Taking the Long Way Home

The walk home from school becomes an imagination-filled, joyful, sensory experience in Jake Hope and Brian Fitzgerald’s picture book.  When Daddy comes to pick up Zarah and her brother, it’s ‘Lickety-split! Zip, zip, zip!’, which suits Zarah as she hates walking. But when Uncle Jerome is in charge, they take the long walk home through the woods, alongside the river, up to the top of the hill and down the other side. There’s so much to see, to hear and to smell and when Zarah starts to complain, Uncle Jerome’s imagination turns it into an amazing adventure, with dinosaurs, crocodiles and tigers to run from. It all ends with a tasty ice cream from the ice-cream van, and as they fly home as vampire bats, raspberry ripple dribbling down their chins, even Zarah says it’s been magic.  A perfect demonstration of the power of the imagination and the glories of the natural world, this is a lovely book to share with little children. Brian Fitzgerald’s varied compositions and printmaking create a sense of a world waiting to be explored and this story should inspire lots of outdoor adventures.