I absolutely loved reading The Extraordinary Voyage of Katy Willacott
I loved the character of Katy
Her strength, courage, grit and determination
I loved her stargazing, adventure seeking soul
I loved her family all living together in Kew Gardens
I loved her first meeting with Fran
And her realisation that she really can do anything she wants
I love that Katy has the courage to run away to sea
To realise her dream
I loved the way she earned the respect of the ship’s crew
I loved her curiosity
I loved her respect for the wild and her sense of right and wrong
I loved that she had hopes and dreams
And that she was willing to take action to make them come true
This is a story with a truly inspiring protagonist for young readers
A story that ill inspire and motivate all readers but especially girls
I know my three girls will all LOVE Katy
And want to follow her lead and be part of the Strong Girls Club

This is a fast paced story that will keep you on the edge of your seat
Reading page after page unable to stop

This is a story that will make you look at museums in a very different way

A story that will make you think about the past in different way

A story to spark discussions around how women were thought of and treated in Victorian times, how British explorers and those from other European countries colonised South America, claiming the land and river in the Amazon as their own.
This story will shine a light on deforestation in the Amazon, the devastation caused by rubber plantations and make us all realise taking cultural items for museum collections on the other side of the world is not the right thing to do.
This is a thrilling historical adventure story, it is also a story that makes us stop and think about the best way to learn the history and make up of our world.

This story shares the importance of respecting people native to a land and learning from them. Respecting the animals and plants native to a land and learning from them.

With Katy, young readers and their grown ups learn that wanting a thing does not mean we automatically have the right to take it.

There were multiple times in this book where I just stopped reading to breathe and think about what Sharon Gosling through Katy and her friends was telling me.

As the mother of a sailing family I loved reading about the voyage from Britain to Brazil. I loved navigating the stormy seas and getting to know the passengers and crew aboard the ship.

I loved Katy’s kindness and courage once she arrived in Brazil and travelled into the rainforest with Theo and Celia. She respected the family and the forest and she earned their trust and friendship.

There are so many lovely little details in this story. It is a wonderful way to introduce children to the idea of nature journaling and the work of naturalists past and present.

Over the summer our home education topic is going to be The Amazon River and Rainforest. I am definitely adding this to the reading list for my older children. I think we will also plan a visit to Kew Gardens to see where Katy’s story began.

I know that my older bookworms aged 8 – 12 will love Katy, and Shadow the kitten who is more than he seems!

I know that they will be angry at how people in the story are treating the habitats and inhabitants of South America.

I know that we will have lots of talks around slavery and deforestation and respecting indigenous people, plants and animals. I wonder what conversations we will have next time we visit the big museums in London?

At the heart of this story is an extraordinary woman doing extraordinary things. Inspired by reading the tale of Katy Willacott we are going to be reading about lots of real life extraordinary women who did or are doing extraordinary things – there are more of us than folk realise!

The Extraordinary Voyage of Katy Willacott is a brilliant and beautiful book

Written by Sharon Gosling
Illustrated by Kristina Kister
Published by Little Tiger