The Swiss Family Robinson: Shipwrecked

What this book practices

A retelling, in new words, of the opening of Johann David Wyss's 1812 novel, told by the father: the wreck, the boat made of tubs, the first camp and the first days of invention. The sermons and the hunting of the original are left out. Practices cause and effect and reading for theme.

Level

Chapter book: Seven chapters, about 190 words on a page

Themes

Classic, Adventure, Family, Making things

After the story

A short activity checks understanding, then a prompt to tell a grown-up about the book.

Levels are PlayOwl's own design guidelines for each grade, not a certified reading level. In I'll Read, PlayOwl records that a child turned every page; it cannot hear whether the words were read.

Credit and rights

Retold by PlayOwl from The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss (1812). Source: The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss (1812).

The words are new PlayOwl writing that follows a story in the public domain. PlayOwl claims no rights in the underlying story.

Adaptation

Follows the events of the opening of The Swiss Family Robinson (Der Schweizerische Robinson) by Johann David Wyss, a Swiss novel in German first published in 1812. The story is shortened and retold in new sentences. The original's sermons and its hunting are left out, and a few of the finds and ideas are shared out among the family differently. No translation, abridgement, film or illustrated edition was copied: the text was checked against two old English versions (see the text record) and reworded so that no sentence follows them. Only the events and the characters come from the original. Public domain. In the United States, copyright in works published before 1929 has expired, and this work was first published in 1812. In countries where copyright lasts for the author's life plus 70 years, the term ran out long ago, because Johann David Wyss died in 1818. The retelling uses the wording of no English translation (it was checked against two and reworded), so no translator's rights are involved. PlayOwl claims no rights in the underlying story.

Cover

Drawn in code for PlayOwl in 2026 with the Read with Olly illustration kit. An original design, not based on the cover or pictures of any edition or film. Original work owned by PlayOwl.

Illustrations

Drawn in code for PlayOwl in 2026 with the Read with Olly illustration kit, from the picture briefs in this file (a wrecked sailing ship and a tropical shore, around 1800). Original designs, not based on the pictures of any edition or film. Original work owned by PlayOwl.

Narration

Spoken by the reader's own device voice. PlayOwl ships no recording. No recorded work exists.

Text

Written for PlayOwl in 2026 as a new, shortened retelling of the opening of The Swiss Family Robinson (from the wreck to the family's third evening ashore). Every sentence is new PlayOwl wording, told from the events of the story. The retelling was checked against two old English versions on Project Gutenberg (the text based on W. H. G. Kingston's edition, no. 3836, and an 1850s translation illustrated by John Gilbert, no. 11703) and reworded so that no sentence follows either. No phrase of a translation is kept. Original wording owned by PlayOwl. The underlying story is in the public domain (see the adaptation record).