My kids have way too many distractions. It seems they’re never bored enough to pick up a book. But that’s going to change.
Says me, anyway.
Whether your kids are old enough to read or just old enough to understand a story when you read it to them, there are plenty of good books out there to get them into the outdoors: books about shipwrecked families, homesteading, hunting dogs, dogsledding dogs, and even crazy primal societies where boys turn into beasts (see No. 3). Many have been turned into movies, but books let their imaginations roam without commercials. So we’ve compiled a list of the 16 best kid adventure books we know. No matter if your son or daughter is an aspiring woodsman, hunter, or survivalist, there’s something here for everyone (including us adults).
We’ve listed the recommended reading ages as advised by Scholastic, but you know your kid better than they do, so consider those rough guidelines. And if we’ve forgotten any that your kids enjoy, or favorites from your own childhood, please chime in.
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u003cem>Robinson Crusoe</em> by Daniel Defoe
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Mr. Crusoe is what singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson might call a “walking contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction.” The shipwrecked, would-be merchant has dreams of trading slaves to make his fortune and yet he saves a native man from cannibals. Then he goes on to subjugate “Friday,” instructing him to call him master. All British imperialistic allegory aside, Robinson Crusoe is a tale of mental and physical survival, with plenty of adventure thrown in. Crusoe’s character was likely based on Alexander Selkirk (1676-1721). He was a Scottish sailor who spent more than four years as a castaway. He asked to be left on a deserted island off the coast of Chile because he knew the ship he was on wasn’t seaworthy. And it wasn’t—it went on to sink off the coast of Colombia. Defoe’s Crusoe, has a rather bland personality in the book. Personally, I’d rather sip margaritas with Friday any day of the week.
u003cem>Tikta’ Liktak</em> by James M. Houston
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Author James Houston went to the Canadian Arctic in 1948 to paint new landscapes. He found those landscapes, but more importantly he found native people willing to share their way of life and lore with him. The result is Tikta’ Liktak, which is an Inuit-Eskimo tale retold and illustrated by Houston. A young Eskimo hunter is carried out to sea. He ends up on a rocky, deserted island but after much soul-searching, a vision, and trials, he resolves to find his way back home.
