Erik Hesselberg was one of the five men who went on the famous voyage with Thor Heyerdahl. While on the voyage he kept a hand-lettered illustrated journal, and this was published as Kon-Tiki and I. The link here is the original form. This edition is essentially a "Young Readers" edition, though it does not say anything like that except on the copyright page when it says it is published by special arrangement with Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
While this version retains most of the essentials of the voyage, it is type-set rather than hand-lettered, automatically losing much of the character of the original. But much worse, it is not made clear how much the newer one is abridged, and how much of Hesselberg's humor is cut.
Erik's trip to South America is much more interesting than the newer book makes out: his depictions of the region's culture and history are curtailed, and many pictures in the section aren't included. Also, at the end of the voyage, their interactions with the Pacific islanders are white-washed. (For kids, this might be okay, but as an adult, I want the full experience!)
Anyway, to compare the two versions, check out the Internet Archive links for both!
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