Middle grade before there was such a thing, this was one of my absolute FAVES when I was 8,9,10 years old. Reread my dad’s childhood copy a million times. And I enjoyed reading it aloud to my girls.

What you should know: two girls shipwrecked with 4 babies. And they make it work, capable, and are cheerful, even. References to Robinson Crusoe (sparked interest in the novel!).

Criticism: written in the 1960’s, and it had escaped me as a child, but modern readers should know the girls’ fear over meeting “savages” on the island were instantly alleviated when they glimpse a white guy. Might he be an evil murderous pirate? Sure. They acknowledge that. But apparently that’s better than an native of the islands, who is much more worrisome to them than pirates. Because: non-Christian cannibals. An opportunity to talk to my white daughters about fears and stereotypes. (Soooo many such opportunities in the literature I loved as a child!)

Still, 5* because of the childhood feels AND rich discussion.

Read it on an airplane. Good, wholesome, baby-island fun. No revelations, but surely a happier way to spend a few hours than watching the new Miley Cyrus movie.

First sentence: On the night of September twentieth, the S.S. Ormina, two weeks outward bound from San Francisco to Australia, was struck by a tropical storm and badly disabled.

Premise/plot: Mary Wallace (age 12) and her sister Jean (age 10) have a grand old time when they find themselves shipwrecked on an island in charge of four children under the age of two. Think about that for a minute--if you're an adult.

So as the ship is sinking, Mary decides to help rescue the babies she knows are on board. Apparently three of the four babies weren't with their parent(s) at the time. The two sisters end up with four babies (three of which are siblings): Elisha and Elijah (age 20 months) and Jonah (age 4 months) AND a little girl Ann Elizabeth (age 1). So these children end up in a lifeboat together--no other women (as you'd expect in a sinking ship). They are set adrift in the ocean. But don't worry, all will be well because we've got baby whisperers on board. Mary knows everything there is to know about babies. And she's willing to learn about lifeboats and islands, too, I suppose.

Eventually, the lifeboat comes to shore on a desert island. The kids persevere for a bit...having one grand adventure after another. Will rescue come?

My thoughts: My mom LOVED this book when she was in elementary school. She's always talking about how much she'd love to reread this book and how she hasn't seen a copy in years. So it was a Christmas gift to her this year. And after she reread it, I decided to read it for the first time. She has warm and fuzzy memories about it. I do not have such--for better or worse.

It's not that the book is bad--or "bad"--so much as the book is ridiculously naive and requires a long suspension of disbelief. So long as you don't think about what it would actually be like to be shipwrecked with babies on a desert island, you might enjoy yourself mightily. But this book doesn't really accurately cover the things babies are known for most.

Is this because it wasn't polite to talk about dirty diapers in general in 1937? Or it wasn't appropriate for children to read about dirty diapers? But it wasn't just that these babies never made messes in their clothes/diapers. It was that they didn't really behave and act like babies at all. I mean taking care of young babies is HARD--as in exhausting, physically, mentally, emotionally demanding. Not that it isn't rewarding and worth it. Not that it can't be full of sweet, tender, lovely moments. But for all the sweetness and joy--there's a lot of clean up and work.

But forgiving that--and I can forgive that--it also doesn't feel realistic in terms of island survival either. Like this island has no insects or wild life that pose any dangers or risks whatsoever. Not that I wanted there to be poisonous, venomous creatures about--just the idea that this island was 100% baby-proofed and that it was so safe and so easy. (Also no one ever gets sunburned.) It's like super-easy to keep all four babies (and themselves) adequately nourished. It just doesn't feel realistic or likely.

I read this to the kids, we all really liked it.

Cute, Sweet and fun story.

How I loved this book as a kid!! My sister got it from Scholastic Book Services and I read it over and over; I was amazed at how much of the actual text I remembered, word-for-word, 40 years later. My control-freak sis saw herself as mumsy Mary, who adored babies and animals and did everything right the first time. Except, yeah, kidnapping other people's kids thinking you are "saving" them, without looking around for the parents first. Yeah, that's a pretty big mistake. Then there's younger sister Jeannie, who is an impulsive and curious tomboy, "the father of this family" who gets things wrong that come right...like not carrying a sewing kit, but the safety pins she does carry keep the kids from floating out to sea...and the postcards.

Back in the sixties I never asked myself when the book was first published, because we were used to hero kids who could do anything--Nancy Drew, Katie John, Donna Parker etc. But now I see it came out in 1937, which explains why the girls are so good at cooking over a fire (not to mention building a fire that you can actually cook over), making stuff that actually works, etc. Their "man Friday" is just another big kid who has to be looked after and brought up to be decent, and of course their almost-womanly purity brings about the changes he needs in record time; by the end of the story he's ready to go back home and make an honest woman of his fiancee, and raise a few young 'uns of his own.

If you're looking for dysfunctional, dystopian YA fiction, look elsewhere. If you want to read about two Roberta Crusoes who make good on a 3-month camping trip, you'll enjoy this.

Was my favorite book for quite awhile when I was little.

Classic young adult adventure.
After being cast off a sinking ship with a boatload of babies, Jean and Mary Wallace float to a tropical island. After lots of hard work, they have a bit of a dwelling, they have food, but the evaporated milk from the lifeboat is running out, and the babies can’t have only coconut milk. Where would you find milk on an uninhabited island? And that is when they find the huge footprint of a man… missing a toe!

Super fun book! Girls on an adventure. My second grader loved it. However, for a child just finding their reading "voice" this can be a hard read as there are accents. While my daughter read this and rose to the challenge within her reading program her literal thinking mind highlighted the challenge of accents. She loved the story but it was humorous to talk to her about things and ask about word or try to pronounce them. This adventure of shipwrecked children may be better suited for 4th - 6th grade. The children show resilience, faith, resourcefulness, kindness, and more.

Just read this book again, having read it a few time before when I had a softcover copy a few years back. It's still as good as I remember.

I love books about kids getting in situations that causes them to make a new life and order for themselves, (Baby Island, Mandy, Hatchet, and so on). The characters in this book are bright, funny, unique, and offer a fun reading experience. I love the babies and their different personalities and how motherly Mary is.

Its a book that circumstances sound somewhat dark, but turns out to be really cute, lighthearted, and fun!

Overall a quick enjoyable read with a well executed plot. - Zoe

I read this book in elementary school. I loved it.

I think my third-grade teacher read this to us. It caught my imagination and inspired me to be a nurturing mother. I still think about this book all the time.