I love how Peter Carnavas sets this up as the most daring expedition ever. Well, delivering a package to your grandma all the way across the playing field is important, presenting all manner of obstacles and challenges!
Peter Carnavas’s sense of humour shines throughout, we loved his description of the exploring party as ‘a ramshackle bunch.’ An imaginative sprinkling of more advanced vocabulary makes The Great Expedition perfect for slightly older readers too.
Carnavas builds an amusing sense of tension as the explorers set out on their way – water levels running low, members getting injured (distracted) – this one has all the essential ingredients of a true adventure story.
‘The expedition was on the brink of failure.’
The structure of The Great Expedition would make an awesome springboard from which children can construct their own adventure story through looking at both the structure and vocabulary.
No surprise to learn that this picture book has attracted multiple awards – adventurous, humorous and with those fabulous Carnavas illustrations … brilliant!


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