1. Consider the many different kinds of animals and plants found on the island. Do you think that such a place might actually exist, or is it a complete fantasy?

2. One critic, Charles Nodier, has asserted that the Robinson family's adventures represent the entire history of humankind: "time summed up in a brief succession of years—the prolonged and patient tale of humanity set forth in the internal economy of a small household."

What do you think of this theory?

3. There is so much instruction about some of the discoveries on the island that sometimes the action of the story comes to a stop for a lesson. Do you find this annoying? Would you like to take out some or all of the lessons?

4. Do you have a favorite character among the four sons? Does any of them seem to have a more fully...