Treasure Island

by Nancy Fletcher-Blume (Adapter), Jerry Dillingham (Illustrator), Robert Louis Stevenson

A quality collection of treasured classics, fully illustrated and carefully adapted for children.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Childrens, Chapter Books, Adventure, Literature, Novels

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Nancy Fletcher-Blume is a published adapter of children's books.

Reviews

[Mikejencostanzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, can I just say, if you are enjoying this book as a family read-aloud, I highly recommend following it up with a viewing of the 1996 film Muppet Treasure Island? It makes a colorful way to celebrate the book, and does a nice job of keeping many of the characters and plot points (while throwing in some fun plot twists and catchy show-tunes too).

As for this condensation of the book, we have no complaints. It read very smoothly, and kept us all thoroughly engaged in the story, from 8 year old to adult. True confessions, neither Mike nor I have read the original novel, so we finally know what the book is about!

~Jen

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute little adaptation. I plan on reading the full length one soon(ish) so once I do that I'll have better insight into this one, but it was fast-paced, easy to understand and full of action. Our main character, Jim, is completely awesome and good at thinking on his feet. I appreciated that and I liked his ability to adapt to his circumstances and make with it what he could.

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jim Hawkins owned an Inn with his family as a young boy. One day a strange looking man arrives. He only answers to Captain and he asks Jim to keep an eye out for a man with one leg. A few months go by, and Captain decides to tell Jim a secret. He begins by telling Jim that if he were to ever die, Jim must open his treasure chest and follow the instructions inside. The Captain eventually dies from a heart attack. Jim and his mother decide to open the chest. Inside the chest are gold pieces and a map leading to treasure. The squire and the doctor from town help Jim organize a ship and a crew so they can follow the map and find the hidden treasure. The squire eventually hires a crew consisting of many people, including Long John Silver who is the cook. Jim becomes suspicious of Silver because he only has one leg. (Captain warned Jim to keep an eye out for a man with one leg) One evening Jim overhears some of the crewmen forming a plan in taking over the ship and stealing the treasure for themselves. Jim finds out that these men are infamous pirates and are incredibly dangerous. Long John Silver is in fact the pirate Captain was warning him about. Jim tells the squire and the doctor about these plans. Once on the island, a fight breaks out against the pirates and the loyal crew members. It's a race to the treasure chest, but who will get there first?

This book was pretty good. It started slow, but it got very exciting and became very fun to read. This book had quite a few life lessons that everybody can learn from. For instance, it taught me to trust my instincts and go with my gut feeling. It teaches us to not judge people based on their appearance or back story. It also teaches us that people can change for the better. The wording of the book made it seem like I was there while reading it and it was very descriptive. I really liked this book and I definitely recommend it.

[Aimee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jim Hawkins is a young boy who lives with his mom and dad, in the eighteenth century. One day in the inn, the Captain falls over dead from a heart attack. Jim comes away with a packet of papers that the Captain had. He decides to bring them to Doctor Livesey. They decide that the packet of papers must contain a treasure map. And they're off on an amazing adventure! One night Jim overhears Long John Silver trying to persuade Dick Johnson to join Silver and his men. Jim realizes that the crew plans on killing the non-pirates and steal the treasure. Jim is faced with challenges and difficult decisions to make. This book is filled with action and adventure. Who will get to the treasure first?

I enjoyed this book! I thought it was very interesting, and the adventure and anticipation left me on the edge of my seat. I rated this book 3 stars because it was a little confusing at the beginning. But as the book moved along it started to make more sense. The book was in so much detail, and for the most part easy to understand! This is a great book for anybody to read. You can learn so many things from this book! Overall I really enjoyed this book!

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well that was easy. I'm glad I didn't attempt this one as a read aloud with my girls because I don't think they would have enjoyed it. Then again, you never know. Maybe I'll try it sometime. This was a quick way to read through a classic when I really prefer to stay away from them, lol. I enjoyed the story and the pictures, Pirates are kind of fun, and found myself rooting for young Jim Hawkins. He was a brave little guy.

[Elizabeth Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I’d give it…6 stars.”- middle son

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story of adventure with the boys. Loved the mystery all the way through, and the exciting ending.

