The Shopping Expedition

by Allan Ahlberg, André Amstutz (illustrator)

Setting out to pick up some things from the store entails more than a brave family bargains for in this funny flight of fancy from Allan Ahlberg and André Amstutz.

On the day Mom goes shopping with her young daughter, baby Harry, and Wilf the Wonderdog, she starts by making her usual grocery list. But with Allan Ahlberg at the helm, what begins as a mundane shopping trip can quickly become just a little unusual. With the help of whimsically detailed illustrations by André Amstutz, this persistent family treks through a blizzard and under the desert sun, into a jungle of tropical beasts, and even across the sea. But what will they find at the end of their journey?

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Adventure, Fiction, Juvenile

32 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2005

About the author

Allan Ahlberg was one of the UK's most acclaimed and successful authors of children's books - including the best-selling Jolly Postman series. Born in Croydon in 1938, he was educated at Sunderland Technical College. Although he dreamed of becoming a writer since the age of twelve, his route to that goal was somewhat circuitous. Other jobs along the way included postman (not an especially jolly one, he recalls), gravedigger, plumber, and teacher.

Ahlberg wrote his first book when he was thirty-seven, after a decade of teaching - a profession that he maintains is "much harder" than being a writer. He says that if he hadn't become a writer, he would have loved to be a soccer player. He was married for many years to fellow children's author Janet Ahlberg, with whom he often worked. Their daughter, Jessica Ahlberg, is also a children's author.

Reviews

[Dominique · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read this book so many times I've lost count. My children adored this book, and we read it over, and over for years. It was repeated so often, I remember many times begging them to please choose another book. I can't put my finger on what exactly the intense fascination was with this book for my children, but the mundane becoming extra-ordinary certainly played a part. They loved it best from about 10 months to four years old. It's curious that other reviews have suggested it's more suitable for older children.
Allen Ahlberg is a master writer for children and the book is deceptively simple, each word and turn of phrase carefully weighted so it's just right. There is a lot going on under the surface, and so much to expand upon in that dreamy dialogue that goes on between small children and the adult reading them their bedtime story. The pictures are wonderful and I think the illustrator has worked hard to delve into the essence of the story and included so many surprising details. Before the family has even left the house, the illustration of the kitchen has so much for the young reader to recognise, and so many small details to expand upon.
It was usually Allen's wife Janet who illustrated his books for small children, and The Shopping Expedition has quite a different essence to the ones where she played a part.
People have commented on the way the book starts and ends so abruptly. Young children experience the day actually just like that, everything is very dreamlike, curious and dis-jointed. There's no motive at the beginning nor a wrap up at the end, and they're just being whisked along on some mysterious quest by a parent or carer. The day seems endless. Sometimes they sleep, but when they wake up they are still on the journey, perhaps in a new location. Strange glimpses of otherworldly lives are seen through the windows of a car, or a train, or even a boat. So, I think it perfectly speaks to children about their world.

[Nick Swarbrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book to savour. There are openings like the one where mum leaves dad decorating to pile the children and dog in the car where a small person will dig into the pictures for all sorts of details; when the car breaks down the images continue, and the scene of the mum and big child and dog struggling up the hill is a real delight: the comfortable village is behind, the high moors and snow ahead - and who is the man observing them from the thatched cottage? This is a joy - and when the narrative moves into a wilder, wide world as the the sun comes out - Provençal castles, people peering from gabled cottages, an oasis settlement in the desert - the world of possibilities opens. The rhythm of the story, the changing landscapes: this is a marvel of a book, with both Amstutz and Ahlberg in fine form.

[Aneesa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perseverance.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little girl starts taking a story about how her mother took her, her little brother, and their dog to the store to go grocery shopping. A funny perspective from a child.

[Sarah A · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting book. It's a short story by Allan Ahlberg - famous author of We're going on a Bear Hunt and oh so many more marvelous books. This one seems based on the illustrations which are pretty magnificent!
The story is an imaginative version of a standard trip out to the supermarket! Fun and light.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book starts off on the third page, so I began the book being a bit confused. I do get that the story is about flights of imagination, but I think the book would have been better if the illustrations showed something to anchor the imagination to reality, e.g., the jungle could have been a park on the outer edge.

[Bree · Rating 1 out of 5]

Notes:
not a pre-k book as we thought, but aimed at 5-7yo who will get the imagination factor involved; either way my kids didn't enjoy this book as it was too much like a strange dream with a really dull ending

[Naomi · Rating 1 out of 5]

OMGG...BORING! This book is supposed to be a whimsical tale...instead it just dragged on for me. I thought I was going to beat my head against the wall with how long this book went on for AND IT IS A CHILDREN'S BOOK!

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mom, sister, baby brother, and Wulf the Wonderdog set out on a Shopping Expedition, and the road turns into marvelous places!

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great children's book - quick & easy, lovely to be able to read to your child/ren quick.

[Lesley Looper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the creatvity of the family shopping expedition, as well as the colorful illustrations!

[Ezekiel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't get it.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think at the moment, I have read too may picture books.

[Kyrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imaginative telling of a trip to the grocery store.

[Mckinley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Adventures on the way to the store.

[Andréa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bit of an abrupt beginning and end. I actually checked the book a few times to make sure I didn't miss a page at the start.

[Thia]

looking for things