The Explorer: WINNER OF THE COSTA CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARD Hardcover – 10 Aug. 2017

This is one beautiful book about an English boy Fred,an English girl Con and a Brazilian girl Lila and her little brother Max who find themselves lost in the Amazon rainforest after a plane crash. Each one is a complex character Fred is a wannabe explorer who has read a few books and is desperate to impress his father, Con has lived a prim and proper life where you sit still and everything is clean, and Lila is filled with the most powerful protective love towards her brother, whilst Max is a lovely young boy with so much to live for. Watching these characters grow and come together is amazing. To see them grow emotionally is incredible. Each character is lovable in their own way.The story has several unexpected twists and turns. It builds and builds, and gets better and better. I made a lot of highlights during the second half of the book. There are several unexpected moments.The writing in incredible. The description of the location puts you in the amazon rainforest and you see it for the beauty and the danger its offers. But, you see it as something to love as something worth protecting.There are many messages in this book and its hard to say what they are without spoiling the book, but there is the message of love being important, the important of caring for people, and the message that you are perfect just the way you are - never let anyone change you.There are many, many quotes I love from this book. My favourite though is this"You don't have to be in a jungle to be an explorer"For me this book touched my heart. It made me think about things, and it changed my way of thinking about things. This is a very beautiful storyHaving previously read Rooftoppers and Wolf Wilder by the same author as I have to say I love how different each of her books are and yet they are all brilliant..

This book is about four kids who go in an aeroplane and crash in the Amazon Rainforest and find an explorer that helps them get back home.I would recommend this book to adventurous kids and adults because it shows not to give up and has a positive message.This book is ideal for kids and adults starting from age 8 and upwards. People who like exploring and want to learn about the Amazon Rainforest.Highly recommended! I really enjoyed it. I especially liked the characters and the way the author described the rainforest, the crash, adventure and the characters friendships.

Oh. My. Goodness. I love this book. If you want a fast-paced, action-packed story to share with your class or read to yourself, I highly recommend this one by Katherine Rundell. Author of other critically acclaimed books such as Rooftoppers and The Wolf Wilder, she delivers another fantastic story that will delight audiences everywhere.Set in the Amazon jungle, The Explorer tells the story of four children who are stranded in the rainforest following a plane crash. Fred, Lila, Con and Max find themselves forced to adapt to their new, dangerous surroundings quickly, in order to stay alive. Faced with everything the jungle can throw at them, including an encounter with piranha and a forest fire, the children begin to realise that they need to get home and fast. The only question is, how are they going to get there?The story is full of wonderful characters, but my personal favourite is Con. First impressions count, but Con tries to convince the reader that she doesn't care what you think about her - she does really, but is too stubborn to admit it. Her character gradually softens as the story goes on and you realise why her personality is the way it is - my most favourite bit is when she finally volunteers for a job within the group and she struggles to hide the pride she feels, much to the amusement of Lila and Fred.As well as a superb storyline and brilliant characters, The Explorer is full of the most wonderful descriptions of the Amazon rainforest itself. From ants that can stop you from being stung by bees to the caiman keeping a watchful eye on the children from afar, you are immersed in jungle life from the very first page. Clearly I wouldn't want to be stranded there in the same manner the children are in this story, but a visit has now been added to the good ol' bucket list.If you are studying the Amazon with your class, this is a must-read. If you love children's literature, this is a must-read. Whatever the reason you have for picking up this book, just read it. You can thank me later.

This book is one of the best books we've ever read. It's about four kids that have crash-landed in the Amazon jungle who are fighting for survival. There's loads of exciting twists and turns that will leave you gobsmacked.There are four central characters:Con, who is a brave English girl and is sarcastic, selfish and moody.Fred, who is a brave, intelligent boy from England who is desperate for adventure. He can be a little boring and predictable at times.Max is a 5-year-old boy from Brazil who is cheeky, mischievous and occasionally threatens to pee on people. Our favourite character is Max because he is funny, cheeky and brings humour to what could otherwise be a very serious book. He also ends up in a lot of sticky situations but somehow helps the group.Lila, who is the kind-hearted if over-protective older sister to Max. She finds and keeps a pet sloth on her adventures which shows how kind she is.Then there is the anonymous explorer!We rate this book 4.5 stars. We couldn't give it 5 as occasionally it's a bit predictable in places and some of the words are hard to understand without having a dictionary. But we enjoyed the adventures of the children lost in the Amazon jungle!Written by Jacob and Mia (Markeaton Primary School)

My granddaughter couldn't put this book down and read it in 5 days.

We are really enjoying this book so far (mum and daughter, 9)- about a 1/3 of the way through. Will change my review if there's a shock ending that we dislike but enjoying so far and don't know what's going to happen next...!

A really good book. Very interesting for a kid to read.

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I am a Special Education teacher and used this book for my Fictional Narrative Unit with my students who are a mix of grade 4 and 5. My students have various reading levels and so of course I used audiobooks for some to follow along with. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF MY STUDENTS were BEGGING for more! They LOVED the book so much that they have been begging for more books from this author! Who by the way sent me a personal message for my students! So incredible! I suggested the book to the “sister” class of ours, and their class is completely in love with this story as well. Best book that I’ve read in a very long time!