The Travel Bug by Benjamin Gilmour, illustrated by James Gulliver
Hancock (Random House Australia) HB RRP $24.99 ISBN 9780143780137
Reviewed by Dianne Bates
The protagonist of this story is
a no-name ‘strange little bug’ which identifies other creatures in the
landscape, such as earwigs, weevils, flies and fleas, but his own kind of
species is a real mystery. With his blue suitcase packed, he buys a round-the-world
ticket and gets on board the back of a cricket to search for an find his identity.
The reader can plot the bug’s
journey on the map of the world found on the fly pages, starting in Japan and
then heading to Afghanistan. As he travels, he meets other bugs such as
scorpions in Kandahar which are feasting, musicians in Spain, and ‘a spider in
tartan’ in Scotland. There are numerous other countries featured in this story
told in rhyming verse which include jungles and cities. In New York the bug
meets with a professor with is -- finally -- able to put a name to him.
The charming flat colour and
black line illustrations that accompany the written text make use of patterns,
many of them like those found in zentangles.
This is a simple story with a
twist at the end which is sure to be enjoyed by small readers up to the age of
6 years.
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