Review by Frank Plowright

In his third Box Tales book James Burks has Box voice the fears of many young children when a first camping trip is proposed. The fears are understandable. Young children’s entire lives are spent listening to parental warnings about how everything in the outside world can be dangerous, yet all of sudden the idea of camping in the woods surrounded by wild creatures is presented as a viable adventure.

As in previous books, once the fears are revealed Burks has Bea and Box address those fears via a series of performative pages offering practical advice. In this case, as much as anything, it amounts to preparation, although god forbid any young reader actually does end up face to face with a bear.

Burks knows his audience, and keeps the drawing simple, cheerful and expressive, even when feeding in possibly more alarming concepts. Illustrations of how beautiful nature can be creates an allure, while Burks emphasises a sense of scale when Bea and Box reach a giant redwood tree. A sense of humour is frequently apparent, such as the distance sign forming part of the beaver dam, big goon in shorts Ranger Ralph, and the poop identification chart in the back where there are also ‘photos’ of the trip.

Early in the story the idea is fed in that no-one knows how they’ll cope with some circumstances until faced with them, and it plays out when misfortune later occurs, and then with a surprise appearance on the final pages.

Informative fun is the best way to learn, and Brave the Wild scores again.