The Swiss Family Robinson

Recommended by Hopi Hoekstra, Edgerley Family Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the C.Y. Chan Professor of Arts and Sciences and the Xiaomeng Tong, and Yu Chen Professor of Life Sciences

This novel, among my favorite children’s stories, tells a tale of the exciting adventure of a Swiss family (parents and four sons), who, en route to Australia, are shipwrecked by a storm in the East Indies. This is a classic story of survival — replete with action and suspense — in which a family works together to start a new life in a land with strange food, exotic creatures, and a beautiful landscape. My only quibble (as a biologist) is that the collection of animals on the island — from flamingos to kangaroos and buffalo — don’t occur in the East Indies nor together anywhere on the globe. Nonetheless, values of optimism, perseverance, and teamwork are highlighted throughout.