An absolutely charming series filled with adventure. I loved the spirit and humour of Peanut Jones. This is a great celebration of imagination. The fast pace and lively illustrations have ensured this is a sure fire hit in Y5.

Once in a while a book comes along that is totally special in every possible way. Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City by Rob Biddulph is just this type of book – bursting with middle grade magic, adventure and stunning artwork, the hardback edition is a thing of absolute beauty. This is definitely one to add to the Christmas list!

What a total joy from start to finish. The plot is set out in short, snappy chapters which help to maintain the speedy pace throughout. This is also aided by the fact that most pages are highly illustrated (much more so than in your typical middle grade novel), with Biddulph’s incredible artwork.

There is so much humour and heart in here that it’s impossible not to fall in love with this cast of characters. I was so sad when I finished it, but thrilled to hear it’s going to be a trilogy – I’m going to need book 2 immediately please!

With thanks to Macmillan for sending me a finished copy to review.

Sent to a new school that favours science over the arts, Peanut misses her artist dad and the notes he always left in her lunchbox, but she refuses to believe, as her mother is beginning to, that he has just upped and left: the evidence does not add up. When she finds a pencil that brings her drawings to life, she draws a door and follows a little dog into the world on the other side, where her dad is known, and where he is imprisoned. What’s more, this world is under threat from those who want to crush imagination… Aided by her study partner from her hated new school and her little sister, she returns to the world to free its imprisoned inhabitants and find her dad. Beautifully illustrated throughout in a limited palette that creates atmosphere, this is an entertaining, witty and exciting novel that celebrates the importance of creativity, friendship and family, with memorable characters whose fate the reader will care about. I really enjoyed it and can’t wait for the sequel.

Peanut Jones is in trouble. Her dad is missing and everyone else thinks he has abandoned them. She's been moved from her lovely school to the strict, science-focused St Hubert's, where doodling gets you detention and art (Peanut's favourite subject) is frowned upon. And her mum is trying to move on with her horrible boss. When Peanut uncovers a secret pencil with astonishing powers, she's transported to a place where art isn't just discouraged - its illegal. Can she save Chroma - and the world - from Mr White and find out what happened to her dad, armed only with a few contraband art supplies, or will the world become artless forever?

This book is so much fun! I loved all the characters, but especially the brave and determined Little Bit, who isn't afraid to befriend crocodiles and refuses to be sent home. The slow friendship between Peanut and Rockwell was really well done - a lot of middle grade novels include characters without friends and have friendship as one of their main themes, but it was refreshing to have a scenario where the protagonist is trying not to make friends because she's in a new place that she wants to leave, rather than because she's never had them. Between Rockwell and Peanut there's also a nice balance between art and science - two subjects which are often set in opposition to each other. The events of the novel show that this couldn't be further from the truth, with art and science coming together in some crucial illustrations.

I loved all of the different locations within Chroma. Each was brilliantly defined, from heroic encounters in comic book styled Strip (which now has me questioning my every! exclamation! mark!) and the adorable Cute Corner (which was my personal favourite and featured a brilliant twist.) There were plenty of links to real life artists and an exploration of different art styles - including a clever glossary at the end. Each style is celebrated for their own unique perspective, with no kind of art presented as better or more worthy than another. The key is to create - it doesn't matter how.

I read the NetGalley version for this review (thank you Macmillan for adding it to the app!) but I have a copy of the signed Waterstones edition hidden away to give my daughter for Christmas. She loves the Draw with Rob activity books and I know she's going to really enjoy reading this. I think it will inspire a lot of drawing over the Christmas break.

The limited colour pallet worked really well and the illustrations are as brilliant as you would expect. This middle grade novel is a visual treat throughout - perfect for readers looking for longer stories but who don't want to leave pictures behind (and why should they, when there are books like this available?)

Peanut Jones is a celebration of art and creativity, and I can't wait for book two.

