''Canadian Crusoes: A Tale of the Rice Lake Plains'' is a novel by

Catharine Parr Traill Catharine Parr Traill (born Strickland; 9 January 1802 – 29 August 1899) was an English-Canadian author and naturalist who wrote about life in Canada, particularly what is now Ontario (then the colony of Upper Canada). In the 1830s, Canada ...

published in 1852, considered the first Canadian novel for children. Written after '' The Backwoods of Canada'' (1836), it is Traill's second Canadian book. It was first published in 1852 by London publisher Arthur Hall, Virtue, and Company. It was edited by her sister

Agnes Strickland Agnes Strickland (18 July 1796 – 8 July 1874) was an English historical writer and poet. She is particularly remembered for her ''Lives of the Queens of England'' (12 vols, 1840–1848). Biography The daughter of Thomas Strickland and his wi ...

Background

(1802–1899) was an English-born Canadian writer best known for he botanical book ''Canadian Wild Flowers'' (1865) as well as ''The Backwoods of Canada'' (1836) and ''The Canadian Settler's Guide'' (1855), works intended for an audience of potential English emigrants; Traill also published a large amount of fiction, beginning when she still lived in England and written in a didactive style. Traill's Canadian works were amongst the first to have a Canadian setting and ''Canadian Crusoes'' was the first to feature a Canadian-born protagonist. Her sister and fellow emigrant

Susanna Moodie Susanna Moodie (born Strickland; 6 December 1803 – 8 April 1885) was an English-born Canadian author who wrote about her experiences as a settler in Canada, which was a British colony at the time. Biography Susanna Moodie was born in Bungay, ...

also published fiction, but in an English setting following English conventions.

Summary

The work is set in what is today central southern Ontario, just south of Rice Lake, where three children become lost and must fend for themselves. Drawing from its namesake, Daniel Defoe's 1719 novel '' Robinson Crusoe'', the novel sets out to show that these children, two English Canadian and one French Canadian, are able to work together to survive in the new world of Canada. This spirit of cooperation is emphasized by the fact that the children later meet a Mohawk girl who joins their group and is able to help them with her own skills. By the end of the novel, the children escape from the Canadian wilderness and are paired off - the English Canadian boy with the Mohawk girl and the French Canadian boy with the English Canadian girl. Their skills are all useful, and they must work together to survive. Metaphorically, their cooperation suggests the activity of peaceful nation-building. However, the English Canadian ethic is still privileged over the other views.

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External links

* * {{Robinson Crusoe 1852 novels 1850s children's books 19th-century Canadian novels Canadian children's books Novels set in Ontario Robinson Crusoe