Jay-Jay and his Island Adventure is a children’s book written by Sue Wickstead and illustrated by Jon Mitchell. Jay-Jay is a double-decker, Supersonic Playbus, which travels from town to town and is greeted by many excited children, each of whom cannot wait to play with the toys and read the many exciting books on board. After being invited to visit an island, Jay-Jay becomes very anxious and nervous, never having travelled over water before. After a brief ferry ride, Jay-Jay is greeted by children who live on the island, and who are more excited than normal, due to never having seen a bus before, let alone a double-decker bus! After a full week of fun, play and excitement, the children go home and Jay-Jay departs for the ferry ride home. From beginning to end, Jay-Jay and his Island Adventure is filled with excitement and thrills, keeping even the most anxious minds enthralled by such a tale. Sue Wickstead has written a wonderfully imaginative story of a real-life bus, which travels around the United Kingdom, bringing fun and adventure everywhere it goes. The emotion which is felt by Jay-Jay, leading up to his initial journey on a ferry, is typical of many young children – and even adults – who have never travelled over water before. Although highly anxious, Jay-Jay is relieved to have survived the scary water adventure, before thrilling a whole new audience with the fun that he offers on board. I very much enjoyed the story, as well as the illustrations provided, and believe that Jay-Jay and his Island Adventure would be well received by young audiences, whether or not they have travelled via ferry before, as it shows that most fears are imagined, but are replaced by fond memories when the journey is over.

Jay-Jay isn’t an ordinary bus that takes people to school or work, oh no, Jay-Jay is a fun bus bringing joy to lots of children. He travels around the villages and children can climb aboard and have lots of enjoyment. In this book, Jay-Jay is travelling to an island so that the children there can have fun on his bus. However it is his first time crossing the water and isn’t very impressed with the ferry and the bumpy water, he even starts to feel a little seasick. Although there are numerous books in the Jay-Jay bus series, this is the first I have read. The story is lovely. I remember the play-buses years ago that people would hire for their birthday parties, though I have never been on one. I also haven’t seen them around for a long time. The story of a double-decker bus bringing joy to the children is quite delightful and I love the old-fashioned illustrations that show the kids having lots of fun. The only thing I am not sure about is how much text there is in the book. I would expect with the storyline for these to be for young children but there is so much text only confident readers would be able to read this book. However, with the help of a parent or guardian, I am sure that none and new readers will be able to have the story read to them and enjoy this sweet book featuring a very likeable and friendly bus.