Thank you Macmillan for letting me review Peanut Jones via NetGalley

I had some issues initially with this book via NetGalley,. it was in a format I had not used before - I had to download Adobe Digital Editions to read it and the page turning etc was not ideal for me,

I really wanted to like this - or for kiddo to (age 10) as she really loves doodling and sketchpads, pens and pencils are always on her gift lists.

So I'm not sure what it was about the book that made her want to DNF approx halfway through. Perhaps it was the fact that 'Peanut' was very firmly a high-school aged character - making it feel a bit too old for my daughter?

There were a lot of classic tropes- character moves schools, quest to find a missing (idolised) father, the colour/magic being sucked out of a world. Maybe if it had been in a more accessible format I might have carried on with it myself, but due to the format I was also glad to leave it behind.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's books

Rob Biddulph was known in the height of the pandemic for his "Draw With" sessions online. Now you can read his latest book - Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City.

Pernilla Anne Jones is otherwise called Peanut Jones and is in school detention when readers meet her, then we meet her friends and other people around the city, such as her mum, Rockwell and Lillibet, otherwise known as Little Bit.
The book has amazing illustrations. Nothing too out of the ordinary - people, cars and the like, but the way they are drawn makes them pop out from the page, like you could reach in and pick them up. They are some of the best children's illustrations I've seen in a while!

Amongst the illustrations is where the story is occurring all around them, not always in a traditional words then picture kind of a way, but almost more in a synergy kind of a way. It's all eye-catching.

Accompanied with the amazing illustrations there is a seriousness in the story itself as Peanut's dad, who is an artist, is missing and memories of him flood back every so often and this captures emotion.

There is science and art as topics within the book and they interact in interesting and magical ways.

Children will gain a lot of knowledge about art, that's cleverly integrated into fun the fun of this enchanting story of magic, mystery and adventure into a city she explores - Chroma - The Illustrated City, which is magical and yet isn't without its trepidation. Peanut and Rockwell are sent on a mission to save someone and there is much in jeopardy and much at stake along the way and codes to work on and more...
There's much action, including heroes and villains of the piece to keep children hooked and immerse them into the city and build up their excitement as they read.

At the end of the book is a fabulous glossary about the artists who feature in this book. Each has a small paragraph about them, which builds children's knowledge in a fun way and backs up who they've come across in the story.

Man, I devoured Peanut Jones this morning. Rob Biddulph never fails to impress! This has got a brilliant plot, incredible characters and a final 3 pages which has left me gasping for more! A young girl, the importance of creativity and the power of hope. I just adored this! Honestly, the story and it’s illustrations are just spot on.

INCREDIBLE from start to finish. Amazing characters and a clever, funny, and gripping plot with exquisite artwork and so many Easter eggs in there it is unbelievable! Rob Biddulph is one of my absolute favourite picture book creators and now a favourite for middle grade too. My only complaint - and it is a serious one, I'm afraid - is this: I AM GOING TO NEED THE NEXT BOOK ASAP.

The first thing that struck me about this book was Rob's marvellous illustrations. They absolutely leap off the page and I was fascinated by them. I can't wait to see them in a physical copy of the book as well as the ebook version!

Peanut Jones has just started at a new school, St Hubert's, and she is not enjoying it at all. The teachers are horrible and she always seems to end up in detention. She's also been buddied up with a boy called Rockwell as part of the school's 'study buddy' scheme to help new students settle in but he won't leave her alone. Home-life isn't much better for Peanut. Her mum works all the time, it had been a year since her dad 'disappeared' (her mum said he'd left, but Peanut didn't believe that), and her older brother doesn't talk to her much any more. The best thing about Peanut's home life is her 5-year old sister, Little-Bit, who is something of a child genius.
Peanut wants to be an artist and she shared her passion for art with her dad. He used to put a post-it note in her lunch box every day with a little illustration on and she's kept them all in a box. One night when going through the box, she finds a hidden pencil that she has never seen before. She begins to draw with it and her drawings seem to come to life. With the help of the special pencil, Peanut, Rockwell and Little-Bit find their way into the Illustrated City and discover that its residents need their help. They must work together and navigate their way around an unfamiliar place with even more unfamiliar rules, all without being caught!