[Brandon Conklin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Firstly: I read the wrong version. I didn't realize this was a condensed/abridged version of the story. Regardless... it was fine. The story itself was entertaining to read but the ending felt like it left a lot to be desired.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the review I wrote last year for the Robert Louis Stevenson classic, "Treasure Island":

Mutiny! Mayhem! Adventure! Stevenson's classic has defined fictional pirate culture -- 'X' marks the spot, peg-legged pirates, treasure maps, talking parrots, and plenty o' rum (and wine and brandy, too) -- and has given us such memorable characters as Long John Silver, the treacherous corsair. I started reading this with my seven-year old, but finished it myself (it was still a bit too advanced for him). It's a fun adventure story, but the writing is just mediocre and it lacks the depth of other Stevenson works, like "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."

I read this condensed/adapted version with my son and he enjoyed it. It is a fun adventure story to share (Stevenson initially wrote it at the request of his stepson). It stays true to Stevenson's classic for the most part, without quite as much detail and, though there's still rum, there's no wine or brandy in this rendition.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I scoffed at this idea at first but reading this version alongside the real one was very helpful. It was almost like cliff notes. Sometimes when I didn't understand what was happening in the real book, I read this to clear it up. It was pretty faithful to the original and is a better choice for kids. We watched Muppet Treasure Island which was a great version of this story as well.

[Pepe Doval · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic never gets old, and I enjoy detox with this kind of book from time to time.

The "Junior Classics for Young Readers" version makes it also very smooth to read, so I recommend that if like me you're not native and want to read a book without having to use the dictionary. Other than a few technical words (cutlass, coracle, ...) the book can be read aidlessly from cover to cover.

Other than that specific note on the junior version of the book, not much to add to the story itself that wasn't said before. I read the full version as a child in my native language and it's always nice to revisit such an adventure.

For some reason, I never realized until now that "Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" was also written by R.L.Stevenson who in my mind was the author of only "Treasure Island". The nice time I had reading this one makes me want to read the other now :-)

[Jordyn Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!! Let me just start with that. I didn’t have high expectations for this book (I didn’t have low ones either though). I was happily surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I’m definitely going to read the original letter on too so I can get all the details that had to be cut out when the book was abridged. If your looking for a quick book to read to fill in your time or while your waiting for a library book you requested, etc, this one is perfect!

[Gene Jr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable bedtime read with my 8-year-old son. A lot of guys dying and getting shot in the 2nd half. Full of action, adventure and suspense. This was both our first time reading this story. It was a simple enough version to keep his interest and not dumbed-down to bore me. I'd be interested in reading the full version just to see what else may have happened along the way.

[Mary T · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. Read this one aloud to my 6 year old. As others have mentioned, there are a lot of characters to keep up with and a lot of violence (this guy dies, then this guy dies, then a couple more get shot). I didn't know much about the plot, so I'm glad I now have some semblance of what happens, but I didn't care for it.

[Sherry · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were a lot of characters in this book, and it was hard to keep track of them. I imagine the full length gives more details on the characters, making it easier to remember who is who, but my boys (ages 5 and 7) really struggled with this one as I read aloud.

[Jonathan Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read to my daughter! Now we will watch the Disney movie! Good stuff

[Adam Kinunen]

Read aloud with Olivet 8/6/20

[Candice Roy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember reading this book as a child than seeing the old Disney movie and loving it.
Rafing it with my kids was like stepping back in time.
Definitely a must read for kids.

[Raquel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shorter and illustrated. Interesting story. Had to look at the character list to figure it all out. May read the unabridged version later. Read 29-30

[Alexis · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been so long since I read an adventure novel like this it brought out the childhood warm and fuzzies.

[Jessica Richards]

The youngest two of the kids were into this story. They begged for many chapters. I’m glad we finally read a story that was full of adventure and mystery!

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Junior Classics for Young Readers version of the 1880's Treasure Island. For ages 7 and up.

[Ashley Holmes · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ⭐️
So many characters to follow and not that interesting of a story. I wonder if the original is any better, but I’ll never find out because I won’t read it!

