Billy and the epic escape by Jamie Oliver

Billy and the epic escape follows the further adventures of Billy who was introduced to readers in celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's debut children's novel Billy and the giant adventure. Both books are available as audio books and are narrated by Jamie Oliver et al. with 'immersive music and sound effects'. Both books follow the adventures of Billy and his friends as they unite using their differing individual skills to confront magical creatures who are destroying the 'Rhythm' and hurting individuals and as they team up with magical creatures on the side of good like the Sprites, Boonas and Giants. Both books emphasise that everybody has unique skills and flaws. Both books are heartening in the lovely intergenerational relationships built between children and elderly people and the recognition of the particular skills that everybody has to contribute. Both books read as a father telling a very long serialised bedtime story.

Monica Armino's illustrations enhance the story, being liberally scattered throughout the book. Some are full page, some wrap around as borders; they are seemingly randomly placed but help the reluctant reader enjoy text. Some chapter headers and illustrations are by Alan Brown in pastiche style of Monica Armino. The text design by Janene Spencer includes many examples of onomatopoeia in enlarged, bold print. The chosen font is Atkinson Hyper legible 10.2/17.42pt which really helps children who struggle with the printed word (as did Jamie Oliver himself).

Oliver's narrative tone (particularly in the prologue and epilogue) is very warm and comforting. The prologue recaps Billy's book one adventures in Waterfall Woods which is always useful for the reader who wants to read a second book in a series as a stand-alone.  Once again the children enter the oak tree portal into the magical world. This time the threat is a lady called Scary Red. The best gardeners from around the world have been trapped by her and this time, even an Aboriginal child is stolen from Australia. A futuristic element enters this book with the advent of robot rangers.

In Billy and the epic escape there is much frenetic action which is slightly disconnected at times. Many diverse action sequences are begun, abandoned and then circled back to at a later stage. It makes for circuitous reading. The action remains at all times at a high level of intensity which eventually results in a loss of excitement and immediacy for the reader. The plot does not pace towards a climax so that the reader can have a sense of anticipation and later release. Rather, Billy and the epic escape rockets from one 'epic' event to the next and the reader may begin to suffer from excitement fatigue. The characters are rather too many and too one-dimensional to captivate the reader and to remain memorable.

 Unsurprisingly, with a celebrity chef turning his hand to writing, recipes and food are integral components or accompaniments to the story with bonus recipes for the young cook to try at the end of the book. 

Though not a contribution to the catalogue of quality children's literature that merit multiple readings, Billy and the epic escape is still a fun read. It is written in an earnest and warm tone and the author has thrown everything he can at it to make it as thrilling as he can.

Themes: Friendship, Magical creatures, Helping, Environment, Teamwork.

Wendy Jeffrey