The book was inspired by Stevenson's own life in Kenya, where his daughter Jackie, to whom the book is dedicated, kept a bushbaby named Kamau as a pet. The fictional aspects of the novel involve Jackie Rhodes and her father's African servant Tembo escaping across the wilderness from a pack of man-hunters who have been led to believe that Tembo has kidnapped Jackie. The book features illustrations by Victor Ambrus. Though the novel has had two major adaptations, a theatrical motion picture from MGM in 1969 and an animated series from Japan's Nippon Animation in 1992, it is currently out of print.

    Paul starts out on this trip thinking that he a a "loser" since he is not good at sports, etc. At the end of this survival trip, he ends up believing in himself. A fine journey towards self-reliance and finding oneself.