Sally Rippin (text) Alisa Coburn (illus), Billie’s Wild Jungle Adventure, Hardie Grant Egmont, 1 September 2015, unpaged, $14.95 (hbk), ISBN: 9781760124441
Billie can’t wait to play with her friend Jack at Kindy, and within minutes they are deeply engaged in a series of adventures up the mulberry tree and into the jungle, morphing into cheeky monkeys with human faces. Throughout the story, the children are totally engrossed in imaginative play as they endow the ‘jungle’ with all sorts of imaginary inhabitants both friendly and dangerous. Billie has to draw on her courage and cleverness to escape the wriggly pink-and-purple python.
The text is simple enough to encourage beginning readers in this satisfying and engaging romp which is much enlivened with colourful slightly-retro illustrations that enlarge on the fun and imaginative play.
Reviewed by Chloe Mauger
