Treasure Island

by Chris Tait (Adapted by), Robert Louis Stevenson, Lucy Corvino

Unrivaled in literature, Stevenson's Treasure Island is among the most delightful adventure romances of all time. From young Jim Hawkins' first encounter with an old buccaneer and his treasure map to the final daring skirmish with the treacherous pirate Long John Silver, this classic work enchants and fuels the imagination with beautiful illustrations.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Adventure, Childrens, Middle Grade, Historical Fiction, Chapter Books

160 pages, Hardcover

Published March 1, 2005

Reviews

[Yigal Zur · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of the best adventure books ever written. still

[Jessica Birkle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is for the Classic Starts (abridged version) of Treasure Island. We read this version as a family read aloud with my 5 and 6 year olds. I read the unabridged novel on my kindle at the same time, in order to compare the two versions (had never read either before).

For our purposes, the Classic Starts version of the story was perfect. The original contains a fair amount of drinking and violence, which is significantly toned down in the Classic Starts edition. My kids would also not have been able to follow the language in the original, but the abridged version was just right for my 6 year old (5 year old still had some trouble - this was only our second chapter book read aloud). I recommend it as a read aloud with young-ish kids (maybe 5 to 10 age range) or for an elementary school aged child reading independently. We are looking forward to others in the series.

[⚘ Itz Lia the Bibliophile ⚘ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read for my 24 hour Read a thon! Wasn't the best! I hardy enjoyed it. Hopefully I will like the original more???

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

The unabridged Treasure Island is one of my favorites, and this abridged version captures all the best parts of the original.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The way I still wish I was Jin Hawkins all these years later after reading this w my dad when I was a little kid!!

[Emma Dummer · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 2nd grade class used this book as our first read aloud of the year. Initially, I was very excited to expose the kiddos to one of my favorite stories. This version is adapted for younger readers. However, upon reading it aloud, I realized that it did not censor as many of the graphic scenes as I thought it would. I found myself adapting many of the chapters to be suitable for 2nd grade ears. Perhaps a big shift from the lighthearted storybooks they are used to for read aloud. Oops! Overall, by the end, the students very invested in the story and couldn’t wait to find out what happened to Jim Hawkins. Great story, great adaptation, perhaps not for 2nd graders 🙃

[Dana Voth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this abridged version after listening to the original - and knowing I didn’t “get” it all. I’m a huge fan of a good abridged version as a way to become familiar with a book, so that when you read the original you can sit back and enjoy instead of trying so hard to figure out what’s going on.

[Hunter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Treasure Island is a fantastic book now don't get me wrong but this shorter knock off did not suit the bill. Treasure Island is an classic adventure novel which tells a fantastic mysterious story but in my opinion this recreated version just does not quite achieve what the original achieved. First off the story in this novel is very slow going meaning that it takes time for the story to actually get some where most of the time you're reading information that is not relevant to the story but you activity need this important information to stay engaged in the story. Second of all this re written version is not very detailed when the author is trying to explain what is going on at that time, you don't get much of a background its just like here is the character out of no where telling us this good luck getting to know him better its hard to understand. 3 The book itself is too short the first couple chapters aren't really that important but the last few chapters it seems as if the author wanted to finish rewriting the book as quickly as possible so he decided lets just cram all the major events into the last few chapters and not spread them out with in the book and thats what makes me disipointed the author almost completely ruined the story by doing this. Over all the book is all right but defiantly for me not what I am looking for. If you want to understand a little bit about Treasure Island sure go ahead and read this, but if you want to get the full details and understand the book completely and have the time to read I defiantly recommend going with the classic. The book is ok but needs a lot of editing to make it the best it possibly could.

[Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-telling a story cannot be an easy task. If readers already know and love the original book they most likely never will be satisfied with the re-telling, and if people aren't familiar with the original, trying to figure out which parts to leave in and which to skip likely causes headaches.

I loved Mr. Stevenson's original version. Growing up it was my favorite book, and I still consider it one of my all-time favorite reads, so I did not expect to be impressed by this re-told version. All told, though it isn't perfect, Mr. Tait has done a good job of keeping the essence of the story while radically shortening the book. Though it's hard to compare it with the original version, I think this version would be good for younger children, and it hopefully is tantalizing enough to make them want to read the brilliant original when they are a bit older.

[Mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read Treasure Island as a kid and loved it. I wanted to reread it, checked it out from the library, and found it was a dumbed-down-for-kids version. WHY? RLS wrote it as a book for youngsters. Some moron is what? going to clean up the 19th Century references so as not to offend today's kids or something? Does this person, Chris Tait, think our kids are idiots? Or maybe the silly prat wants to make sure that they become idiots. Are they going to go through and rewrite other 19th Century classics? Maybe clean up references to the guillotine in A Tale of Two Cities? Really sad, and a travesty. (I actually didn't read it to the end because it was too insipid and NOT Rbt Louis Stevenson).

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read with the boy. At first was unsure whether to read this abridged version or the original. But comments from others leg me to this one.

I now understand that this is what inspired the Disney pirates of the Caribbean.

Didn’t realize how much was written from the perspective of a kid.

We enjoyed the story. A bit disjointed at times. Good discussion questions at the end. Lots for reflection.

[Cristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars only because this is a classic and I read the original one so it deserved them. I read this one to my young son. This version is not well written I am afraid, its hard to follow and it seems at times cut of important details.

