The Adventures of Jonny Plumb

Kim
Wheeler
Genre: 
Other

OVER 8 YEARS OLD:  Remarkable changes are in store for the young orphan Jonny Wheeler.  An alluring lady of means and her staff take responsibility in fostering Jonny’s care.   Warm baths and play time in the garden provide him with extraordinary adventures – sea friends and the mysterious Golden Globe.  However, danger lurks near his new home.  Craving power, the Gnub Repeek eagerly awaits an opportunity to steal the Golden Globe from Jonny, who has secrets to learn and rescues to make.

“The Adventures of Jonny Plumb” casts a neglected yet spirited child as hero. Despite Jonny’s dreary past, Mr. Wheeler provides a spirited child daring enough to explore the dark fantasy world.  Talking animals are a fanciful touch, but they are offset by darker themes parents may find inappropriate.   Jonny is confronted by the archetypical ‘good’ and ‘bad’ adults.  His caregivers are compassionate people.  Then, there are encounters with offensive authoritative figures.   The ‘caning’ he receives from a boarding school headmaster has a cruel edge.  There’s also mild language, which parents may find inappropriate for children, among other things.  Set in the 1960’s, pop cultural references and events are incorporated and can be used as an education tool.  

 

Primarily, “The Adventures of Jonny Plumb” seems a very loose story about an abandoned child discovering he is special in this fantasy fiction.  He’s empowered, then a hero and brave adventurer.  This child-centered book does not contain romance and should be read by a supervising adult before being presented to a child.

 

Anna Fitzgerald