Adventure Starts At Bedtime
By Ness Knight and Qu Lanaa
Reviewed by Mia Macrossan
Ness Knight is a real life explorer whose exploits include being the first woman to swim the Thames river from source to London.
In her debut children’s book she has carefully chosen thirty true events told as live action scenes which feature a person engaged in a daring or dangerous exploit.
She jumps across time and space to tell her tales which include surviving quicksand, a desert storm, a rhino charge, crossing a wild river, encountering elephants and surviving a shipwreck in the Antarctic. It is all about people being quick-witted, resourceful in extreme situations.
Ness has been careful to keep to a balanced representation of genders and cultures which gives this book a wide appeal.
The whole is a handsomely presented package, the large format hardback is sturdy and the illustrations are plentiful, attractive and colourful and add much to each story.
The contents page gives a brief one-liner saying what each person is famous for so each night you could pick your peril as it were. The format suggests one story in a quick read before bed but these are all very exciting and lots of fun so parents may find the adventures go on for a while.
