Robinson, with curly brown hair, a short beard, a straw hat, a patched white shirt, a red neckerchief and blue trousers, stands barefoot on a sandy beach and proudly holds up a brown net full of silver fish, with coconut shells tied along its edge. On his shoulder sits Zachary, a green parrot with a red head, squawking happily. Behind them are palm trees, a hut made of palm leaves and the blue sea.

Ages 7–11

Picture book

Robinson’s Net

A story inspired by Robinson Crusoe

The characters

Robinson, a sailor who finds himself alone on an island
Zachary, a chatty green parrot with a red head

What do you do when you are alone on an island and hungry? You catch fish with your hands, of course! But what if you want to catch many more? Then you have to do something hard: eat a little less today, so that you can make something that will help you for a long time.

Let’s meet Robinson and his friend, Zachary the parrot. The story is made up, but what they discover is true for all of us.

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A sandy beach at sunrise. Robinson, with curly brown hair, a short beard, a white shirt with a patch on the elbow, a red neckerchief and patched blue trousers, sits barefoot on the sand, scratching his head with a smile. Beside him are his straw hat, a broken plank and some seaweed. From a palm branch, Zachary, a green parrot with a red head, watches him curiously. Far away on the rocks lies an empty little wooden ship with a broken mast and a torn sail.

One morning, after the storm

Alone on an island

After a big storm, Robinson’s little ship is stuck on the rocks. Robinson has swum to the shore of a small island where nobody lives. Now he wakes up on the sand, with his straw hat beside him, and looks around: palm trees, blue sea and… two round eyes watching him from a branch.

“Who are you?” asks a green parrot with a red head. “I’m Robinson.” “And I’m Zachary!” says the parrot. “Welcome to my island. Are you hungry?” Robinson’s tummy rumbles loudly. “Very!”

A shallow, bright-blue sea at midday. Robinson, in his straw hat, stands knee-deep in the water and reaches for a silver fish that slips through his fingers with a big splash. More little fish dart away around his legs. On a rock, Zachary holds his tummy, laughing. On the sand, on a big green leaf, lie only three small fish.

In the shallow sea

Fishing with bare hands

Lots of fish swim in the shallow, warm sea. Robinson wades in up to his knees and… splash! A fish slips through his fingers. Splash! And another one. On a rock, Zachary holds his tummy, laughing.

Robinson keeps trying from morning till evening. By the end of the day he has caught three little fish. “Three fish for a whole day!” he sighs. “That’s only enough for supper.”

A starry night on the beach. Robinson sits on a log beside a small fire, where two little fish are roasting on sticks, and holds the third. He has stopped eating and stares wide-eyed at a big round spider’s web between the branches of a bush, glowing golden in the firelight. Zachary, on the log, looks at it too. The straw hat lies on the sand.

That evening

The spider’s web

They grill the little fish over the fire, under the stars. Then Robinson notices something among the branches: a big spider’s web glowing in the firelight. “Look, Zachary! The spider doesn’t chase every fly. It makes a web, and the flies get caught all by themselves!”

Robinson’s eyes light up. “I’ll make a web for fish too: a net! With a net I’ll catch lots of fish at once.” Zachary tilts his head. “And how long will it take you to make it?” “Many days, I’m afraid…”

A sunny afternoon beside a hut made of palm leaves. Robinson hangs a little fish on a rack made of sticks tied together, where three more fish are already drying in the sun, and in his other hand he holds just one fish for his supper. He is smiling. In the shade of the hut, coconuts and a bunch of bananas are kept for later. Zachary sits on top of the rack.

The days that follow

A little less today

“If I spend all day making the net, when will I catch fish? What will I eat?” Robinson wonders. So he comes up with a plan. For a few days he fishes just as before, but he eats two fish instead of three. He hangs the third one on a wooden rack to dry in the sun, so that it keeps for a long time.

He also gathers coconuts and bananas and keeps them in the shade of his hut. “Two fish instead of three? Your tummy will grumble!” says Zachary. “Only a little,” laughs Robinson. “Every fish I keep today will feed me on the days I spend making the net.”

