The Swiss Family Robinson

“We prepared for our rest; we loaded all our arms, then offered up our prayers together, thanking God for his signal mercy to us, and commending ourselves to his care.”

When a Swiss pastor and his family are shipwrecked on a tropical island they look to their faith in God to help them triumph over adversity. Faced with surviving in an unknown environment, the family uses supplies from the abandoned ship and their own skills in farming to build a rewarding new life—all while striving to be faithful to their Christian ideals.

First published in 1812, The Swiss Family Robinson was inspired by Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, and was intended to instruct author Johann David Wyss’s sons about the Christian faith, family values, and self-reliance. In the more than two centuries since its publication, The Swiss Family Robinson has been translated and reprinted numerous times, and has been adapted for comics, television and film.

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