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Loading... Abel's Islandby William Steig
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. A fine and touching tale. Mocking of mice and men, who are like little boys, all. (  )Muzzorola | May 30, 2009 |   Wonderfully illustrated graphic novel (!) of a kids book, showing Abel's adventures as a storm strands him on a desert island, far from the woman/mouse he loves. (  )knitcrazybooknut | Dec 4, 2008 | While on a picnic, a storm rises and Abel and his wife, Amanda, along with others find shelter in a cave. Amanda's scarf blows off and Abel chases after it, but the storm is too much now and he is blown down the hill, into a river, over a waterfall, and eventually lands on a small deserted island. Abel, who has led a quiet, work-free, rich life up to this point now must work for his survival in an unknown landscape. This is a beautiful story. Abel learns so much about life from being on his own and having to work to survive. At first he desperately tries to escape but the swift flowing river stops him every time. He logically devises ways to cross but as time goes by his ideas become more outlandish until he realizes the only way off is to survive and wait for help. As this dandy rises to the challenges of his new life he begins to actually enjoy his life and starts to wonder what he will do when (he never loses hope) he gets back home as he does not want to give up this new found life of labour. I found the story heart-warming, with a message to never give up and to keep your faith even in the hardest of times. The 8yo loved it as well and he thought it was hilarious and exciting. I read this as child but this is the first time I've re-read it and it makes me want to re-read some more of Steig's books. ( )ElizaJane | Aug 8, 2008 | 2  A sophisticated city mouse gets stranded on an island during a storm. He's there for an entire season before finding a way to return home. Abel is a rather pompous, silly creature, but he can also be very thoughtful and resourceful. He learns to survive, to make do, and live very close to nature. Think Robinson Crusoe meets Charlotte's Web and you'll have a good idea of this book's character. William Steig's illustrations are an indispensable part of this book's charm. from the Dog Ear Diary (  )jeane | Jul 15, 2008 | 1 This is a story about a mouse who gets sept away ina flood while trying to catch his wife's scarf. Abel en up on a deserted island and must learn how to survive on his own. Abel tried to build boats to get back across the river but fails. Eventually Abel makes friends with a frog and figures out how to acroos the river with the frogs help. I can relate to Abel's crisis with being stranded on a deserted island and wanting to get home because I often felt that way when I lived in Alaska, I felt cut off from the rest of the world and my family. My son and I read this story together and enjoyed it tremendously. As a classroom extension I would have the students draw pictures of what they thought the island was like with a sentence or two describing their picture. Another extension would be to have the students choose other books with similar themes to read during independent reading. CLCrothers | May 5, 2008 | 0.080 seconds to build listing  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com (ISBN 0374400164, Paperback)One summer day, newlywed mice Abel and Amanda are out for a picnic in the woods when they are caught in a sudden storm--a "full-fledged, screaming hurricane" to be precise. As they take refuge in a cave, a wind scoops up Amanda's scarf, and Abel foolishly lunges from safety to retrieve it. So begins William Steig's Newbery Honor Book Abel's Island, the ensuing adventures of this rather foppish mouse as he comes head to head with nature. Amazingly, Abel is swept up in a stream, then a river, then eventually marooned on an island (about 12,000 tails long). He is sure that his rescue is imminent: "It's certainly gotten around that Abelard Hassam di Chirico Flint, of the Mossville Flints, is missing," the society mouse speculates. But he is not so lucky. What will this intelligent, imaginative rodent do to get off the island and back to his beloved Amanda? He busies himself with finding ways to get to shore (including bridges, boats, catapults, stepping stones, and gliders); figuring out what he should eat (everything from mulberries to roasted seeds); and investigating where he should take shelter (in a rotten log). As the weeks and months go by, he misses his books, his paintings, his comfortable stuffed chair, his stylish clothes (now damp, torn, and lumpy), but above all his precious wife Amanda, whom he thinks about constantly. As the mouse faces his new life Robinson Crusoe-style, Abel discovers what it's like to be in tune with the natural world as well as his true nature, and what it's like to return, fortified, to his real home and to the arms of the one he loves. Along the way, readers can't help but rediscover the joys of being alive. (Ages 8 and older, but an engaging read-aloud for younger children, too) --Karin Snelson(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:19 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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