Fred has read everything he can get his hands on about explorers, adventurers and the great expeditions which have taken them into the unknown. But with his father far too busy working and being respectable to notice, Fred's dreams have always been a secret. That is, until a trip to Brazil sees him crashlanded in the jungle with three other children - siblings Lila and Max, and haughty Con (actually Constantia but use it at your peril). While their time in the jungle is dangerous (and involves eating spiders), it opens up something more in each of them. There's lots of bravery, teamwork, arguing, and new friendship.

As with all good kids' books, adult characters are a secondary consideration. There is one exception in the titular and nameless explorer, a mysterious and gruff jungle-dweller who lives in some ancient ruins and can catch fish with his bare hands. Rundell makes sure to give each of her characters moments of complexity or backstory, the explorer included. The period setting isn't entirely specific, but a little digging puts it somewhere in the mid-to-late 1920s. There were no illustrations in my early copy, which is a shame as they have the potential to really change or cement one's experience of the book. It takes time to invest in the plot and a rushed ending is precipitated by just a little too much dialogue, but the book runs at an otherwise jolly pace. 

Rundell's prose is fairly straightforward, but also expressive and memorable In her hands, the rainforest becomes a place more for savouring than escaping from. Rundell takes the opportunity to invoke the host of extraordinary creatures who call it home, too. Ultimately, The Explorer is about adventures, and wildlife, and kids who get their hands dirty. It's a rollicking recommendation.

An expanded version of this review will appear on my blog closer to publication.

What a gloriously wonderful book. The completely absorbing story of four children whose plane crashes in the Amazon jungle, they are utterly alone and learn to survive using common sense and good luck. The pace is great, the things that happen to the children all seem to fit with the situation even though they are completely fantastic. They decide to try to get home using a map they've found, strap a raft together using intuition and set off to try and escape their situation. The river carries them to meet The Explorer, a man with no name and a mysterious past. He is vastly irritated to have these children turn up in his space but ends up being their saviour. 

The detail in the book is just wonderful, the food that they children survive on, tarantula eggs and other jungle treats! The sounds of the animals and birds are beautifully described. The writing just carries you away into the world of the Amazon. There are lots of wonderful moments. The children are perfectly described and The Explorer is so cleverly done, the lonely man with no need for the outside world an fighting to right the damage that has been done to the environment. I found myself highlighting lots of lovely passages. I found myself quite emotional at time the story quite moved me, the parting words of The Explorer as the children begin their journey back to civilisation are just gorgeous. 
'And all of you - do not forget that, lost out here, you were brave even in your sleep. Do not forget to take risks. Standing ovations await your bravery,' Con swallowed. 'But I'm afraid,' she whispered. The Explorer nodded, scarred and dusty and matter-of-fact. 'You are right to be afraid. Be brave anyway.'

Thanks to Netgalley and Bloomsbury for giving me access to this book. I'll be buying multiple copies for school, the students who've loved survival stories like Hatchet will love this.

Katherine Rundell has a beautiful way of making writing like new. Her phrases are bright and unexpected jewels, waking you up to the world. She gives seriously good simile! Her descriptions transport you to the amazon and throw you in to the jungle. The Explorer is an adventure in language as well as storyline.

'From his seat in the tiny aeroplane, Fred watches as the mysteries of the Amazon jungle pass by below him. He has always dreamed of becoming an explorer, of making history and of reading his name amongst the lists of great discoveries. If only he could land and look about him. As the plane crashes into the canopy, Fred is suddenly left without a choice. He and the three other children may be alive, but the jungle is a vast, untamed place. With no hope of rescue, the chance of getting home feels impossibly small. Except, it seems, someone has been there before them ...'

As any good adventure book should be, The Explorer is about children learning about themselves and finding their strengths and their true characters. But it's also about finding freedom. The freedom to be yourself and to rage against social expectations. It is fierce and inspiring, joyful and exciting. It is everything a children's book should be. I loved it.

You can get your copy here.

Source - kindly sent for review by the publisher.

My heart! What a wonderful book - I gulped it down and know I would have absolutely devoured it as a child. 
After a plane crash, four children, strangers to each other, are lost and alone in the Amazon rainforest; somehow, they must work together to find water, food, shelter - and the way home.

