Abel's Island

This book was a read aloud we had sitting in our TBRA pile for too long. It was delightful, and by turns laugh-out-loud funny and touching. Abelard Hassam di Chirico Flint, of the Mossville Flints, and his wife Amanda are picnicking when a sudden storm turns violent and they have to seek shelter. When his wife's scarf is blown away, Abel tries to save it, and is swept away by the storm to an island, where he is marooned, alone, for a year. Abel, with his fancy, fussy clothes, and his well-bred but idle ways discovers what he is made of as he attempts his own rescue, determines to stave off starvation and predators, and combats loneliness. A terrific read aloud.

Steig, W. (2007). Abel's island. New York: Square Fish.

I recently read this book to my 5 year-old daughter.

Summary:
Abel is carried away by a storm when he ventures from shelter in an attempt to retrieve his wife's scarf. The wind and water of the storm eventually leave him stranded on an island from which he must either escape quickly or learn to survive in wilds of nature.

Review:
The book is a wonderful example of WIlliam Steig's writing. The exciting parts were dramatic enough to keep my daughter on the edge of her seat, but not so much as to cause nightmares. There were also many funny parts that appealed to her as the child listener and I as the adult reader.
I have read this book in the past, but had forgotten how serious and somber the tone became in a few places. My daughter show more didn't catch on to how touchingly desperate some parts were, proving how carefully the story is layered for different levels of understanding. For a children's book, Abel's Island is a surprisingly deep and meaningful story.
Although we finished the book almost a week ago, I have seen my daughter pull the book down to look at the pictures several times - reliving the story again and again. show less

Abel's place in his familiar, mouse world has always been secure; he had an allowance from his mother, a comfortable home, and a lovely wife, Amanda. But one stormy August day, furious flood water carry him off and dump him on an uninhabited island. Despite his determination and stubborn resourcefulness--he tried crossing the river with boats and ropes and even on stepping-stones--Abel can't find a way to get back home. Days, then weeks and months, pass. Slowly, his soft habits disappear as he forages for food, fashions a warm nest in a hollow log, models clay statues of his family for company, and continues to brood on the problem of how to get across the river--and home. Abel's time on the island brings him a new understanding of the show more world he's separated from. Faced with the daily adventure of survival in his solitary, somewhat hostile domain, he is moved to reexamine the easy way of life he had always accepted and discovers skills and talents in himself that hold promise of a more meaningful life, if and when he should finally return to Mossville and his dear Amanda again. show less

A gentle, contemplative retelling of Robinson Caruso with a mouse protagonist. Swept away by wind and flood from a happy outing with his wife, Able has to fend for himself when he cannot escape an island in a river and keep himself safe from an owl and the winter.

• 117 pages, small pages, some illustrations
• Newberry Honor Book

Abel is an aristocratic mouse who loves fine clothes, has never had a job, and is devoted to his beloved Amanda. A hurricane whisks Abel away to a river island, where he is stranded for a year. His true character emerges and flourishes under the circumstances. He learns how to survive in the wild and returns home with life skills, a surprising artistic flare, and a grateful heart.

Well-written in a pleasant, gentle cadence. This is not so much of a page-turner, but a read on a lazy Sunday afternoon kind of book. Good for the average and strong reader who loves animals.

A mouse gets separated from his new bride in a storm (trying to save her scarf), is washed up on an island, and lives to find his way home. Honestly, I doubted any of my children would enjoy this book, but my nine year old daughter surprised me and said she loved it. It's a reflective book, but it has a satisfying happy ending (she would say it's a good book to read at night).

What if Robinson Caruso was a mouse?
I've had this book for years and I still read it from time to time, just because the story is so loveable.