Billy and his friends know that Waterfall Woods is out of bounds; strange things are rumoured to have happened there and no one in their village has ventured past its walls for decades…
But when they discover a secret way in, Billy and his best friends, Anna, Jimmy and Andy, can’t resist the temptation to explore! Only to quickly discover that the woods are brimming with magic and inhabited by all sorts of unusual creatures, including a whole community of sprites who need the children’s help!
With magical battles, a long-lost mythical city, fantastical flying machines, epic feasts and one GIANT rescue, get ready for an adventure you’ll never forget!
I’m pretty sure everyone knows Jamie Oliver. He started cooking at his parents’ pub at the age of eight, and is now a bestselling author internationally renowned chef. While he may have written twenty-six cookbooks, Billy and the Giant Adventure is his first children’s book. Oliver says “writing this book has been my passion project and labour of love … this was an amazing step into the unknown.”
The idea for the novel was dreamt up from a bedtime story he used to tell his children. One pinch of adventure, a dash of friendship, a sprinkle of mystery and a HUGE spoonful of magic… Oliver delivers the perfect recipe for a page-turning children’s fiction debut!
Much like what inspired this tale, the novel opens up with a dad telling preparing to tell a story to his children at bedtime. And so proceeds an adventure story filled to the brim with mystery and magic, but also one of important lessons and elevating the mundane.
Billy and the Giant Adventure covers themes of displacement and uncertainty, with protagonist Billy feeling unsure about his place in his circle of friendship. But together, they need to take an unknown world full of mysteries and secrets, and mythical creatures ¬– including a bully!
Nature and the environment are central to the novel, and he’s invented some interesting concepts that I won’t delve into that here, you’ll need to read it to find out more. Mónica Armiño’s illustrations completely capture the world that Oliver has dreamt up, perfectly complementing this wonderful tale.
Ultimately, this is a story about friendship and family. Of course, food and cooking are sprinkled throughout, but Oliver uses them as a gateway to promote the value of food, and how it brings people together. At the end of the book, there are some amazing recipes from Oliver that are inspired by the novel. Check out the hot chocolate recipe here.
We recommend this novel for children aged 7+, but it would also make a great read-aloud for younger children. Or you can get Jamie Oliver himself read it to you as this is also available in audiobook format. Although this review is spoiler-free, the epilogue suggests that we can see Billy and his friends tackle another adventure soon… so keep your eyes peeled.
Leave a Reply