“Chug chug chug. What’s that sound? Fergus Ferry is on his round.”
Fergus Ferry is the star of 24 children’s books. The books are aimed for 2-6 year olds and are set in Sydney Harbour. They document the adventures of Fergus Ferry around Seaport Harbour. The books are written by J.W. Noble originally for his son. Each book contains a subtle parent/child message.
Fergus Ferry have been described as” Dr Seuss meets Thomas the Tank Engine.” Adam was captivated by the books as soon as we read him the first book. He loves the rhyming verse and the thrilling adventures Fergus goes on.
The Fergus Ferry Books are divided into four box sets. Each box set contains 6 books. The books do not need to be read in any order to understand the storyline. The thing that has drawn me to the Fergus Ferry books is the individual message within each book. Instead of describing what happens in each book I have written the message that is portrayed.
* Fergus At The Fire – Message: Don’t play with fire … simple!
* Fergus The Ferry – Message: Being brave doesn’t mean not being afraid, it means overcoming your fear – as Captain Joe does in this book.
* Fergus At The Race – Message: Sometimes it’s best not to follow the crowd, but it’s not always easy.
* Fergus At the Fireworks – Message: Don’t cry wolf or people may ignore you when you really need help (as George did).
* Fergus Makes A Difference – Message: Believe in yourself. You are the best judge of what you can do – no one else.
* Fergus At the Zoo – Message: Character is doing what’s right, even when others don’t. It takes confidence, but if you think something is wrong, be prepared to back your judgement.
* Fergus And Angus – Message: It takes an open mind to learn.
* Fergus And Boris – Message: It doesn’t matter if you’re big or you’re small.
* Fergus Breaks Loose – Message: What’s good to know takes time to learn. This story also highlights the anti-bullying theme which runs through the series.
* Fergus To The Rescue – Message – You never know when your dreams will come true.
* Fergus Goes Bang
* Fergus And The Whale
* Fergus Joins the Search – Message: Discover your strengths and play to them.
* Fergus And Hydro – Message: Friendship sometimes means giving something up.
* Fergus And Max – Message: Keep your nerve! … to the end.
* Fergus And Lady Jane – Message: We all have something to contribute.
* High Tide Fergus – Message: Don’t judge a book by its cover.
* Fergus And Ark – Message: True friendship is built on mutual respect – like Fergus and Angus, not Boris and Horace.
* Fergus Says Farewell – Message: Loved ones sometimes have to leave us.
* Fergus and ‘C’ – Message: You can lean on friends
* Fergus Thinks Fast – Message: Discover what you like to do best and do it well. Not everyone can be a world champion. But there’s a lot of happiness in doing what you like – well.
* Fergus and Jet – Message: Loved ones sometimes have to leave us … so they can come home better.
* Fergus and Jess – Message: Succeed on your strengths, not by pulling others down.
* Fergus Goes to Sea – Message: In the end, when all’s said and done, there’s room in this world for everyone.
Each book is filled with beautiful illustrations that capture the mood of each story. We love how each tugboard has their own personality and this is portraed within the illustrations. There are so many iconic Sydney landmarks included too.
All these books are available in the Fergus Ferry app-For Apple and Android-in the app store. Fergus also has his own podcast and an animation on YouTube!
Fergus Ferry APP
The Fergus Ferry app contains all 24 Fergus books in read aloud or read yourself formats! There’s also a great game to play where you get to drive Fergus around Seaport Harbour, do rescues, scare sharks and avoid crashes. Adam loves the independence the app gives him. He is able to listen to the stories whenever he wants and explore the interactive harbour. At the moment he finds the Fergus Ferry Game tricky but is slowly getting the hang of throwing the passengers a life ring rather than trying to drive over them.
Until March 31st, 2015 the full app is free on iPhone and iPads, 99c on Android and Free on Amazon Devices.
Fergus Ferry Teacher Plans
There are also 24 Fergus Ferry Lesson plans to accompany the series – both the books and the app. The plans are aimed at Early Years – Year 2 and each plan can be downloaded individually. Each lesson plan contains printable worksheets, activities and answer sheets.
I found the lesson plans easy to follow and made me think about further questions I could be asking Adam about the book. The role play scenarios would be fantastic within a school setting. I particularly love the quote at the end of each lesson and how it links to the Fergus Ferry story. For example in Book One the Nelson Mandela quote “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it” is used. The lesson plan briefly explains Nelson Mandela’s life and links the quote to how Captain Joe and Fergus Ferry have been brave despite being afraid.
The 24 Lesson Plans can be downloaded for free from Teachers Pay Teachers.
Take a look at how we created our own Fergus Ferry Small World to reenact the story.
Competition Time!
The wonderful people at Fergus Ferry are giving Adventures of Adam readers an opportunity to win a book set of their choice. The winner will be able to choose their own fleet set (excluding the First Fleet). The book set is worth $25 . This competition is open to all readers worldwide. Simply complete the Rafflecopter to enter.
You can follow Fergus Ferry on his website, Facebook, Twitter, the Fergus Ferry Blog, Google +, Pinterest and Youtube
Disclaimer: We were given a set of the Fergus Ferry books to review. All thoughts and opinions are our own.
I know a little boy who would love these books. What a great giveaway!
#triedandtested
Love the look of these!! Would love it if you’d link up with #readwithme over on my blog xx #triedtested
What a lovely collection of products 🙂
Thanks for sharing your review on #TriedTested this week 🙂 x
My son would like them all but prob his favourite would be set 2 as would enjoy the topics to the rescue and bang
Lovely drawings!
My Fergus would love any one of these books! What a great giveaway. I’m off too take a look at the app now. x
The 3rd as love the friendship themes
I’ve been trying to find a book about the boy who cried wolf… The Fireworks book sounds perfect! My girls would love these 🙂
What lovely looking books!
I’d go for the fourth set, I think, because the idea of a loved one going away is sometimes very difficult for young children to understand, so it would be good to have a book about it (we have one about a tree that falls down in the wind but it would be good to complement it with another one).
these would be great for my son then would pass on to my friends little girls once out grown x