The Blurb On The Back:

Hey, you!

Yes … YOU!

You have been chosen for an important mission.

Vincent’s dog, Trouble, has disappeared and he needs YOUR HELP.

Has Trouble been stolen by aliens?  Pilfered by pirates?  Or wandered deep into the jungle?

It’s up to you to decide!

Discover not one but THREE fun-filled worlds in this PICK A STORY adventure.  Packed with hilarious characters, super-silly scenarios and decisions to make on every page, you won’t want to put it down! 

PICK A STORY – A PIRATE + ALIEN + JUNGLE ADVENTURE was released in the United Kingdom on 4th August 2022.  Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

You can order PICK A STORY – A PIRATE + ALIEN + JUNGLE ADVENTURE by Sarah Coyle and Adam Walker-Parker from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

The Review (Cut For Spoilers):

It’s an absolutely normal, nothing-weird-to-see-here day and Vincent and his little dog Trouble are in the park.  But then Vincent spots an alien spaceship!  And a pirate hook!  And is that … a snake, on a swing?!  As Vincent is trying to work out what’s going on he realises that Trouble has disappeared!

You, the reader, have to help Vincent to find Trouble and save the day but that means deciding whether to check out the pirate ship, follow the snake into the jungle or venture need the beam of light that’s coming from an alien space ship.  So pluck up your courage, decide which path to take and turn to the relevant page as a fun adventure awaits you …

Sarah Coyle and Adam Walker-Parker’s choose-your-own-adventure style picture book for readers aged 3+ is a fun way of introducing children to making decisions and following different story paths.  The illustrations are bright and packed with detail, the different adventures are cosy and silly and each has a little activity to keep readers occupied.  All in all, I think this is very entertaining and a great introduction to gaming-type books.

I’m going to be very open from the start: this book was always going to be catnip for me.  I was a kid back when CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE and FIGHTING FANTASY books were first released and I was completely hooked on them.  I loved the way that they gave you control over the narrative almost as much as I loved cheating by keeping my finger on the decision page and then seeing how a choice played out.  So the idea of reading a picture book that gave younger readers the same experience was guaranteed to be absolutely my jam.

Coyle and Walker-Parker have made this book very young reader friendly so you don’t have to worry about making a choice where Vincent suddenly finds himself in fatal peril or horrifically injured in any way and just to be clear, Trouble is absolutely fine in every scenario.  Each of the different story lines has silly elements – my favourite being the stinky pirates but the jungle animal talent show with the breakdancing tortoise was a very close second – and once you get to the end of a storyline you have the option of checking out one of the others.

Walker-Parker’s illustrations are cheeky and fun and packed with a lot of detail, e.g. the different pirate islands show them doing different activities.  Added to this, each adventure has little activities to do, like counting items, following a maze or picking places to visit so if you’re a parent or caregiver or educator who is reading along with a young reader, then there are ways for you to interact and keep it interesting.

All in all, I think this book is a great way of introducing young readers to the idea of different story lines and making decisions (especially if, unlike me, you have the discipline to follow them through without cheating).  It’s also a good primer for when they’re ready to make the move to other game-type books like CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE or FIGHTING FANTASY by getting them used to the format.  I would definitely check out more books of this type by Coyle and Walker-Parker as well as their other work.  

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