A 2013 World Book Night selection.
One of Dan Snow's favourite books.
Marcus Sedgwick, July 2010 Guest Editor, says:
"I continually list this book in my top five, because it's my belief that most people haven't actually read it, and know it only from bowdlerised abridgements, which is a shame because the real thing is powerful, dark and above all, scary."
June 2010 Guest Editor Michael Morpurgo remembers:
A terrifically exciting tale of a dead man’s map, mutinous pirates, skulduggery and buried treasure that will be thoroughly enjoyed by a child if read aloud to them from the age of 5 upwards. It’s such a gripping adventure that children are sure to pick it up again to read alone when they’re a little older. It’s the story of Jim Hawkins who discovers a map in an old sea chest but little does he know of the danger and excitement which lie ahead when sets sail for Treasure Island in search of treasure.
What Michael Morpurgo says of his favourite children's book:
'This was the first proper book I read for myself. Jim Hawkins was the first character in a book I identified with totally. I was Jim Hawkins. I lived Treasure Island as I read it. And I loved it. Still do. I wish I'd written it.'
Treasure Island in a nutshell:
Black spot moment. Sea dog dies. Jim finds map. Ship sets sail. Pirates on board. Island is found. Madman in cave. Two rival camps. Battle for map. Dig up chest. Treasure is gone. Gunn has gold. Head back home. Silver runs off. Jim writes book.
Squire Trelawney, Doctor Livesey, and the rest of these gentlemen having asked me to write down the whole particulars about Treasure Island, from the beginning to the end, keeping nothing back but the bearings of the island, and that only because there is still treasure not yet lifted, I take up my pen in the year of grace 17-, and go back to the time when my father kept the "e;Admiral Benbow"e; Inn, and the brown old seaman, with the saber cut, first took up his lodging under our roof.I remember him as if it were yesterday, as he came plodding to the inn door, his sea-chest following behind him in a hand-barrow; a tall, strong, heavy, nut-brown man; his tarry pig-tail falling over the shoulders of his soiled blue coat; his hands ragged and scarred, with black, broken nails, and the saber cut across one cheek, a dirty, livid white.
| Primary Genre | Classic fiction: general and literary |
| Other Genres: |
Squire Trelawney, Doctor Livesey, and the rest of these gentlemen having asked me to write down the whole particulars about Treasure Island, from the beginning to the end, keeping nothing back but the bearings of the island, and that only because there is still treasure not yet lifted, I take up my pen in the year of grace 17-, and go back to the time when my father kept the "e;Admiral Benbow"e; Inn, and the brown old seaman, with the saber cut, first took up his lodging under our roof.I remember him as if it were yesterday, as he came plodding to the inn door, his sea-chest following behind him in a hand-barrow; a tall, strong, heavy, nut-brown man; his tarry pig-tail falling over the shoulders of his soiled blue coat; his hands ragged and scarred, with black, broken nails, and the saber cut across one cheek, a dirty, livid white. I remember him looking round the cove and whistling to himself as he did so, and then breaking out in that old sea-song that he sang so often afterwards:"e;Fifteen men on the dead man's chest,Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!"e;in the high, old tottering voice that seemed to have been tuned and broken at the capstan bars.
Treasure Island features in the following genres: Classic fiction: general and literary, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Classic fiction, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Action and adventure stories, Children’s / Teenage general interest: Pirates, General Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Children’s / Teenage general interest: Adventurers and outlaws, Children’s / Teenage general interest: History and the past, Children’s / Teenage: General interest
Hardback, Paperback, Ebook, CD-Audio. £2.08. Digital. Available Immediately. Country restrictions apply..
Treasure Island was written by Robert Louis Stevenson and published by Distributed By PublishDrive
£2.08. Digital. Available Immediately. Country restrictions apply..