The Journey: An Interactive Guide to the Pole of Inaccessibility (Coral Tulloch, Walker Books)

The subtitle is a bit of a mouthful but Coral Tulloch’s book begins with a sense of intrigue that hooks you in: ‘This is the story of a journey. A tale winding through several dark corners and caverns before reaching the light at the end of the tunnel.’ But the reader is also informed early on of its interactive nature. You need to have with you some writing tools, a counter, a die, a small coin and spare paper while you read this book. If it seems like a game, in fact there are several puzzles, codes and maps throughout the novel. The journey starts when young Bernard chances his neighbour digging a tunnel to the Pole of Inaccessibility. Of course he decides to enter it and meets all sorts of strange characters there, like underground workers dressed in striped gold and purple costumes. At times it’s a bit like those choose-your-own adventure books in which you have to decide which way Bernard is to travel. There are some lovely black and white illustrations but the story needs a stronger narrative drive. While it’s great to have an interactive element to the book, the inclusion of all the games can be a bit detracting to the flow of the story. This is recommended for children aged eight and up.

Thuy On is a Melbourne-based writer, reviewer and manuscript assessor. She is the books editor of The Big Issue

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Category: Reviews