The Explorer

‘Katherine Rundell just gets better and better. I loved The Explorer’ - Jacqueline Wilson

WINNER OF THE COSTA CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARD 2017

A thrilling story of adventure, friendship and survival in the Amazon, The Explorer is an unmissable, Costa Award-winning modern classic from internationally bestselling author Katherine Rundell

From his seat in the tiny aeroplane, Fred watches as the mysteries of the Amazon jungle pass by below him. He has always dreamed of becoming an explorer, of making history and of reading his name amongst the lists of great discoveries. If only he could land and look about him.

As the plane crashes into the canopy, Fred is suddenly left without a choice. He and the three other children may be alive, but the jungle is a vast, untamed place. With no hope of rescue, the chance of getting home feels impossibly small.

Except, it seems, someone has been there before them …

‘Utterly splendid. Katherine Rundell is now unarguably in the FIRST RANK’ - Philip Pullman

Get ready to go on an unforgettable adventure with Katherine Rundell …

“The tone is humorous and wise, the characterisation observant and true, and the story suspenseful ... Reading this delicious book is like eating electricity”

A wildly exciting adventure … One of our most talented writers for children Observer, Children’s Book of the Week
The tone is humorous and wise, the characterisation observant and true, and the story suspenseful … Reading this delicious book is like eating electricity Sunday Times, Children’s Book of the Year
Cracking … A kind of cross between Indiana Jones and the film Up … One of the most captivating books of the year Spectator
Katherine Rundell just gets better and better. I loved The Explorer. On one level it’s a very exciting adventure story of four children fighting for survival in the Amazon – but it’s also saying profound things about human nature and love and loss Jacqueline Wilson
There’s a gritty solidity to the horrors and the beauties, and a completely convincing depth to the characters, all of whom I loved. Katherine Rundell is now unarguably in the FIRST RANK Philip Pullman
An adventure story to die for … Rundell is a class act – her beautiful descriptions of the rainforest could turn the head of a Mayan statue. And scrap bedtime: her need-to-know next chapters just won’t wait till the sun’s up. What a discovery The Times
As extravagantly beautiful as the rainforest it so lovingly describes, I cannot imagine the child who wouldn’t be delighted by it Independent
Plunge into the green wilds of Katherine Rundell’s marvellous new novel … Hannah Horn’s delicate line drawings, encroach, vine-like, on Rundell’s dangerous, intoxicating pages in this love song to the natural world. It is essential reading for lovers of Eva Ibbotson Guardian
‘For sheer adventure, The Explorer is hard to trump Daily Telegraph
Rundell conjures up a world of natural beauty – pre-internet – where survival depends on cooperation. Her vivid locations are almost characters in themselves … Terrific Daily Mail
Rundell is an astonishing young talent and her books combine old-fashioned, edge-of-your-seat adventure with richly imagined characters... Read everything she writes Daily Mail

Katherine Rundell is a bestselling author whose novels for children include Rooftoppers, The Wolf Wilder, The Explorer and The Good Thieves. She has won the Costa Children’s Book Award, the Blue Peter Book Award and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, amongst many others. She was a 2021 World Book Day author and has also published two picture books for children and three non-fiction books for adults, including Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne, winner of the 2022 Baillie Gifford Prize, and The Golden Mole and Other Living Treasure, shortlisted for the 2022 Waterstones Book of the Year. Her books have sold millions of copies worldwide.

Katherine spent her childhood in Africa and Europe before taking her degree at the University of Oxford and becoming a Fellow of All Souls College. As well as writing, she studies Renaissance literature and occasionally goes climbing on the rooftops late at night.

Hannah Horn is a UK-based artist who specialises in illustration, paint and printmaking. Born in Aberdeen, Hannah studied fashion illustration at the London College of Fashion. In her career thus far she has produced work for a diverse range of projects including fashion, print, skateboarding brands and album artwork. The Explorer is her first children's fiction illustration project.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.