[Nathan Donovan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good in a pirate's belt.

[Carole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Abridged version of the classic by Robert Louis Stevenson.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main goal of these retold-for-kids classics is to get a child interested in a classic. In this case it worked.

[Corey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as good as I was hoping, however part of it could be attributed to the audiobook that I listened to.

[Jenni Moeller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading these aloud to my kids is a good way for me to cross the Classics off my own list without having to read the full version lol 😆

[Acton Academy Concord · Rating 5 out of 5]

i like the boy in this story. i like the voice. nothing surprised me. i would not. because i like the ending.

[Lauryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was interesting and a quick read.

[Kendra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good abridged version for my 4th grade class. The kids liked the story.

[Charlotte Burrill · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not good not good at all

[Aiden Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was fun and had a cool story.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as much fun to read as when I was 10. A bit darker than I remember. Still a great adventure story though. A real classic!

[Samantha Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book about the epic adventure of Jim Hopkins's trip to treasure island. It begins when a strange man comes into the Jim's tavern and talks of a man with one leg. The strange man is killed by the black spot and a crew of pirates break into the tavern in search for his key that opens a treasure chest on Treasure Island. Jim is able to get the key and when he alerts the city he joins a group of men on a voyage to seek out the chest. Jim is unaware that he is on a ship of mostly pirates until he over hears them talking about their plans to steel the treasure. Once they get on to the island there is a battle between the honest men and the pirates. Jim has to keep himself and his loyal crew members safe, while still ensuring that the pirates don't get the treasure.

There are many movies and books about this story out there, but they all have the same plot give or take a few changes. From the movies I have seen based off this book, they have all followed the story really well. They have the same great plot and characters. The movies do really well to get all of the major parts in the book as well as most of the minor parts.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good and dangerous adventure. This is a great classic that is fun to read. The book contains a great plot as well as descriptive characters that really bring the story to life. This book has been loved by people for many years and now it is loved by me.

[Titus Larsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

9 year old loved it. 8yo and 6yo thought it was too scary.

[Parker D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Treasure Island is about Jim Hawkins, a boy who is off to find pirate treasure. He has found the map to the island, the ship, and a crew. With a long journey there, Jim hears that some members of the crew plot to kill all of the non-pirates when they find the treasure. Most pirates were killed but Long John Silver was spared as he saved Jim from death by the other pirates. Next, the treasure is loaded onto the ship;now all that they have to go is get home. Silver runs away with some of the treasure and the rest of the crew split it evenly amongst themselves.
This book is very interesting, the thought of pirates sounds childish but the book is actually not childish. It is good for all people who like adventures but also for people that are experiencing friendship changes. When Jim first finds the crew he trusts them and befriends them, but as the story progresses towards finding the treasure his trust starts to weaken upon this unknown crew. Over all I really liked this book and will probably read it again.

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Treasure Island is one of my favorite book after i finish the story. It tells about Jim Hawkins, a young adventurer had to find pirate's treasure somewhere where no one ever been there. At first, when i read this book i don't really like it because it's about pirates and finding treasure. But since i read on until the middle of the story, i began to feel curious and start to liking this story. It's so interesting and i always can't wait what will happen next, this is the first time i liked a story about pirates from all of pirate stories i read and watched. The main character, Jim Hawkins is very brave and he's not afraid of facing the most feared pirate. He, Long John Silver and other crew confronted danger and risk losing their life when they fought with the enemy which is a blind man and his crew in a "black spot" which is an island.

Overall the book is really interesting and i love it when i imagined the situation. It's more realistic and more tense rather than just read it.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another nostalgic read!

While The Adventures of Robin Hood is still my favorite edition of the Classic Start series, this comes in at a close second. Now, I have never read the original edition of Treasure Island and in fact, my only familiarity with the material had come from the arguably perfect films "Treasure Planet" and "Muppets Treasure Island." While this story has been cleaned up quite a bit - specifically in regards to the graphic violence that plays a primary role in most renditions - this is still a swash-buckling pirate adventure that anyone of all ages can enjoy. It's another example of how literary classics can be reimagined for young readers while still keeping the heart of the story alive, making it a great introduction to the type of grand storytelling that seems to have been lost in the modern day.

[Tanner J.]

I pledge to do everything I can to save you."(127-Doctor). The classic start adaptation of "Treasure Island" is a great book. I believe it captures all the fun parts of the original "Treasure Island" including the pirate ship battles and the intensity of the story. The story follows a young man named Jim who is just a man getting through life. But, before he knows it, he's in one of the biggest adventures of his life. Setting sail with a crew of pirates to Treasure Island, the island that is said to hold the treasure of the old sea dog. There is battles, pirates, and most important of all, TREASURE. I definitely will recommend this book to my kids and probably to my friends. "If you keep drinking rum, the world will very soon be quit a very dirty scoundrel." is the type of personification they use in this book. As you can see, this is a great book.

[Jonathan Balun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every kid would love Treasure Island. The problem with the original Stevenson classic is that it tends to get banned for blood and violent situations. That is why we have this classic starts adapted version. You can follow young Jim Hawkins through all of his pirate adventures. Yes, he still fights. Yes, he kills another pirate, but the action scenes are quick and less gruesome than the original. Good for grades 4-7.