Two little girls shipwrecked on a tropical island with four small babies seems a pretty serious predicament, but Mary Wallace and her little sister Jean are very resourceful young ladies, and besides they love babies and have always looked after them.

They build a shelter; they find fruits and other things to eat and their stay there lasts several months. The twins learned to walk and Ann Elizabeth to talk and the youngest cuts a tooth. They even add another baby to their family—a tiny monkey. There is only one other inhabitant on their desert island, Mr. Peterkin, a solitary Englishman who does not like babies, but they soon win him over. It is a real storybook adventure and though there are many near tragedies, taking care of four lively babies keeps the little girls too busy to leave time for worries.

This is the kind of story Helen Sewell likes best and her charming pictures reflect the humor and imagination of this delightful tale.

From the dust jacket

When I was a small girl, it was the fashion in our circle to borrow the neighbors' babies. I myself was never a very accomplished nursemaid, although I had many happy hours pushing the perambulator of a young cousin; but some of my friends had a positive genius for taking care of and amusing babies. They never thought of receiving pay for this delightful pastime. Minding a baby was its own reward.

It is more difficult to borrow babies now, I understand. Whether this is due to a scarcity of babies or to more particular mothers, I am unable to say. But I am quite sure of this: there are just as many little girls who love babies as there ever were, and it is especially for them that I have written the story of BABY ISLAND.

CAROL RYRIE BRINK

From the Foreword