Journey to the Last River by The Unknown Adventurer
My vote for Most Extraordinary Children’s Book of the Year.
That said, there were some revolting anomalies in my copy. Pages had been nibbled by leaf-cutter ants, raindrops marred the text. Grubby paw prints muddied the margins. There were smudges of blood and leaf litter. Key details had been redacted. Horrible specimens had been taped to the pages: fish scales, tarantula hair, an ant head, a cicada wing, disgusting larvae. I was sure I’d get malaria just from handling it.
“So many snakes look the same it’s hard to know which is going to make you bleed out of your eyes and die miserably and which is going to be a delightful friend.”
Journey to the Last River is fiction posing as non-fiction. It’s an utterly convincing, compelling journal of a mysterious adventurer chronicling his trek into the northern Amazon. As an artist he embellishes his diary with maps, lists, and gorgeous colour-pencil illustrations of the terrain and wildlife.
Scribbles, dirt, and a pull-out map create the illusion that the journal is real. Feathers, twigs, and petals appear to be taped to the pages. There are coffee-rings and drops of blood and pencil shavings. The illustrations are detailed and documentary, yet give the impression of haste and interruption.
He’s not alone. Brazilian scientist and old friend Bibi provides the brains and brawn of the expedition: gathering food, carving paddles, and bushwhacking. They both have adventure fever: Bibi hopes to discover new species, and the unknown adventurer: well, his motives are more mercenary.
“Remember, out there you are small and biodegradable.”
Their shared mission is to find the Last River: a river that doesn’t appear on modern maps... Is there a mystery buried deep in the rainforest?
The landscape format of the book gives huge impact to the double-page spreads. The eye roves across the panorama in an unusual way, revelling in the space. Some pages are portrait-oriented with the text read bottom-up, making the reader grapple with the book, wielding it and exploring the contents in different ways. Every page turned reveals a surprise. Charting my own course through the artwork, maps, specimens, and text, I felt the entire reading experience had been reimagined. This book expands the notion of what a children’s book can be.
“At last, the wild rush of adventure has begun.”
I particularly liked the unknown adventurer. He’s not the classic hero. He lounges around letting Bibi do the hard work. He has less than noble plans. He’s a weenie when it comes to creepy-crawlies. Will the wilderness change him…?
The journal is packed with information. Among the species encountered are whip scorpions, emerald tree boas, a goliath bird-eating spider, otters, squirrel monkeys, piranhas, and poison dart frogs. The point about how different species are interconnected and interdependent is clearly demonstrated.
Everything about this book is superb: the art, the writing, the production, the concept, the spirit, the message, and the metafiction. It’s dramatic, beautiful, and yucky. Highly recommended.
Detail from Journey to the Last River by Teddy Keen
Journey to the Last River by Teddy Keen was published in 2021 by Frances Lincoln Children’s Books. Keen’s previous book The Lost Book of Adventure is also outstanding.
Many thanks to Teddy Keen and Quarto Kids for my advanced reading copy. It is a superb work.
