Charlie Small - Gorilla City
by Charlie Small
Gorilla City, is the first in what looks to be a big series of books about eight year old explorer, Charlie Small.
The book takes the form of a Journal, reportedly written by the young explorer, Charlie Small, and discovered washed up on the banks of the river Wyre, at Skipool in Lancashire England. This little note caught my eye and aroused my interest as I live only a short distance away from Skipool. I couldn't help wondering who the real author of these books might be. I have my ideas, but that's not important here. What is important is that the books will undoubtedly catch the interest of boys.
With an eye-catching cover and lots of illustrations showing things that Charlie has seen on his adventures, as well as maps and other nice touches like watermarks and squashed bugs to break up the text, I'm sure many so-called reluctant readers will be attracted to the journals of Charlie Small.
When Charlie sets off on his raft down the stream at the end of the garden, hoping to find the main river, things don't go according to plan. After being struck by a bolt of lightning, he recovers to find himself in an unfamiliar river, face to face with a huge crocodile. But Charlie is ever resourceful and manages to escape from the crocodile - only to find himself faced with more perils and adventures as he looks for a way back home.
The story moves along at a rapid pace as Charlie comes across a steam-powered rhino, hungry hyenas, a giant snake, and, of course, the Gorilla City itself. There's so much happening to Charlie that he barely has time to feel homesick, and I think this is the way it should be for the young explorer. Instead of dwelling on the negative aspects of being away from home in a strange place, young Charlie is able to marvel at the wonders around him and concentrate on the adventure itself, - which is just what the readers of this series will want to do.
Gorilla City ends with Charlie being catapulted into the next adventure and the final few pages give young readers a tantalising taste of what is to come in the second instalment - The Perfumed Pirates of Perfidy.
Buy this book from Amazon UK