The Fantastic Flying Journey facts for kids
The Fantastic Flying Journey (ISBN: 1850291055) is an exciting children's book. It was written by the famous author Gerald Durrell. The story follows three children and their amazing great-uncle Lancelot. They travel all around the world in a hot air balloon! The book was published in 1987 by Conran Octopus. Graham Percy created the wonderful illustrations. In 1989, Gerald Durrell wrote a second book, a sequel, called The Fantastic Dinosaur Adventure.
In 2001, a children's animated TV show was made based on the book. It was also called "The Fantastic Flying Journey." This cartoon series has 13 episodes, each about 30 minutes long.
Contents
What the Book is About
One day, a huge hot air balloon lands in the garden of the Dollybutt family. It has a big straw house attached to it! The balloon belongs to Great-Uncle Lancelot. He is a kind, older man. He tells Mrs. Dollybutt and her three children that he is looking for his brother, Perceval. Uncle Perceval is a scientist. He is lost in the jungles of Africa while looking for gorillas.
Uncle Perceval invented a special magic dust. This dust lets people talk to animals! Lancelot decides to take the three children, Emma, Ivan, and Conrad, with him. They will fly in his hot air balloon, named Belladonna, to find Uncle Perceval.
An Amazing Journey
On their journey, they meet many different animals. Thanks to the magic dust, they can talk to them! They meet a swallow, a camel, and a fennec fox. These animals share interesting facts about their lives. In the jungle, the gorillas tell them that Perceval has gone to South Africa. He went there to meet some elephants.
Lancelot and the children follow Perceval to South Africa. Their adventure continues to Australia, the North Pole, Canada, North America, Brazil, and Patagonia. Along the way, they meet even more animals. These include a crocodile, a rhinoceros, some koalas, and a platypus. They also see a blue whale, killer whales, polar bears, and musk oxen. In North America, they meet beavers, buffalos, and monarch butterflies. In South America, they find a boa constrictor and howler monkeys. Finally, in the cold regions, they meet penguins and elephant seals. Everywhere they go, they learn about the animals' homes, how they behave, and the dangers they face.
The End of the Journey
Finally, an elephant seal tells them that Uncle Perceval has returned to Britain. So, Lancelot and the children fly back home. They find Perceval right there in the Dollybutts' house! Their chase lasted a whole year. But the children all agree it was an amazing adventure and not a waste of time at all.
The TV Show
The animated TV series, also called "The Fantastic Flying Journey," was made in 2001. It is a 2D cartoon with 13 episodes. The show is based on Gerald Durrell's book. However, it adds a new character: a villain named Lucretia Moore.
New Characters and Plot
In the TV show, Lucretia Moore follows Lancelot and the children. She travels in a modern helicopter with her assistant. Lucretia wants to steal the magic dust! She is the head of a big pet food company and wants the dust for her own selfish reasons. In each episode, Lucretia tries to stop the group. But Lancelot and the children always manage to escape just in time.
The television series was shown in the UK and Australia. You can find it for purchase online.
About the Author's Ideas
- Gerald Durrell based the character of Great-Uncle Lancelot on himself. He was an animal lover and explorer. His brother Perceval was loosely based on Durrell's real brother, Lawrence Durrell.
- The way animals act in the book often shows what Durrell thought about those animals. For example, the gorillas are shown as loving and friendly. This is because Durrell had a good relationship with the gorillas at his Jersey Zoo. On the other hand, the camel in the book is rude. This is because Durrell was once bitten by a camel when he worked at Whipsnade Zoo!
