Robinson Crusoe, Jr.: A Story for Little Folks
1863
Robinson Crusoe, Jr.: A Story for Little Folks
1863
Robert Gray was born on the Fourth of July, which might explain why he's got more imagination than sense. After receiving a copy of Robinson Crusoe for his birthday, the boy becomes utterly consumed by the dream of castaway life: a desert island, a loyal dog, and the glory of surviving by his own wits. So he builds a raft, smuggles aboard his faithful dog Trip and a distinctly unenthusiastic cat, and sets sail for a nearby island to become Crusoe himself. What he finds there is nothing like the adventure he pictured: gnawing hunger, crushing loneliness, and a nature that couldn't care less about a ten-year-old's romantic notions. The island strips away his fantasies layer by layer, leaving only the raw question of whether he'll survive long enough to see home again. Oliver Optic understood exactly how children's minds work that way: the grand idea, the daring execution, and then the slow, necessary reckoning with reality. It's a story about the distance between the books we love and the world we live in, and about how sometimes you have to lose everything to remember what mattered all along.
