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homebodynate's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Religious bigotry
Minor: Colonisation
amonkhouse's review
I heard the synopsis of this and knew I was destined to read it. Was not disappointed
mitchy1127's review
2.0
I loved this book when I was younger. I recently rediscovered it and was disappointed to learn that it's actually terrible. 😂😂😂
hoovera's review
3.0
This was actually a surprisingly good book. I had found a discussion thread about books that people read in the past that no one seems to have ever heard of and this was on it so I checked it out from the library. It is a juvenile book but the story was compelling.
shicklin's review
3.0
We are currently reading this aloud together. Two young girls stranded on an island with four babies. We all laughed out loud when the Girl's names were Mary and Jean, and there was an Aunt Emma and an Elijah-- No Caleb--(there was a funny monkey though, so maybe that represented him).
arkham's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism
seven_of_ten's review
5.0
This was to me one of the sweetist cutiest little stories I have ever read!
I really think everyone should at lest read this once...It's not about anything really special just two girls takeing care of children on an island and there adventures.
I really think everyone should at lest read this once...It's not about anything really special just two girls takeing care of children on an island and there adventures.
kricketa's review against another edition
4.0
shipwrecked on a desert island with BABIES!! lots and lots of BABIES!! when i was little, this sounded fun. now it sounds like hell.
update: re-read in 2014 after the great flood of detroit that left me feeling like i'd been shipwrecked. i still think it's weird that they were stranded with a bunch of babies, but i love all the survival stuff. and mr. peterkin is pretty awesome. quality nostalgic fun.
update: re-read in 2014 after the great flood of detroit that left me feeling like i'd been shipwrecked. i still think it's weird that they were stranded with a bunch of babies, but i love all the survival stuff. and mr. peterkin is pretty awesome. quality nostalgic fun.
pagesofpins's review
I recall this being wildly entertaining as a child, and it's just as amusing as an adult, mostly because it's the most absurd thing ever written.
Prim and proper 12 yr old Mary and her 10 yr old sister, Jean, master of jaunty made-up songs and morbid comments, wake in the night to find that their ship is going down en route from San Francisco to Australia. They do what any sisters would do: rush to the cabins of the cute babies they usually watch and, finding the baby parents absent to deal with the crisis, grab the babies (kidnapping much?) and aggressively demand a lifeboat.
https://ibb.co/cGqcfx
Check out that masterful baby hold
When their lifeboat is prematurely jettisoned, they end up Swiss Family Robsinson style on an island that perfectly meets their needs. Oddly, they immediately push aside all plans of rescue and thoughts of how the families will be affected and immediately make plans for raising a girl, three boys and a monkey named Prince Charley for the next fifty years. But don't worry, they do find an adult--a grizzled nine-toed man who moved to the island to escape, you guessed it, babies. Don't worry, they force him to attend Island Sunday School and he is soon reformed.
https://ibb.co/h6pjtH
Just feeding a baby goat rum. Nothing to see here.
You can tell this was written in 1937, because aside from the problematic ideas the girls have about "savages" and "Indians", it's basically a love letter to homemaking for little girls. In this book you'll learn such handy skills as heating a bottle using a lantern, making clamshell dishes, and cooking a Christmas pudding in a shanty. Not to mention parenting using mostly canned milk and coconuts.
https://ibb.co/k6q7DH
Siblings?
This book brings with it many unsolved mysteries: There are never ANY diaper changes? How does a shanty on a desert island have what appears to be an electric oven? This seaman moves to the island to escape nagging women and babies, only gets mail every two years, and his allegedly smoking hot bar wench girlfriend STILL WRITES TO HIM?! Two kids are excited about living on bananas and clams for months? Let's not even get in to the absurd rescue at the end.
Prim and proper 12 yr old Mary and her 10 yr old sister, Jean, master of jaunty made-up songs and morbid comments, wake in the night to find that their ship is going down en route from San Francisco to Australia. They do what any sisters would do: rush to the cabins of the cute babies they usually watch and, finding the baby parents absent to deal with the crisis, grab the babies (kidnapping much?) and aggressively demand a lifeboat.
https://ibb.co/cGqcfx
Check out that masterful baby hold
When their lifeboat is prematurely jettisoned, they end up Swiss Family Robsinson style on an island that perfectly meets their needs. Oddly, they immediately push aside all plans of rescue and thoughts of how the families will be affected and immediately make plans for raising a girl, three boys and a monkey named Prince Charley for the next fifty years. But don't worry, they do find an adult--a grizzled nine-toed man who moved to the island to escape, you guessed it, babies. Don't worry, they force him to attend Island Sunday School and he is soon reformed.
https://ibb.co/h6pjtH
Just feeding a baby goat rum. Nothing to see here.
You can tell this was written in 1937, because aside from the problematic ideas the girls have about "savages" and "Indians", it's basically a love letter to homemaking for little girls. In this book you'll learn such handy skills as heating a bottle using a lantern, making clamshell dishes, and cooking a Christmas pudding in a shanty. Not to mention parenting using mostly canned milk and coconuts.
https://ibb.co/k6q7DH
Siblings?
This book brings with it many unsolved mysteries: There are never ANY diaper changes? How does a shanty on a desert island have what appears to be an electric oven? This seaman moves to the island to escape nagging women and babies, only gets mail every two years, and his allegedly smoking hot bar wench girlfriend STILL WRITES TO HIM?! Two kids are excited about living on bananas and clams for months? Let's not even get in to the absurd rescue at the end.