I enjoyed how the friendship between Peanut and Rockwell grew as the story went on and how they learnt to trust each other. The Illustrated City was incredibly imaginative and I would have adored reading this book as a child (still did now!). This book would be great for children aged 9 and up and the illustrations make it very accessible. I can't wait to read more about Peanut's adventures!

Thanks to Macmillan Children's Books, NetGalley and Rob Biddulph for the ARC of Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City.

Where do I start with this book? We LOVE Rob - my girls having grown up reading all his picture books including Dog Gone, Show & Tell and Odd Dog Out. With my eldest having just turned 8, we were super excited to read Rob's first ever chapter book - and with the creative addition of illustrations that come to life, we knew this was going to be true to Rob's passions and style.

Peanut Jones' father has gone missing and everyone except Peanut thinks he has simply walked away from his family. But Peanut knows her dad. He would never do that.

One day Peanut discovers a strange pencil in her bedroom, She draws an apple with it on a piece of paper and is gobsmacked when the apple appears before her in REAL LIFE!

Desperately trying to understand the clues left by her father, Peanut ends up discovering a whole other world made entirely from illustrations. Someone is trying to destroy the Illustrated City and take everything creative down with it - potentially including her father!

A funny, creative story of adventure and friendship, which is beautifully illustrated throughout, this was a great book to read aloud with my two girls aged 8 and 4, or read alone for 8 years and above.

Well done Rob! :)

This is a really fun story with the added delight of brilliant illustrations throughout. Peanut Jones is unhappy following the disappearance of her father and starting at a new school where creativity is lacking. However, when she comes across a special pencil, everything changes and the adventure begins!
I really enjoyed this book, there is a great host of characters and more adventures to come.
This will be really popular with the kids and a great classroom read.

I will never not be down for reading a whimsical middle-grade book and I was really excited to read my first Rob Biddulph through an intriguing plucky heroine named Peanut.

When Peanut Jones’ dad disappeared, her mum also made her change schools and she’s not happy at St Huberts. But then, she comes across a strange looking pencil that apparently has the ability to bring to life anything drawn with it. An adventure into a strange, illustrated land called Chroma teaches Peanut that perhaps her dad didn’t abandon the family at all and that perhaps he is on an important mission within Chroma. Because someone is trying to rid the world of colour and creativity and they must be stopped.

The illustrations in this book are truly stunning. They’re so vibrant and cute that I spent a lot of time just taking in the details. I loved seeing all of the characters’ faces as I read the story and the pictures definitely gave it a special, cinematic dimension which added something extra to the reading experience.

Peanut looks up to her father and so I knew that she would follow him anywhere, if she could. He is an artist and this is perhaps why Peanut wants to draw and paint too. Peanut’s dad’s ability to create such beautiful pictures from a blank canvas is a talent that so many people would love to have and it’s easy to see how inspired a kid would be. I wanted Peanut to find and rescue her dad so much and this made it easy to join her cause.

Peanut’s mum’s boss Mr Stone is an arrogant man who tries to wheedle his way into the family, after Peanut’s dad has gone. He is very much a typical villain and I wanted nothing more than to see him trip up. I did see glimpses of a well-buried twist emerge before it was revealed and I’d love to see this developed in future Peanut Jones books.

Peanut’s little sister Lilibet or Little-Bit is a fantastic character. At just five years old, she is incredibly smart with a very advanced knowledge of science and puzzle solving -talents which prove to be very useful during their time in Chroma. She is also wonderfully feisty and the fact that she is so young makes her unique ideas and quick thinking that little bit more joyful.

Throughout their quest, Peanut, Little-Bit, Peanut’s nerdy friend Rockwell and their dog guide Doodle meet a lot of amazing characters. Jonathan Higginbottom, the alligator, was certainly my personal favourite. Despite the fact that he’s a crocodile, Jonathan wants to work with pre-school aged children but of course, his appearance has always held him back from nailing his dream job. It seems that Chroma is full of fascinating, funny and loveable characters and they deserve to have the colour and life put back into their world.

