Abel's Island

Novel
Title: Abel's Island
Author: William Steig
Age Level: 8+
Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary
Abel's Island is a story about a mouse, Abel, who lives in Mossville with his wife, Amanda.  They live a very easy and taken for granted life that is soon turned upside down.  One stormy August day, Abel and Amanda set off on a picnic but are faced with a huge storm and are forced to find shelter in a cave.  While Amanda is peering out from the cave her scarf gets blown away and, by nature, Abel leaps out to grab it.  He is carried down the river in the flood to an unihabited island.  He is stuck on this island for a full year and is forced to acquire survival skills to stay alive and try to find a way off the island.  During his journey on the island he discovers a new way of life and finds new talents and skills in himself that he did not know he had.  When he ultimately finds his way off the island he has a new perspective on life and finds pleasure in new things.

Opinion
Abel's Island was one of my favorite novels growing up.  I remember reading it in my 4th grade class and really enjoying the activities that we did along with it.  This is a book that stands out most in my mind when I think back to my favorites during elementary school.  This book won the Newbery Honor award and I think it really deserved it.  The writing in this book is very descriptive and also is a bit challenging which allows students a chance to use their literacy skills in finding meaning to words and sentences.  I think  that having pictures in black and white on a selection of pages in the book really helps the reader paint a picture of what is actually going on and gives them more insight into the struggles and journeys that abel encounters.  The book also portrays the message of never taking anything for granted and the importance of survival skills.  Also, throughout abel's journey he finds new talents and skills that make him very happy and excited and I think that this shows kids that if they step outside of their element they can find things out about themselves that they never knew.

I think that this would be a great novel to use in a classroom with 4th or 5th grade students.  Some of the language in this novel is difficult so those in upper elementary would be more likely to understand it better.  An activity that I would do with this book would be having the children put on a puppet show that represents one of the scenes in the book where Abel uses a survival skill or finds a new talent in himself.  I think that this would be a fun activity for the students and allow them to be creative and connect with the material in a way that is different from what normally is done in the classroom.