It has absolutely everything an adventurous heart could desire...

I’ve just come back from the Amazon jungle - well at least after reading Rundell’s The Explorer it certainly feels that way.  I can almost taste the sweat and the smell of roasted birds and fish .’The Explorer’ is an exciting tale of caimans, tarantulas, piranhas and four ‘undercooked adults’ who have crashed in the Amazon, and the struggles of the four children to be brave, be friends, and ultimately to survive.  I loved ‘Rooftoppers’, ‘Wolf Wilder’ and ‘Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms’ and this didn’t disappoint. Rundell says that in writing this story she wanted to remind children that they can be brave and this is a great adventure that kids will surely love. I connected with the book’s message that "Every human on this earth is an explorer." As an avid traveller I couldn’t agree more but I always thought I had no survival skills and after reading this novel I know I wouldn’t stand five minutes if I had been in their place. Rundell’s language and humour are two elements that I really enjoy in her novels and this was no exception. I always enjoy being transported through Rundell's rich descriptive prose to exotic locations, whether Southern Africa, the Russian snow or Parisian rooftops, and now the Amazon jungle. I loved the explorer’s appeal to the children,  ‘When you get home, tell them how large the world is, and how green. And tell them that the beauty of the world makes demands on you. They will need reminding. If you believe the world is small and tawdry, it is easier to be so yourself. But the world is so tall and so beautiful a place."  Amen! Let us all keep exploring and appreciating the vastness and beauty of the world! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. I have already ordered it for @PIELibrary and know our international students/explorers will love it!

High above the Amazon Rainforest, four children are on a flight that will change their lives. While Fred looks longingly at the lush, green jungle below him, Con sits silently and Lila tends to her little brother, Max. When the pilot takes ill, the plane crashes into the jungle and the four children must find their way through the vast, dangerous landscape they've plummeted into, to the safety of Manaus. 

A rip-roaring story of survival, bravery, friendship and love through the Amazon with four children who couldn't be more different. Dreamer Fred finds himself following in the footsteps of his heroes. Con is distant and unpredictable. Lila is as caring and practical as a mother, while Max is adorable in his defiance of the perils they must face. Watching them grow individually and as a group through their trials was as rich and wondrous as the environment they travel through. Katherine Rundell’s description pulls you down beneath the canopy as quickly as our survivors’ plane dropped them into it.

This truly is a book for children of all ages; it has the timeless feel of a classic.

This is an absolute gem of a book! A rip-roaring adventure story in the grand tradition of 20th century children's fiction, but with a subtlety to it that captivates. Four children are in a plane that crash lands in the Amazon jungle, this is the story of how they survive. 

It's total, pure escapist reading at its best, but with a strong undercurrent of self-discovery for the characters. I have a soft spot for all the characters, even 5 year old Max who threatens to wee on people if he doesn't like what they say!

I loved The Explorer and flew through it!

I am still trying to decide quite why I love this book. At several points it reads as though it is some sort of manual, a 'Young Person's Guide to Surviving in the Jungle' that at the last moment has been converted into fiction. The writer rightly removes world exploration from world exploitation and empire but in doing so makes being a modern-day explorer an option only for those with independent income as well as independent attitude. And yet...

And yet there is real magic here, for example in Lila's love for the sloth: 'Lila didn't seem to be breathing. But it was as if a light came out of her; she seemed to glow out into the forest.' and 'Lila shook. Every part of her radiated longing'. This is an adventure book. This is a disaster book. This is a book about growing up, growing into oneself, and exploring the world physically emotionally and philosophically. This novel is not flawless but it is a breath-taking, wondrous read, rather like the rain-forest itself.

'It looked, Fred thought, like someone had designed it [the rain forest] with a purpose in mind: someone who wanted the world to be as wild and green and alive as possible'.

I absolutely loved The Explorer. This was the third of Katherine Rundell's books I've read and the best so far - even better than Rooftoppers.

The story revolves around four children surviving in the Amazon rainforest following a plane crash. It was filled with adventure, excitement and was gripping throughout. The characters were developed thoroughly and the plot followed the journey they went on.

I teach Year 6 and this is definitely going on my list of recommendations and I plan to use it as a class text next year. This book will inspire so many fantastic creative writing opportunities .