Now Playing: The Swiss Family Robinson

Perfect Picture Book Friday will return in September.
Until then,

Welcome to the Bookish Ambition 

Summer Drive-In

The Circle Drive-In from my childhood. Still open and now with double features on two screens!

Now Playing: 
The Swiss Family Robinson
Written by Johann Wyss
First publication 1812, first English Translation, Godwin, 1814
Penguin Random House, 2007
Ages 10 and up, Lexile 540L

Swiss Family Robinson, Disney, 1960

Adult edition of The Swiss Family Robinson,
Penguin Random House, 2007

Highlights from the book? 

• High-adventure
• Educational: everything from candle making to sugar production
• Scope for the imagination
• Frequent Christian themes

Highlights from the movie?

• Classic mid-century cinema
• Action and humor
• Dream sets and locations
• Feel-good family movie
• The treehouse!
• Coconut bombs
• Great danes

Opening:

"For many days we had been tempest-tossed. Six times had the darkness closed over a wild and terrific scene. Returning light as often brought but renewed distress, for the raging storm increased in fury until on the seventh day all hope was lost."


Movie Trailer:

The Swiss Family Robinson was written to educate the author's children in an entertaining format. He incorporates his Christian principle as well as various scientific pursuits and facts about dozens of animal species, all from the eighteenth century man's perspective. The family encounters dangers from animals, storms, seasons, and outsiders. They struggle not only to survive but to thrive. Although the story is far-fetched and sometimes encyclopedic, it lights a spark in the imagination. It reads like a bible for the current makers movement. Despite the colonial mindset of  the characters (and the fact they kill and cook every animal that moves) the book makes for good family reading, inspiring readers to question past assumptions and delve into creative projects. Try a variety of English translation, retellings, graphic novels, or audiobook versions.

Reminisce with intermission commercials
from Captain Bijou on You Tube.

Visit Our Snackbar!

We haven't yet mentioned that staple of summer, ice cream!

Stroll to the snack bar during intermission for a Good Humor eclair on a stick or Nestle Drumstick, sundae in a cone.

It's tough to take ice cream to the drive in, but Let's Dish has created "ice cream" cookie sandwiches which are good for on-the-go. Creator Danielle adapts a cool whip/instant pudding recipe I've used for years and sandwiches it between chocolate chip goodness. (Try it with soft peanut butter cookies, too!)

Nostalgic for a drive-in movie?
There are over 5,000 drive-in theaters across the U.S. mapped for you on Cinema Treasures.

The country's second oldest drive-in movie theater, Shankweiler's, opened in 1934.

Visit Shankweiler's Drive-In in Orefield, PA. Still operating after 84 years.

Shankweiler's, the oldest continuously operating
drive-in theater in the United States.

Have you seen any screen adaptations of The Swiss Family Robinson? What's your opinion?

Have you reviewed the book? Please leave the link in the comments below. Thanks!

View all the Summer Drive-In reviews for 2017.
Check out the Marvelous Middle Grade Monday review of The Swiss Family Robinson, coming August 14, 2017.