The book follows the adventures of maia, a young orphan, who is sent by her guardian to live with distant cousins on the banks of the amazon, near manaus in brazil. her vision of a new life experiencing the sights, smells and sounds of the rainforest is dashed when she discovers that her relatives have no wish to integrate with the local environment and spend their days locked in their sterile house, keeping bugs and germs at bay. Through her relationship with her more adventurous english governess and the son of a deceased naturalist, she gradually begins to explore her surroundings and passions. In the final chapters she reluctantly returns to england and her former school … or is there a further twist? this exciting adventure explores the theme of new beginnings and the fear and anticipation of the unknown, as well as inviting the reader to share in the strange but exciting world of the amazon rainforest. eva ibbotson wrote ‘journey’ following the death of her naturalist husband and the book is an affectionate tribute to his memory. Maia, our heroine, is a young girl living in a posh but pleasant boarding school in mayfair.

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The year is 1910, and following the death of her parents the family lawyer, mr murray, has located some distant relatives living in the heart of the amazon basin who are willing to take maia in – in return for a share of her inherited fortune. Following a long journey across the atlantic, during which she meets and befriends a young actor named clovis king, maia and her governess miss minton reach the home of mr and mrs carter and their twin daughters, beatrice and gwendoline. Far from the idyllic world of adventure and discovery maia had imagined, the carters turn out to be small minded, mean and greedy people, shut away from the wonders of the outside world and only interested in the allowance they are paid each month by mr murray. Just as maia begins to wonder how she can possibly survive trapped in this awful house and unable to explore the wonders of the jungle around her, she happens across a half english, half brazilian boy named finn taverner. Finn is being chased by private detectives nicknamed ‘the crows’ looking to take him to england as the rightful heir to the oppressive westwood, a stately home owned by his grandfather which, to a boy who was raised finding rare plants and living off the land in the amazonian jungle, seems more like a prison than a home. With the help of clovis, miss minton, the local museum curator professor glastonberry and a host of other friends, maia and finn come up with a plan to trick the crows and allow finn to travel up the river in search of his mother’s tribe. But an unexpected turn of events threatens to reveal finn’s true identity and puts maia’s life in danger… lt p style margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt gt this is a fantastically written book, a real page turner full of twists and turns to keep the reader interested.

Eva ibbotson introduces us to the mysterious and beautiful world of the amazon basin with wonderfully vivid descriptions of the sights and sounds of the jungle, and each character is so well developed it is as if they were standing right in front of you. I must confess that after the first fifty pages or so i was sure i had figured out the story i knew what was coming, how the storyline would go, and wasn’t really looking forward to continuing with the rest of the book. How wrong i was! there are so many surprises in the plot that you never know what is coming next, but the one thing you can be sure of is that you want to keep on reading to find out. Lt p style margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt gt maia is a kind, intelligent and endearing character who captures the heart of the reader with her soft nature. When she is miserable you feel like you want to jump on the first boat to brazil and put your arm around her when she is happy, your heart does a little dance and a broad smile forms on your lips. Like me, you will find yourself quietly cursing the twins for being so mean to her, and secretly begging finn to take her with him on his adventure up the river sea. I would heartily recommend this book to any competent readers from year 5 upwards or as a read aloud for those a bit younger.

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Many children like books that have story lines that involve mystery and adventure. Some girls will like books which have a romantic storyline and some of you young female readers will like the notion of being swept away into a different world. So what may you say if i could point you to a book that encompasses all that? journey to river sea does.

Journey to river sea tells the tale of a girl called maia, who orphaned two years ago, is told in the first chapter of the book that she shall be embarking on an adventure to the depths of the amazon. Maia then travels across seas and oceans and along rivers, making friends and acquiring knowledge along the way. Upon her arrival in manaus, brazil, the excitement of her journey leave maia and the reader with high expectations of her life in the amazon.

It’s here that the story gains a sense of adventure and where a passion for life and mystery develop. Eva ibbotson is a truly descriptive author who uses words and phrases to add depth to her stories. It is through this description that she interacts with the reader and allows them to join in her in the telling of the story by creating their own images. Her reluctance to use imagery really allows for creative development within children of all ages who are either reading independently or who are experiencing the story from a bedtime point of view. Journey to river sea is just one of a large number of works written by eva ibbotson. As a book this one is truly magnificent and i can assure you as that it is one book which will leave you wanting to read more and more and that eva ibbotson will start featuring on any child or adults bookcase more and more frequently.

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here are some themes from the book: nature and naturalists this book is packed with vivid descriptions of the amazon world that maia finds herself in, following her parents’ death. Ibbotson presents us with contrasting views, the carters opinion of the ‘green hell’ in which they live, starkly differs from the wild beauty that maia experiences. It is suggested people make what they wish of the jungle, if they see it as an enemy encroaching upon their territory, then that is what it will become. For maia, miss minton and finn however, the jungle becomes a retreat from the cruelty of humanity, as all three have suffered at the hands of society. morals and colonialism morals, and the struggle against immorality, are a constant feature of the text. From the twins who mock maia, to the mrs carter who lies in order to prevent maia be taken to see clovis in his play, to mr carter who chooses to rescue his glass eyeball collection in preference to his ward when the house is set alight. Colonialism is closely tied to morality, as every character with moral fibre is a champion for the natives whilst the immoral characters persecute and patronise them.

It transpires that the carter household is built upon the resting place for a holy man, which carter had torn down in order that he may build his bungalow. He cheated this land from the ‘indians’ whom he did not pay, breaking his oath to leave the resting place undisturbed. Maia, finn, miss minton and the professor go to live with the xanti, who are the tribe of finn’s mother, and they learn many secrets of the forest from them. There is the sense that they are learning more from the xanti than they teach them, adding a very anti colonial flavour to the text. suitability for primary this book is very suitable for a slightly older primary class such as year 4 or 5 as though it does not present overly challenging themes and issues for a class, the language is quite rich and complex. This book would complement a topic on the rainforest or south america and could produce some very attractive displays of rainforest creatures.