Robinson

Reviewed by: Jill O'Connor - Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary School, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 10, 2018

Review

The message of Sis's book is excellent: sometimes we go out on a limb and make a choice that is different from that of our friends, and there can be heartache and isolation due to that choice, but if we are patient and our friends are true friends, we will be rewarded for that choice and all will be well in the end. But the execution of that message is incredibly personal and nostalgic in this book and without some perspective, and the knowledge of the book Robinson Crusoe, this book will need a wiser hand to shepherd that message. The narrator of the story has a group of friends with whom he enjoys playing pirate. When a costume party is announced, he is prepared to dress like a pirate along with his friends. But his mother has another idea, to dress him like his favorite story character Robinson Crusoe. The boy agrees, but when he arrives at school, he is laughed at and he chooses to run back home; his mother lets him, tucking him into bed. He then dreams that he is shipwrecked on a deserted island like the hero of his favorite book. The pen, ink, and watercolor illustrations take over from here, each lush and appealing; a feast for the eyes. As the boy wakes from his dream, his friends are there, apologetic and ready to set off on new make-believe adventures, and the boy is, once again, happy. The Author's Note explains the biographical tie of the book to Sis's own life and it might have been better placed at the beginning of the story to provide context to the young reader who might then have been able to see the story as a memory and a lesson. It is a gorgeous book and, in the hands of a parent or educator, a tool for discussion about making choices and standing up for oneself, and also of the power of imagination and how great books can bring solace in a time of sadness.

Overall Book Score: good