Kids this Christmas have some adrenaline-filled adventures to look forward to – and they don't even have to leave their favourite chair.
Kids this Christmas have some adrenaline-filled adventures to look forward to – and they don't even have to leave their favourite chair.
They'll be taken on head-spinning adventures around the globe by a new series of children's and young-adult fiction by British author Anthony McGowan.
Bear Adventure is the latest in this collection, which is an authorised sequel to the much-loved 60-year-old Willard Price 'Adventure' series.
It's as grizzly as it sounds.
Last year was the 125th anniversary of Price's birthday, and McGowan was asked to write a new series, bringing the classic adventures featuring brothers Roger and Hal Hunt up to date.
This brand spanking new books are Leopard Adventure, Shark Adventure, and the latest, Bear Adventure.
Next year, Python Adventure will also hit the shelves.
The series takes Roger's daughter, Amazon, and Hal's son, Frazer, on action-packed animal adventures everywhere from Siberia to a remote Polynesian island.
Amazon and Frazer form a new generation of wildlife adventurers after their parents' literary debut in Price's Amazon Adventure in 1949.
Now a new generation of adventurous bookworms can come along on their travels with the same gusto their parents might have had all those years ago!
TRACKS, a conservation organisation started by Roger and Hal, is the socially responsible incarnation of Price's John Hunt Wildlife, which went around the world rounding up animals for zoos and collectors.
While TRACKS usually works to protect endangered species across the world (Frazer will tell you all about this himself), their mission just got personal.
Amazon's parents have been lost in a tragic plane crash in the wild forests of Canada, and Frazer, Amazon and Hal set out to find them.
But they are not alone in the brutal wilderness.
Two 'spirit bears' (kermode bears, so named for the ethereal appearance their blond fur lends them), a mother and her cub, are searching for food.
A small boy – the only survivor of a vicious attack by a mysterious animal that is now trailing the TRACKS team – is also wandering the forest, lost.
I won't give too much away, except to say that there are lots of things to love about Bear Adventure, which your kids will love too.
Close calls with a number of dangerous creatures are set off with brilliantly detailed natural descriptions and discussions that can help open up your child to the world of natural history.
McGowan's life-long obsession with and wide exploration of the natural world is clear and infectious in his writing, which is suitable for anyone over the age of eight – even older teenagers will enjoy these romps!
McGowan really does justice to the lasting wish Price expressed for his Adventure series: by making his books exciting and full of adventure, McGowan will inspire an interest in nature and books in many children.
Received from Penguin Books for review purposes
