged very beautifully illustrated version…. however it did have a picture of pinnochio being hanged that I wish wasn’t in it…… so be warned. It isn’t too bad to read that part (he is a puppet so it didn’t hurt him) but that one picture… ugh. The rest of the pictures almost made it worth it. Maybe there is a version with good illustrations that don’t have that illustrated! (I’ve also seen a couple with only so-so illustrations….
LOL! Well, I am not at all a fan of abridged, dumbed-down or altered books, really. If you want exposure to the story, I can recommend the Tom and Jerry cartoon based on Moby Dick. I think it’s called Dicky Moe. ROFL Otherwise I’d just steer clear and skip it until/unless they ARE ready for the real thing. If you take out all the psychological drama and boring whaling narrative, you really don’t have much story left–not sure it’s worth the time.
My kids liked Swallowdale. My dd still wants to finish the series. They are more sailing oriented rather than the ocean, but they are a good read. What about Kon Tiki? The Brendan Voyage? These are true life stories of journeys across the seas in historically accurate sailing craft..you might have to edit them for language as you go? Not sure as mine were older when we read them..
I second Seabird! I read this to my 9 year old and we’re reading Pagoo right now and he loves them both. My 11 year old read Swallows and Amazons (this book is right before Swallowdale in the series) and he absolutely LOVED it. He was so excited about that book and we just now finally got our hands on Swallowdale. I’m interested to see if he enjoys it as much as the first. We also enjoyed Pinnochio in our house and are currently almost finished with it for the second time. I read it to my bigs when they were younger, and they are happily listening in as I read it to my littles. Not exactly fitting with your theme, but in a round about way it fits in, plus it’s a classic!
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