The Fantastic Flying Journey
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The Fantastic Flying Journey (ISBN 0755104366) is a children's book written by Gerald Durrell. It is a story about three children and their great-uncle Lancelot travelling around the world in a hot air balloon. It has been published by Conran Octopus, in 1987. It is illustrated by Graham Percy. In 1989, Durrell wrote a sequel for this book called The Fantastic Dinosaur Adventure.
[edit] Plot
One day, a hot air balloon lands in the garden of the Dollybuts. A fat old man owns it: Great-Uncle Lancelot. He tells Mrs Dollybut and her three children that he's after his brother, Perceval, who is lost in the jungles of Africa, looking for gorillas. Perceval is a scientist, who invented a magic dust, which makes you able to communicate with animals.
Lancelot takes the three children, Emma, Ivan and Conrad with him to track Uncle Perceval. On their way, they several animals, such as a swallow, a camel and a fennec fox, who tell them many interesting facts about their lives. In the jungle, the gorillas tell them that Perceval left for South Africa, to meet some elephants.
Lancelot and the three children follow Perceval to South Africa, and then to Australia,the North Pole, Canada, North America, Brazil and Patagonia. On their way, they meet a crocodile, a rhinoceros, some koalas, a platypus, a blue whale, some killer whales, polar bears, musk oxen, beavers, buffalos, monarch butterflies, a boa constrictor, some howler monkeys, penguins and elephant seals. Everywhere, they learn something about the animals, their habitat, behaviour and dangers threatening them.
In the end, the elephant seal tells them that Uncle Perceval has returned to Britain. So they follow him there, and find Perceval in the Dollybut's house. The chase lasted a whole year, but the children all agree it was not a waste of time after all.
[edit] Trivia
- Durrell based the character of Great-Uncle Lancelot on himself. His brother Perceval was loosely based on Lawrence Durrell.
- The personality of the animals in the book usually reflects Durrell's opinion about those species. For examples, the gorillas have a loveable personality, because Durrell was on good terms with his gorillas at the Jersey Zoo. On the contrary, the camel is rude and nasty, because when Durrell worked at Whipsnade Zoo, he was bitten by a camel.
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Institutions associated with: Jersey Zoo • Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust • Wildlife Trust • Wildlife Preservation Canada • Mauritian Wildlife Foundation • Madagascar Fauna Group • Programme for Belize • World Land Trust • World Conference on Breeding Endangered Species in Captivity as an Aid to their Survival Co-conservationists: Lee Durrell • David Attenborough • Peter Scott • Jeremy Mallinson • Edward Whitley Expeditions undertaken: Argentina • Australia • Belize • Bhutan • Cameroon • India • Madagascar • Malaysia • Mauritius • Mexico • New Zealand • Paraguay • Russia • Sierra Leone Species associations: Aye-Aye • Gorilla • Mauritius Kestrel • Pink Pigeon • Pigmy Hog • Rockfowl • St. Lucia Parrot • Volcano Rabbit Books authored: The Overloaded Ark • Three Singles to Adventure • The Bafut Beagles • The New Noah • The Drunken Forest • My Family and Other Animals • Encounters with Animals • A Zoo in My Luggage • The Whispering Land • Island Zoo • A Look at Zoos • Menagerie Manor • Two in the Bush • The Donkey Rustlers • Rosie is My Relative • Birds, Beasts and Relatives • Fillets of Plaice • Catch Me a Colobus • Beasts in My Belfry • The Talking Parcel • The Stationary Ark • Golden Bats and Pink Pigeons • The Garden of the Gods • The Picnic and Suchlike Pandemonium • The Mockery Bird • Ark on the Move • The Amateur Naturalist • How to Shoot an Amateur Naturalist • Durrell in Russia • The Fantastic Flying Journey • The Fantastic Dinosaur Adventure • The Ark's Anniversary • Keeper • Toby the Tortoise • Marrying Off Mother and Other Stories • The Aye-Aye and I • Puppy Tales • The Best of Gerald Durrell Illustrators: Ralph Thompson • Edward Mortelmans • Peter Barrett • Graham Percy • Keith West • Cliff Wright Famous TV Series: Two in the Bush • Catch Me a Colobus • The Garden of the Gods • The Stationary Ark • Ark on the Move • The Amateur Naturalist • Ourselves and Other Animals • Durrell in Russia Notable others: Durrell Family • Jacquie Durrell • Lawrence Durrell • Achirimbi II • Theodore Stephanides • Douglas Botting |