A sunny morning at the edge of a palm grove. Robinson sits cross-legged on the sand beside some shaggy coconuts and twists brown fibres in his hands to make string. Zachary, wings spread, has grabbed the other end with his beak and is pulling as if in a tug-of-war. The sea can be seen behind them.

Under the palm trees

String from coconuts

Now Robinson fishes only a little, early in the morning. The rest of the time he sits under the palm trees and pulls the brown fibres off the shaggy coconut husks. He twists them between his fingers until they become a strong string.

Zachary wants to help. He grabs the end of the string with his beak and pulls. “Hey, this isn’t tug-of-war!” laughs Robinson. Little by little the string grows longer, because a net needs an awful lot of string.

In the shade of the hut, one afternoon. Robinson sits on a little stool and, concentrating, with his tongue poking out, ties knots in a half-finished brown net spread over his lap. A ball of string lies on the sand, and short lines counting the days are scratched on the palm trunk behind him. Nearby, only two dried fish hang from a stick tied between two posts, and Zachary sits on the stick, watching him.

Day after day

Knot by knot

Then the knots begin. Robinson sits on a little stool in the shade of the hut and ties knot after knot, little hole after little hole. When he concentrates, his tongue pokes out a little. Every evening he scratches a line on the palm trunk to count the days.

For food, Robinson has the dried fish and the coconuts he kept, and Zachary eats the bananas. Day by day there are fewer fish on the rack. But the net keeps growing!

A rainy evening inside the hut. On the left a small fire is burning, and the straw hat hangs on the wall. Robinson sits cross-legged with the half-finished net on his knees, rubbing his sore fingers and smiling bravely. In front of him, on a leaf, there is only one dried little fish. Zachary, wet and grumpy, sits on a wooden crate, grumbling. Outside, rain pours down on the sea and the palm trees.

One rainy evening

Shall we give up?

One evening it rains hard. Robinson’s fingers ache from all the knots, and of all the fish he kept, only one little dried fish is left. Zachary, soaking wet and grumpy, cries: “Let’s give up! Go and catch fish with your hands, like before!”

Robinson rubs his fingers and smiles. “If I stop now, all these days will be wasted. It’s nearly done, Zachary. Just two more days.” Zachary puffs up his feathers. “Fine… but only two!”

A bright morning on the beach. A big brown net with square holes is stretched between two palm trees, with coconut shells tied along the top edge and small stones along the bottom. In front of it, Robinson spreads his arms wide, full of pride. Zachary sits on the top edge of the net with his wings raised. Ten lines are scratched on the palm trunk.

The tenth day

The net is ready!

On the tenth day Robinson ties the last knot. Along the top of the net he ties empty coconut shells, so that it floats, and along the bottom small stones, so that it hangs straight down in the water. He stretches it out between two palm trees: it is big and strong, with hundreds of little square holes!

“Ten lines on the palm tree!” counts Zachary, hopping on top of the net. “Ten days of small meals and sore fingers,” says Robinson proudly. “Tomorrow we’ll find out if they were worth it.”

A sunny morning in the shallow sea. Robinson, standing in the water, pulls the rope of the net with all his strength and laughs with a wink. The net, with its coconut shells, is full of silver fish jumping and splashing everywhere. Above him Zachary flies with wings spread, squawking with joy.

The next morning

Splash, splash, splash!

The next morning Robinson casts the net into the shallow sea and waits a little. When he pulls it in, it is so heavy that he can hardly lift it. Dozens of silver fish are jumping inside! Zachary flies above him, squawking with joy.

By midday Robinson has caught thirty fish. “Thirty!” he shouts. “With my hands it took me ten whole days to catch that many!” And he gives us a wink.

A quiet afternoon

An afternoon in the hammock

Now Robinson fishes for just one morning and has fish for many days. He spreads them on the rack, and they dry in the sun. With the string left over, he weaves a hammock and hangs it between two palm trees.

