it was written by swiss pastor johann david wyss, edited by his son johann rudolf wyss and illustrated by his son johann emmanuel wyss. the novel was intended to teach his four sons about family values, good husbandry, the uses of the natural world and self-reliance. wyss' attitude toward education is in line with the teachings of jean-jacques rousseau. many of the episodes have to do with christian-oriented moral lessons such as frugality, husbandry, acceptance, cooperation, etc. the family includes the sons fritz, ernest, jack and franz. it also includes their mother and their father who is the main character and narrator. the adventures are presented as a series of lessons in natural history and the physical sciences. it resembles other, similar educational books for children in this period. examples include charlotte turner smith's "rural walks: in dialogues intended for the use of young persons" (1795), "rambles further: a continuation of rural walks" (1796), "a natural history of birds, intended chiefly for young persons (1807)". but the novel differs in that it is modeled on defoe's "robinson crusoe", a genuine adventure story. it presents a geographically impossible array of large mammals that probably could never have existed together on a single island.