✨Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City

Written and illustrated by Rob Biddulph

4Rbooks                                           5/6                   grades          4-7

Amazon                                            4.8/5              grade level   4-6

Goodreads                                      4.41/5          

Common Sense Media               Not yet reviewed

372 pages

Synopsis

            Pernilla Jones is an artist, but Peanut, as her friends and family call her, is stuck at a new school which doesn’t value creativity and she finds herself in trouble on a regular basis.  It’s been a tough year.  Her father walked out on the family and never returned. Peanut’s mother is convinced that he is gone forever, but Peanut believes that something has happened to him and that he will return. She will not give up hope.

            One day, while looking through her box of Post-it notes her father used to leave her, Peanut finds a hidden pencil. She discovers that it has magical powers and uses it to draw a door which leads her to the artistic and colorful realm of Chroma. She doesn’t explore much that first night but makes plans to return the following morning.

            This time, she re-enters the door with her 5-year-old sister Elizabeth (Little Bit) and her school study buddy, Rockwell. Peanut is wearing a bandolier filled with art essentials and the pencil because she has learned that whatever she draws with the magic pencil becomes real. The children follow a dog they name Doodle who leads them to Mrs. Markmaker. From her they learn the tragic tale of how a new leader in Chroma, Mr. White, has banished all creativity and artistry in this land once renowned for just such things.

            The Children volunteer to help the resistance by rescuing Mr. Markmaker from prison. Peanut also begins to suspect this land is why here dad didn’t come home, and that he may be a prisoner, too.

Parental Guidelines:    low

Peanut’s father walked out on the family many months ago and has not been seen since.

While in Chroma the children are “in danger” a couple of times but nothing that makes you intensely worried for them.

Recommendation

            This was a fun read and a good tale.  It borrowed plot elements from The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, Harold and the Purple Crayon, and many children’s adventure novels where a fantasy kingdom is in danger at the hands of an evil ruler. Though long, reluctant readers will find the story fun, the chapters short, and the illustrations entertaining. Advanced readers will enjoy the creative ways Peanut, her sister, and their friend Rockwell solve problems, and the vast amount of artistic information that is incorporated throughout the story.

            This would be an excellent book for a classroom read or homeschool choice because of the numerous opportunities for enrichment learning of famous arts, artworks, and art utensils and tools.  There is an informative glossary at the end of the story with many details about things mentioned throughout the book. I found nothing in this novel that would be inappropriate for elementary or middle school students. It is set in and around London, England so there are words and phrases that might need to be explained, and enrichment opportunities about London could also prove valuable. 

            This is the first book in a three-part series that I will look forward to finishing before the year is out.  The author is the author of other books and has a series of artistic videos titled #DrawWithRob he started during the pandemic to help parents during the pandemic.  In May of 2020 he set a Guiness Book of World Record when over 45,000 people tuned in to one of his YouTube videos.