Book Review: Rupert & Nell – The Hot Air Balloon by Bill Brodie & Rey Flores

A book review of a fun children’s book for younger readers about a mischievous dog that gets into trouble after jumping into a hot air balloon basket only for it to fly into the air. Part of the Adventures of Rupert & Nell series which includes The First Adventure, The Chocolate Mountain and Santa’s Secret Helpers.

About Rupert & Nell: The Hot Air Balloon

Title: Rupert & Nell: The Hot Air Balloon (The Adventures of Rupert & Nell)
Author: Bill Brodie
Illustrator: Rey Flores
Publisher: Brodie Books
Genre: Younger children’s fiction
Book format reviewed: Hardback
Sweet Strawberries:

Description: In this adventure, Rupert decides to jump into a picnic basket that isn’t what it seems. He ends up very high in the world and has to be rescued by Wee Nessie.

*Free copy provided by Love Books Tours for review…

My review and thoughts on Rupert & Nell: The Hot Air Balloon

This is a fun children’s book with some great illustrations. Rupert and Nell hear a strange sound one morning before breakfast and decide to investigate what could be causing it. They soon discover it’s a hot air balloon filling with air. Rupert’s never seen a hot air balloon before, but it isn’t the balloon that’s interested him, it’s the basket attached to the balloon which he belives is a picnic basket filled with food. Rupert decides to jump into the basket, but doing so causes the balloon to take off and soon Rupert is flying high in the sky. Is there any way Nell can help Rupert to get back to the ground before he flies far away? The hardback is filled with some lovely illustrations and text.

©The Strawberry Post

I’ve read three books in the Adventures of Rupert & Nell series so far and this fourth book is just as fun. Rupert is always getting into trouble but when he jumps into the hot air balloon basket he soon finds himself flying into the sky. Nell decides to get some help from Wee Nessie to try and rescue Rupert and we see what happens when the rescue attempt takes place which doesn’t quite go according to plan. The story is quite a simple one with a good ending, though I like the little extras mentioned like what a certain frog called Alfred is doing at some point, and little references to some of the other animals. I also like what happens with Rupert and Nell, especially at the end on those last pages.

The book is filled with some fun illustrations on every double page with a picture on one page and text on the other. Each picture is fun to look at with quite a few things and characters to spot in each image. I love the expressions of the main characters, especially the way Rupert looks throughout the story. There’s more text on each page than an average picture book, but the story feels too simple for a chapter book so it sits somewhere in the middle for me, though the story in general is good and I do like some of the detail of what is going on in the tale.

©The Strawberry Post

Overall this is another fun children’s book in The Adventures of Rupert & Nell series. Although a bit more text than I like for a picture book, it’s a good and fun story especially with Rupert constantly getting into mischief. I can’t wait to find out what happens in the next book. Rupert & Nell: Pancake Day.

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About the author Bill Brodie

Bill was brought up on a small farm in the Scottish hills where the ideas for many of his books were formed.
He writes primarily to entertain his two nieces but has been delighted to discover that other children enjoy the adventures of Rupert and Nell too.

Visit author’s website

-Thanks to Love Books Tours for a chance to be a part of this blog tour!