Allen and Unwin ISBN 9781911631439 £6.99
When Mannie decides to go on an adventure, she takes her doll, Strawberry Luca, and toy elephant, Lilliput, with her as well as a special box full of secret things. As they go on their travels different things appear from the box – sparkly shoes for Strawberry Luca, an explorer hat for Lilliput, a woolly blanket for their picnic. They are having a lovely time. The adventure stops being fun though when the sun disappears and the sky starts to rumble. Luckily Lilliput takes the initiative and saves the day, finding a ladder in the special box and bravely climbing up to push the clouds away with her trunk.
This is a gentle picture book with soft illustrations focused on imaginative play. It would be suitable for sharing with Early Years’ classes. There are echoes of Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury’s We’re Going on a Bearhunt in the text as the intrepid adventurers go ‘Creep peep creeping through the tall reaching trees’ and ‘Splish splash splishing through the wild winding river.’ The repeated phrase ‘Wait a minute! What’s in the box?’ invites speculation.
Sue McGonigle