Up, Up and Away: A Round-the-World Puzzle Adventure. Scot Ritchie. Toronto, ON: Maple Tree Press, 2006. 32 pp., pbk. & cl., $6.95 (pbk.), $17.95 (cl.). ISBN 1-897066-60-0 (pbk.), ISBN 1-897066-59-7. Subject Headings: Geography-Juvenile literature. Voyages and travels-Juvenile literature. Picture puzzles-Juvenile literature. Kindergarten-grade 4 / Ages 5-9. Review by Dave Jenkinson. ***� /4

excerpt:

CHINA

Wow, we just flew over one of the few human structures that�s visible from outer space: the Great Wall of China. And this looks like a fun stop, a busy market in Beijing. But be careful. There are over one billion people in China, so don�t get lost!

Think Where�s Waldo?, multiply by seven and then add geography, and you have Up, Up and Away. The premise of the book is that six students, three boys and three girls, have won a geography competition, and their prize is a hot air balloon trip around the world. Accompanied by their teachers, Mrs. Green and Mr. Smith, the multiracial students, Sam, Dean, Kate, Justin, Lino, and Yoko visit a dozen countries beginning in Bolivia and concluding in Australia, with stops in between in the United States, Canada, England, Denmark, Italy, France, Egypt, China, Thailand, and India.

     The reader�s/viewer�s challenge �is to find all six kids and the missing teacher in each destination.� As well, each country�s flag is also to be found. The individual countries are each treated via a double page spread filled with cartoon-like illustrations containing much colour, a great deal of detail, plus lots and lots of people engaged in numerous activities. A small box of text (See excerpt above) indicates the illustration�s general location.

     Children who actually accept the search challenge will be occupied for some good length of time. Those with shorter attention spans can turn to the last three pages which provide the visual solutions. The pair of facing pages just prior to the �Solutions� section repeats, in greatly reduced format, the dozen country spreads and adds a brief paragraph of information. For example:

CHINA

The Great Wall of China runs across the northern part of Beijing, the capital of China. Originally constructed as separate walls, they were unified into one great wall around 220 BC by Emperor Qin Shihuang, the Great Wall stretches about 6,700 kilometres (over 4,100 miles).

     A fun addition to a school or public library�s collection, Up, Up and Away would also be a practical purchase by parents going on a family holiday involving lots of driving time and children.

Highly Recommended.

Dave Jenkinson teaches courses in children�s and adolescent literature in the Faculty of Education, the University of Manitoba.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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