 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Nim's Island
Common Sense Media says
Lighthearted, satisfying survival story.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that that there is little to be concerned about here, other than the premise of the story, which is that a father leaves his young daughter alone on a deserted island for several days.
What's the story?
Since the presumed death of her mother many years ago, Nim and her scientist father live alone on an island in the middle of the ocean, connected to the world only by satellite phone and email. But when her father goes off on his sailboat to research plankton and doesn't return on schedule, Nim, alone on the island, turns to her favorite author for help.
Is it any good?
Take a spunky heroine competently surviving on her own on a deserted island (the ultimate kid fantasy). Add in animal friends who seem to understand, the vaguest of villains hovering in the background and easily overcome, a smattering of scientific information effortlessly absorbed, and a very satisfying conclusion. Then write it in breezy style, making the various pieces of the story fit together in a nicely coincidental, jigsaw-puzzle way. All together it makes for one delightful story.
As with other island survival tales, kids will want to be Nim, and her story will stimulate readers' fantasy lives. Unlike most of those other stories, it adds in touches of fantasy and humor to keep the gritty and sometimes scary reality of survival at a distance. In that way it's more similar to the non-island survival story, My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George. Most of the fantasy comes from the animals which, while still real animals, are usually intelligent and helpful, and are anthropomorphized just enough to turn them into characters. This understated, easy-to-read tale, written with a light and loving touch, is a near-perfect middle-grade novel.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about what's real and what's not in the story. Could animals behave this way? Could people live this way? Could they still have phone and email on a deserted island in the middle of the ocean? Could a child survive alone? Would you have done anything different in Nim's situation?
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AGE
Fun to read the book together and then watch the movie
Although this book is easy enough for both of my kids to read to themselves (ages 7 & 9), I read this book aloud to them. We thought it would be fun to read the book and then rent the movie. We were right! So fun to compare and contrast a book and movie together as a family.
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Kid, 12 years old
April 9, 2008
AGE
A must read book for 6 and up!
This book is very adventurous,funny and great for us kids!
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Kid, 12 years old
June 4, 2011
AGE
Great Beginer Novel!
I read this book when I was 9 and loved it.
It's great for ages 8 or 9.
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Kid, 12 years old
March 2, 2011
AGE
Good for younger kids
Really good,its about a girl called Nim, she and her father live on a island by them selves, Nims dad Jack is a scientist and leaves Nim by herself when he goes out to find a new type of krill, Then problems happen on the island, what will Nim do? Read the book to find out.
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AGE
Great read for young independent readers
A fun, exciting read: great choice for a young
independent reader.
If a kid is young enough that the story is being read to them, and sensitive, be aware that Nim's mother is dead (swallowed by a whale who was scared by an obnoxious tourist group), and that Nim is alone on an island while her father is in (mild) peril lost at sea.
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| Author: | Wendy Orr |
| Illustrator: | Kerry Millard |
| Book type: | Fiction |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Publisher: | Yearling Books |
| Publication date: | March 1, 2001 |
| Number of pages: | 125 |
| Paperback price: | $5.50 |
| Publisher's recommended age(s): | 8 - 12 |
| Read aloud: | 7 |
| Read alone: | 8 |
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