Treasure Island

Now here is a book to write home about. A lavish new edition of the Stevenson adventure classic, just right for sharing with an older child. This book reeks of quality, from the black and white pen illustrated endpapers to the heavy, creamy coloured paper, the full colour plates and that heady, musty smell if you stick your nose into the pages, more often associated with American books. This book is a real treat.

The classic text, published in 1881, is here in all its glory and Stevenson’s tale of ‘a map, and a treasure, and a mutiny, and a derelict ship, and a fine old Squire Trelawney, and a doctor, and a sea cook with one leg’ remains one of the best-loved adventure stories of all time. And never has it been so well served by an illustrator as in this sumptuous edition. Originally published in 1992, Ingpen has added some brand new illustrations using his award-winning and most distinctive pen and ink and watercolour technique. Using a rich and varied palate of reds, ochre, purples, blues and greens, the story is brought to life in luminous detail. Some of the pages sing with exuberance, such as the portrait of Ben Gunn, all wild hair, hairy beard and leathery face. The detailed rigging on the tall ship, the highly expressive wizened sailors’ faces, the smaller thumbnail sketches – all are perfectly executed and a delight to pour over. A book not to be missed – and certainly one for every older child’s library.

Age 7+ (read Aloud)