Although there is a common art style throughout the book, there are a few pages where comic books and kawaii are celebrated. By shifting the illustrations to match these styles, it helped me fully immerse myself in this weird flex that the book took. The story is chiefly about the coming together of different colours and lifestyles and creating beautiful things, so I love that the book literally did this.

Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City is a wild ride full of magic, intellect and of course, art. It’s wonderfully funny and includes a fantastic cast of unique characters, who I got to know very well. The story itself is one of a kind and the world-building was a lot of fun to witness. I’m looking forward to continuing the story because there are still things to solve and lots more of Chroma to see!

I had been looking forward to this new book by Rob Biddulph, as I have been following him through his ‘packed lunch post it note’ posts on Twitter and Draw with Rob during the corona virus lockdowns. I was very excited to get to read it via NetGalley and I was not disappointed!

Peanut Jones’ life is not going well, her dad has disappeared, her family is in turmoil and she has to go to a new school where creativity is squashed in favour of Maths and Science. She hasn’t made friends because she isn’t planning on staying, and her allocated study buddy Rockwell is only interested in revising for Physics tests. Worst of all is her Mum’s weird boss who seems to want to date her Mum! Then she finds an unexpected gift from her father and her life becomes rather more eventful than she could have imagined.
This book is so beautifully imagined and illustrated that it will have universal appeal to children. It is very humorous with jokes that adults will appreciate as they read with their children. It has a good mix of characters - from boo out loud baddies to cute doodle creatures, entertaining little sisters and a determined heroine with an art supply bandolier! (I so need one of those!) The storyline pays homage to different art styles and artists and is very adventurous as well as thoughtful. I loved all the different zones of Chroma, cleverly created by the author. Without revealing too much, Peanut, Rockwell and Little Bit set out to find rescue Peanut’s dad from Chroma, a world facing destruction from an evil anti-artist. They meet new allies and enemies along the way and each of them face challenges that they will need to use their own particular set of skills and different talents to overcome. It is a story about friendship and family, differences and similarities, hope and of course teamwork. It is deceptively easy to read, with short chapters and I already have some pupils in mind at school who I know will love diving into this book!

Peanut Jones is a wondrously creative girl with a vivid imagination that is being stomped on by the teacher at her new school and her disinterested Mum. Discovering a miraculous pencil that bring her drawings alive is about to thrust her headlong into an adventure that will change her life forever.

Being an artistic type, I was mesmerised by not only the look of the main characters but the various backgrounds and locations that invoke certain styles. The placement of the text within the drawings is also very well done. You can tell that a lot of care has gone into creating this book. It’s a sumptuous piece of work for both the story and illustrations. There is so many exquisite things sprinkled throughout that make this feel like something special, like the idea of the doodle dog. Peanut is a majestic character that is going to be admired & adored due to her bold actions, her love of drawing & the creative arts. This an entertaining tale that will make readers ooh and ahh at every surprising event but also at the overall presentation as it's stunning.

Peanut Jones is the hero that we never knew we were missing!

Peanut Jones isn't having the best time. She's moved schools, she's always in trouble, and her dad is missing. But when she finds a magic pencil, adventure finds Peanut, her new friend Rockwell, and her little sister...

From the get go, Peanut Jones is a character you root for. She is brave and daring and everything you want in a main character. Then we get to the adventure - and what an adventure it is! In Chroma, Rob Biddulph has created a world we can only dream of, and coupled with his stunning illustrations, you find yourself easily drawn in - pun intended!

Peanut Jones is a fresh, new middle grade adventure with twists and turns, humour and heart, and one particularly delightful talking alligator. It's definitely one not to be missed, and I can't wait to find out what happens to Peanut and the gang next.

