Explosive Adventures

by Alexander McCall Smith

An irresistible bind-up edition of two fabulously fun, wonderfully witty adventure mysteries, from the bestselling author of the No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, Alexander McCall Smith, and with amazing illustrations by Kate Hindley throughout.

Popcorn Pirates
The greediest gang of grub-guzzling pirates ever to sail the high seas is after the Popcorn Islands' harvest. Can Lucy, Hermione and Sam stop them?

The Bubblegum Tree
The secret ingredient for Gopal's Best Pink Bubblegum has not been delivered for two months. Billy, Nicola and Mr Gopal are off to the jungle in a flying boat to solve the baffling mystery ...

272 pages, Paperback

First published September 10, 2015

About the author

Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the international phenomenon The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, the Isabel Dalhousie Series, the Portuguese Irregular Verbs series, and the 44 Scotland Street series. He is professor emeritus of medical law at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and has served on many national and international bodies concerned with bioethics. He was born in what is now known as Zimbabwe and he was a law professor at the University of Botswana. He lives in Scotland. Visit him online at www.alexandermccallsmith.com, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

Reviews

[Godly Gadfly · Rating 4 out of 5]

McCall Smith can also write fun stories for kids. (4 stars)

Alexander McCall Smith is best known for his No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series featuring Mme Ramotswe. I’ve also enjoyed his slapstick Professor Dr von Igelfeld Entertainments series. So it was a pleasant surprise for me to discover that he’s also written a large number of stories for children.

“Explosive Adventures” is an omnibus edition from 2015 that contains two of his stories that originally appeared separately in print in the late 1990s: “Popcorn Pirates” and “The Bubble Gum Tree”. They’re described as “adventure mysteries” and follow somewhat of a similar formula: a group of children head off on a wonderful and exciting adventure, and become heroes.

“Popcorn Pirates” starts with the wonderful Popcorn Islands, whose economy relies on growing and exporting popcorn. It’s an absurdist idea, and sets the tone for what to expect in the rest of the story. When a ship laden with popcorn is captured by pirates, Lucy, Hermione, and Sam join the captain of the ship on a rescue mission, and give the pirates a taste of their own medicine.

“The Bubble Gum Tree” features two new heroes, Billy and Nicola. They step up to assist local bubblegum factory owner Mr Gopal, when his factory has suddenly stopped receiving the secret ingredient needed for their marvellous bubblegum. Together they head to the jungle to seek out the Bubblegummies, a tree-dwelling community that harvests and supplies this special gum, where the children’s heroics against woodcutters and tigers will save the day.

It has struck me that in numerous of his stories (not just these) the parents of our heroes play minimal or no role, with the children going off on adventures with other adults, and have little or no functioning relationship with their parents. But that aside, they’re ripping yarns. McCall Smith keeps the action going, and creates an over-the-top story that reminds me a little of writers like Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl, and Dick-King Smith. It’s the kind of thing that every kid dreams of, with kids sailing the seas on a grand adventure, and fantastic elements to delight the imagination, like popcorn that grows on plants, and bubblegum that oozes out of trees. Our inventive heroes will use creative strategies like popping kernels and bubblegum bungee cords to defeat the baddies.

It's all exaggerated and in good fun, and despite the baddies doing their thing, it’s never genuinely scary. All along we know that the side of good will triumph, and that everything will go right for them in the end. I’ve read a few more of McCall Smith’s stories for children that weren’t as good (e.g. “The Sands of Shark Island”, and “Noah Wild and the Floating Zoo”). In comparison the two in this omnibus were much better, which may explain why these were the ones that got reprinted in this omnibus. Certainly these two stories are amusing and exciting, would also be perfect for reading out aloud to kids.

[Valentina · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Bubblegum Tree was one of the first books I borrowed from the school library and it's the one I remember most. I always remembered its cover and title. I had to read it again, even though many years later.

[L · Rating 5 out of 5]

DISCLAIMER: I received this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways.

This is the first children's book I have read in a very long time that is perfect for the little ones! It is truly amazing: it teaches kindness and acceptance from cover to cover. And just to top that, the stories are really entertaining.

I hope Mr. McCall Smith will keep writing many books like this one and I hope people will buy his books for their children!

Favourite quotes:
"The turtles and birds who lived on the islands were also very friendly, as they hardly ever saw any humans and were always pleased to have some company."

"And if you do see any pirates, I don't want you to pick up any rough manners from them. Do you understand?"

"Bill and Ed did not look as bad as the other two, but they both had six or seven large gold rings in each ear, and this made them rattle when they walked."

" 'They'll go to jail' said the Captain. 'And they'll stay there until Christmas. Then, if they promise to give up piracy and take an honest job somewhere, they may be allowed to go free.' "

"It was a job that suited Stinger perfectly, as he was always happy when snarling, and snarling at sharks is as snarly a job as anyone can imagine. Of course it was possible that one day he might meet a shark who wasn't frightened of him, but then that's another story, and no job can be perfect in all respects."

"It was a pink sort of smell- a smell that seemed to get bigger as you smelled it and then burst, just like the popping of a bubble"

" 'I watched him walk down the path from the house and then off on to the dusty road. People do that in India. When they reach a certain time of life, they sometimes just walk off and become holy men and never come back.That is what my father did' "

" 'And that, Billy, is why you see me looking so sad. I am very worried that something has happened to the Bubblegummies' "

" 'And if things go on as they are, in a few months the men will have cut all the trees down and that will be the end of the bubblegum tree - forever'.
Nobody said anything. Billy thought that he had never heard such a sad story before. Surely somebody could do something before the bubblegum trees before it was too late. "

[Pat Elvidge · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book with my grandchild and he enjoyed it immensely :))))
A fantastic fun filled read.alexander McCall smith has a way of drawing you in whether you are 7yrs old or 77yrs!
We loved it and would highly recommend this book to other little ones or bigger ones!
Thankyou to goodreads and the kind publishers for the opportunity to read a book by one of my favourite authors
A brilliant 5 stars

[Stephenie Oxley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recieved this book as a good reads giveaway. I have read previous books by Alexander McCall Smith and really enjoyed them, so I was really looking forward to sharing this children's book with my son. We loved it! Reading a chapter every night at bedtime, we enjoyed the two different stories. They were fun and full of adventure and a just the right amount of silly. I asked my son which of the two he enjoyed the most but he said he could not decide, he liked both equally.

[Kirstie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great kids book. Short sharp bursts of dialogue. Great illustration.

What kids don't love pirates or jungles?

[Peg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful children's stories, 259 pages.