The Aussie artist/book illustrator Graeme Base remains best remembered for his 1986 'alphabet book' Animalia, which has sold over 2 million copies world-wide.
In latter years Base has published a series of books, aimed at children (but not exclusively), in which he has thoroughly explored his fascination with the animal kingdom (The Eleventh Hour; The sign of the Seahorse; The Waterhole).
JUNGLE DRUMS follows Ngiri Mdogo - 'the smallest warthog in Africa' - as he is presented with a mystical pair of bongos, capable of granting him wishes.
The book will certainly be extremely popular with its intended audience. Kids will marvel at the brightly illustrated animals and the interesting hint of Swahili vocabulary. Yet JUNGLE DRUMS continues a several year trend: Base simply doesn't pack each page with the mind-exploding level of detail he once did.
It is still an exceptional childrens' book, but lets hope Graeme spends a few years on the next one and blows everyone away with a detailed and unexpected title: more 'Animaliaesque' in terms of its age appeal.