[Jessica Salisbury · Rating 2 out of 5]

fun quick read with my kids but a little hard to follow. best part was the 'Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum'

[G. Salter · Rating 5 out of 5]

The version that introduced me to this classic.

[Nathan Kaczmarek · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book "Treasure Island" is about a young boy named Jim Hawkins, and a quest to find treasure. It starts when a sailor comes to Jim, his mother and father's inn. The sailor, Sea Dog stays a the inn but he won't pay his rent. Jim's father is to intimidated by Sea Dog that he doesn't have the courage to ask this sailor for the money. One unexpected day the father comes down with a fatal sickness, and soon thereafter the sailor has a heart attack. So the doctor came for both of them, the father, he said, wouldn't make it, and the sailor wouldn't make it if he kept drinking so much rum. The father dies with Jim and Jim's mother at his side. The sailor gets into a fight with an old 'friend' of his. After they fight, the sailor drinks rum and he dies. Jim and his mother, both determined to get there money they are owed go into Sea Dog's room and they found an old chest in his room, so they open it and take the exact amount of money they need, and a few papers. They realize that the 'friends' of Sea Dog would probably be back for the chest so they run. They are on there way to the doctors house, when they see the other sailors, so they jump under a bridge, and hide. Jim and his mother went to the Doctors house but they find out that he isn't there, he is at the squires house, so Jim leaves to go see him. Jim gets there and shows the doctor and the Squire the papers, a real treasure map. They then decide to go after the treasure. They round up a crew; Jim, the Squire, the Doctor, Long John Silver, Captain Smollett, Israel Hands, and a few of the Squires servants. They then go to the island, when they're almost there, Jim hears LJS, a pirate, and a few other traitors to take over the 'honest' men and keep the treasure for themselves. The traitors go to the island first, and Jim, unnoticed, jumps ship and sneaks to the island. Where he meets a man that was marooned for three years. The 'honest' and the traitors fight, the traitors form the ship, and the 'honest' from the bunker that was on the island. They go after the treasure but its gone, who has the money? Who makes it home? read to find out.
I liked a few things about this book. Some of which included the fact that the story has pirates in it, I always liked books with pirates in them. I also liked that the author was very descriptive. One thing I didn't like was who lived/died in the end.
I would suggest this book to anyone that wants a good read anytime.

[Kristen Lester · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book Cover: This book has a nicely illustrated cover that really shows what the story is about. *STAR*

Author: This author wasn't terrible but isn't my favorite. Though I liked that he was able to write about the sea life from experience Robert Louis Stevenson's writing just didn't jump out at me. NO STAR

Story: I really wasn't crazy about how this story was written. I found it to be confusing at times and that I got lost on what was happening on more than one occasion. NO STAR

Characters/Relationships: I felt like this was overloaded with way to many characters causing it hard to keep track of who was who. NO STAR

Cleanliness: There was nothing bad in this book. *STAR*


Overall Review: This is not one of my favorite classics though I'm glad to say that I've read it. It did have some adventures that kept you guessing but I was lost part of the time and unable to truly enjoy them as I believe they were suppose to be read. It's definitely one everybody should read because it is a classic that has been around since 1886. I'll probably keep this book one my shelf because A.) It's a classic and B.) I might give it another go sometimes to see if I can enjoy it better the 2nd time around.

[Sylwia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed to find out that this edition is an "adapted" version. It makes it harder for me to understand exactly how much or how little of it is true to the original book, so I am just going to discuss this version specifically. The writing was very simple, the story was very fast, and I didn't feel as though I learned anything new about the world through it. I expected much more from such a well-known novel.

[Teresa Staton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Normally, I wouldn't bother reading an abridged version of a book, but this was a free book one of my children received from the library. We thought we would give it a try. Overall, I found this version hard to follow and confusing. I read this book as a read aloud with my 10-year-old daughter, and she enjoyed it more than I did. It did peek my interest in the original Treasure Island story, but I would not recommend this version.

[Casey Donnelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This adventure of pirates and searching for buried treasure puts young Jim Hopkins in constant danger after he finds the map. Hearing stories of Pirates close to where I lived, it was fun to read and imagine the story taking place in real life. I liked the story but I get nervous when Jim Hopkins almost get attacked.