Zachary lies down beside him, wings behind his head. “Remember when you fished from morning till evening for three little fish?” “I remember,” says Robinson. “Now the net does the hard work, and I have time for other things too.”

A golden dusk on the beach. Robinson sits on the sand with the net and its coconut shells on his knees, mending a hole. Zachary stands beside him, handing him a piece of string with his beak. Behind them, a big log is being carved into a boat, with wood chips in and around it, and next to it is a woven basket.

Every evening at dusk

A net needs looking after

Every evening at dusk Robinson checks his net. If he finds a torn hole, he mends it with a little new string before it gets bigger. Zachary brings him the string in his beak. “If we look after it,” says Robinson, “it will last us a long time.”

With the time he has left over, Robinson has woven a basket and is carving a big log into a boat. “Another job that takes many days?” asks Zachary. “Yes,” says Robinson. “With a boat we can fish out in the deep water too!”

A party on the beach at sunset, with an orange and pink sky and the first stars. Robinson sits on a log, laughing and raising an open coconut high. Beside him Zachary laughs with his beak open and one wing raised. In front of them a fire is burning, and on a big leaf there are fish, coconuts and bananas. On the right, on the sand, is a wooden boat with the net folded inside it.

A little while later

Worth every knot

A little while later, the boat is ready. In the evening they have a party on the beach: fish on the fire for Robinson, bananas for Zachary and cool coconut water for them both. “Remember the days when we were hungry and tied knots?” asks Robinson.

“Worth every knot!” squawks Zachary. Robinson raises his coconut: “Tomorrow we’ll sail all the way round the island in our boat!” Zachary thinks for a moment and says: “Then tonight let’s keep a few fish for the trip!” And they both laugh under the first star.

The End

The Lesson

With his hands, Robinson caught three fish a day. To make the net, he first had to eat a little less and put food aside for the days when he wouldn’t be fishing. It was hard, and nobody promised him that it would work.

But once the net was ready, he caught in one morning as many fish as he used to catch in ten days, and he had time left over for a hammock, a basket and a boat. Life works like that too: good tools don’t fall from the sky. Someone makes them, after first keeping something for tomorrow instead of eating it all today. And tools need looking after, so that they keep helping us for a long time.

Next time you keep something for tomorrow, or work hard for something that takes a while, remember Robinson and Zachary: it was worth every knot!

For grown-ups: sources and further reading

Where each page comes from

Page 1, “Alone on an island”: Murray N. Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State, ch. 1, sec. 9, ¶2
Page 2, “Fishing with bare hands”: Murray N. Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State, ch. 1, sec. 9, ¶2
Page 3, “The spider’s web”: Murray N. Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State, ch. 1, sec. 9, ¶4 · Murray N. Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State, ch. 1, sec. 9, ¶10
Page 4, “A little less today”: Murray N. Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State, ch. 1, sec. 9, ¶4 · Murray N. Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State, ch. 1, sec. 9, ¶15
Page 5, “String from coconuts”: Murray N. Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State, ch. 1, sec. 9, ¶4
Page 6, “Knot by knot”: Murray N. Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State, ch. 1, sec. 9, ¶4 · Murray N. Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State, ch. 1, sec. 9, ¶12
Page 7, “Shall we give up?”: Murray N. Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State, ch. 1, sec. 9, ¶39
Page 8, “The net is ready!”: Murray N. Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State, ch. 1, sec. 9, ¶4
Page 9, “Splash, splash, splash!”: Murray N. Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State, ch. 1, sec. 9, ¶4 · Murray N. Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State, ch. 1, sec. 9, ¶9
Page 10, “An afternoon in the hammock”: Murray N. Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State, ch. 1, sec. 9, ¶9
Page 11, “A net needs looking after”: Murray N. Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State, ch. 1, sec. 9, ¶23 · Murray N. Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State, ch. 1, sec. 9, ¶10
Page 12, “Worth every knot”: Murray N. Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State, ch. 1, sec. 9, ¶15 · Murray N. Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State, ch. 1, sec. 9, ¶17