Where on earth has Simon Chapman been?

It turns out he’s been all over the place!

Simon is an explorer – and he’s also a writer and illustrator, so this series has a terrific immediacy about it, reflecting the highs and lows of venturing into unknown territory. Simon travels with one or two people at the most, and there are times when things get quite hairy…

The first two books in the series are about his expeditions to the Amazon and the Himalayas, and they’ve got a great review here, appropriately enough on the Awfully Big Blog Adventures website.

Published by Franklin Watts, there are four more to come…

The reviewer is Sue Purkiss, whose latest novel, Jack Fortune and the Search for the Hidden Valley (published by Alma Books) is about a plant-hunting expedition to the Himalayas – which sounds all very peaceful and beautiful, but is actually packed with thrills and cliff-hanging moments.

Is the truth stranger than fiction? You decide.