U pustinji i prašumi

The writer depicts the fate of two children: a fourteen-year-old boy, Stas, and a tender eight-year-old girl, Nella, who were kidnapped in Sudan and their six-month, seven hundred-kilometer long, arduous journey through Africa, and their return home. Sienkiewicz conveyed his fascination with nature by convincingly describing a variety of plant and animal species, deserts, rainforests, mountains, dried-up riverbeds, lakes, gorges..., and his intention at the time the novel was written, in 1911, was to introduce European children to exotic African regions and folk customs, which were little known in Europe at that time. In addition to the exciting plot, the novel abounds in moral values, which the writer held dear, namely: friendship, courage, devotion, honesty, and responsibility.