The Lucky Bottle

Ten-year-old Jack is shipwrecked on a desolate island after a terrible storm, causing him to desperately wish he hadn’t run away to sea after a row with his family. But then he meets Robinson – a man who’s been living there all alone for years. Together, they find a way to survive, and have many adventures, including discovering a skeleton, solving clues to find treasure, and telling each other stories of pirates. Yet Jack yearns to go home, and concocts a crazy plan to achieve it. It will involve magic, ingenuity and more bravery than they can foresee. With sharks, sea monsters and pirates circling him, Jack will need an awful lot of luck!

This stirring adventure has the feel of a classic, with its nod to Robinson Crusoe and the historical setting of a time when ships sailed the seas using only wind power. Chris Wormell’s many illustrations are brilliantly engaging and add drama and context. We love the skeleton and Caliban the giant tortoise in particular! The story is brimming with action, often involving perilous situations, and would be particularly good read aloud, though a confident reader would enjoy curling up with it.  

Mae Jack, sy’n ddeg oed, yn llongddrylliedig ar ynys anial ar ôl storm ddychrynllyd – a ffrae â’i deulu. Ond yna mae’n cyfarfod â Robinson, dyn sydd wedi bod yn byw yno ar ei ben ei hun ers blynyddoedd. Gyda’i gilydd, maen nhw’n darganfod ffordd i oroesi.

Ond mae Jack yn dyheu am fynd adref felly mae’n paratoi cynllun i wneud yr union beth. Bydd yn golygu hud, dyfeisgarwch a thipyn go lew o ddewrder.

Mae’r antur gynhyrfus hon yn teimlo fel clasur, gyda’i chysylltiad â Robinson Crusoe a’r amser mewn hanes pan fyddai llongau’n hwylio’r moroedd gan ddefnyddio pŵer y gwynt yn unig. Mae darluniadau Chris Wormell yn difyrru’n wych ac yn ychwanegu drama a chyd-destun.