Treasure Island

It is a breathless journey and the closest thing to a real pirate adventure without an eye patch and a time machine... It is a unique work of genius—Eoin Colfer, author of Artemis Fowl

There are few novels which grip so thrillingly as those first read in childhood, and for me none which has quite matched the excitement of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island—P.D. James

Who can think of a pirate without conjuring up the image of Long John Silver?—Daily Mail

So what makes these different to any other set of classics? In a moment of inspiration Random House had the bright idea of actually asking Key stage 2 children what extra ingredients they could add to make children want to read. And does it work? Well, put it this way...my 13-year-old daughter announced that she had to read a book over the summer holiday and, without any prompting, spotted The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas...and proceeded to read it! Now, if you knew my 13-year-old daughter, you would realise that this is quite remarkable. She reads texts, blogs and tags by the thousand - but this is the first book she has read since going to high school, so all hail Vintage Classics!—National Association for the Teaching of English