Over the last year or so, I’ve started to pay a lot more attention to the illustrators of the books that I read. In part, this has been due to the continuing argument on Twitter that artists should – quite rightly – receive more credit for their work, and in part that I have started to follow more of them on Twitter. One who I have followed for some considerable time now is Rob Biddulph, and there can be few readers of children’s books who are unaware of his picture books or cover art for writers such as Jess Butterworth in addition to his legendary Draw with Rob tutorials, which have enabled even the most art-challenged individuals such as myself to produce something halfway decent.

When I saw that the author had written his first middle grade title, I was curious to see what it was like. I’ve said before that I don’t write stories as I have next to no imagination of my own and I have no idea how easy it is to switch between writing for different age groups. If I’m entirely honest, I wanted to see if this story would be carried by the artwork or if it would be the sort of gripping, high quality read that I like to add to my class bookshelf and am delighted to say that it is. For anyone else who is unsure as to whether or not Rob Biddulph can write for an older audience, let me tell you most emphatically that he can.

Our protagonist is, of course, Peanut Jones – who is stuck in detention when we first meet her, having failed to follow the strict rules of her school and shown some creativity. Once free to leave, she discovers that her Study Buddy Rockwell has been waiting for her and begrudgingly agrees to meet him in the morning to fit in some time together. After being collected by her mother’s driver, she consoles herself by thinking about the contents of the special box she keeps at home – a gift from her artist father who has mysteriously disappeared – and wonders whereabouts he has gone to.

Over dinner with the rest of her family, Peanut argues with her mother about her detention and goes to her room to look through her precious box. Accidentally knocking it onto the floor, she notices something moving inside it – something she hasn’t noticed before – and on investigating discovers an unusual-looking pencil hidden within. Experimenting with it, she realises that the pencil has magical powers and wonders if this might hold the key to finding her father.

When one of her drawings leads her to a secret land filled with creativity, Peanut decides to explore in the hopes of finding her missing father. But all is not well in the land, and before long Peanut finds herself trying to avoid being taken prisoner by its leader’s minions. Can she keep herself and the pencil safe and will she be able not only to locate her father but also to find a way for them both to return home from the Illustrated Kingdom?

As you would expect, the illustrations in the book are absolutely spot on and I really enjoyed looking at them as I worked my way through the book but for me the story was what really captured my attention. Imaginative, fun and highly engaging, I was delighted to see that the author’s many talents extend to writing for an older audience. The name Rob Biddulph is one that most parents and carers will recognise and which will tempt them into buying this for their offspring, but it is the quality of the story itself and the pictures which will hold younger reader’s attention. Even those less confident readers will enjoy this because the chapters are short and I suspect many children will find themselves reading more than they anticipated as a result each time they pick this up – a good thing in my opinion.

Peanut is an absolute delight. Quick-thinking, with a big heart and a readiness to try to help others whenever she is able to, I absolutely loved her as well as Study Buddy Rockwell and her younger sister, and am very much looking forward to reading what happens next to them in Book 2: The Twelve Portals, due to be published in Autumn next year. Until then, huge thanks must go to publisher McMillan Children’s Books and Net Galley for my advance read ahead of publication of the hardback on 2nd September. A wonderful 5 out of 5 stars.

Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City is a beautifully illustrated story. Peanut, with the help of her friend Rockwell, is on a mission to find out the truth about her missing dad. She is very creative and stumbles into a magical world, with the help of a seemingly ordinary pencil (which obviously has magical powers). This adventure story is gripping and the idea of the magic pencil takes the reader on their own journey of possibilities, long after you have finished the story. My little one keep telling me what she would draw if she had the chance! I am sure my KS2 children will adore this story and I cannot wait to add it to my bookshelf.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A fun adventure that really embraces the importance of creativity!! I can't wait to introduce this to KS2 class next year.

The wonderful illustrator and author Rob Biddulph takes his magic and applies it to middle grade. And it is a wonderful debut into this age category. This is the story of Peanut, who’s dad has disappeared. However, her usual outlet of drawing isn’t helping her deal with her Big Feelings until some of her drawings come to life and help her along the way. This is a wonderful, heart warming and funny-in-the-right-places book and, as expected, beautifully illustrated.