Book an Adventure (Part 2 - where the book takes you on a literary adventure)

Sometimes you start reading a book and before you know it you are in a storybook world, a world where you know the characters from other books you've read, fantasy characters are seemingly 'real' or you have slipped into the story adventure that the book is telling you. 

These books do that and they would make a good start for any discussion about a book being able to take you on an adventure:

• Is it a Book or Is it a Plane?  by Mike Henson

Dive into the book that isn't a book and interact with the pages to create exciting new objects and worlds. Fly the book like an aeroplane, wear it like a hat, turn it into a monster mask, transform it into a roaring dinosaur or sail it like a pirate ship! 

 • Once Upon a Book by Grace Lin & Kate Messner

Alice loves to imagine herself in the magical pages of her favorite book. So when it flaps its pages and invites her in, she is swept away to a world of wonder and adventure, riding camels in the desert, swimming under the sea with colourful fish, floating in outer space, and more!

• Come, Read With Me by Margriet Ruurs

Join two young children as they begin an adventure through a world of books. This metered read-aloud pays homage to classic children's literature. Readers will love searching for characters they recognise from fairy tales and beloved picture books amongst the pages. Spiders weave words and mythical dragons soar as the children travel through magical lands.

• When You Open a Book by Caroline Derlatka

This is a stunning ode to the world's grandest adventure of all: reading a book. Gorgeous artwork by Italian illustrator Sara Ugolotti depicts dragons, forests, pirates, merfolk, lollipop trees, lemonade tides, and more as a child journeys through page upon page of the written word.

• I Love a Book  by Joe Rhatigan

This is a celebration of books, reading, and our imaginations. The  lyrical prose becomes more frantic as a young reader encounters pirates sailing the sea, a classroom of monsters "learning math with their paws," and even an animal doctor making house calls in a helicopter.

• The Bridges  by Tom Percival

Mia feels alone; so alone that it's as if she lives on a small island, far out to sea. But then one day, Mia is given a book - the first she has ever been able to call her own. As Mia reads the book, bridges appear and her island fills with colour and life. And the more Mia reads, the stronger the bridges become, opening up a world of connection and hope... 

• No Buddy Like a Book  byAllan Wolf

Step aboard the Word Express. It's leaving from the station. The only ticket needed is your own imagination.Have you ever wanted to climb to the top of Everest with one hand behind your back? Kiss a crocodile all by yourself on the Nile river? How about learning how to bottle moonlight, or track a distant star? There are endless things to discover and whole universes to explore simply by reading a book.

• The Library Book  by Gabby Dawnay

Zach isn't convinced that books are for him - they're too long, they're boring and he would rather watch TV. But thanks to his friend Ro's stubborn efforts, Zach falls for books hook, line and sinker, and loses himself in a world of dinosaurs, princesses, pirates, football and rocketships - anything and everything the library has to offer.

• Shhh! I'm Reading by John Kelly

Bella is reading the best book ever! She’s just gotten to the most amazing part when suddenly, Captain Bluebottom appears and invites her on an adventure. “I’m sorry, Captain,” Bella tells him, “but today, I’d rather just sit and read my book.” So Bella returns to her book and is just about to read the best part when Maurice Penguin shows up and invites her to perform on stage with all the penguins. 

• The Big Book Adventure by Emily Ford and Tim Warnes

Two friends are comparing their adventures of the day. One friend has gone to a tea party, visited with a mermaid, visited Gran in her cottage in the woods with friend Red (and is pretty sure that someone else is lurking in those same woods), and found buried treasure on an island. The other friend has had a similarly busy day – learning how to fly, taking a trip to space and encountering aliens, lunching with a dragon, visiting three bears, and taking a magic carpet ride. Sound impossible? Not with a good book, it isn’t. 

•  Mr Luke's Magic Library Ocean Adventure  by Luke Springer

There’s a special place, hidden within the school. It’s a magical place where the books inside can take readers on journeys beyond their wildest dreams. Mr Luke’s class have opened a magic book and found themselves under the sea communing with a mermaid.

(This reminds me of Ms Frizzle who takes her class on adventures via the magic school bus.)

• Pick a Story series by Sarah Coyle

Pick a Story is the only series where young readers choose between three completely different worlds – allowing them to change the story as it happens. Children are excited by having choice and a feeling of agency, and it fires their imaginations.

• Story Path  by Kate Baker

Travel along the story path and discover an enchanted world where fairy princesses battle with monsters from the deep and vampire cats zoom through the galaxy on silver unicorns. This innovative twist on the classic quest tale allows young readers to choose their own characters, settings and plots at every turn.