The Jungle Crew: Into the Deep Blue

By Johanna Lumme

Johanna Lumme’s timely, charming and vibrant The Jungle Crew series continues as it dives into the great blue, and deals with bullying and working together on nature preservation. Stripe the zebra feels out of place as he is bullied at school. The fed-up zebra decides to leave everything behind and return to the jungle. As Stripe escapes his bullies to the beach, he encounters a troubled turtle stuck in plastic waste. Stripe realises that the ocean and its inhabitants need help.  Together with his classmates and the rest of the jungle crew members, Stripe launches a clean-up operation. At the end of the day he feels right in place. And as his new friends help him see that he is perfect just the way he is, Stripe gains newfound confidence and is accepted by his classmates.  This is the third picture book in the captivating series by artist Johanna Lumme, who depicts the pressing theme of nature preservation after building her previous books on climate change and migration. 

Publishing information

About the author

Johanna Lumme (b. 1990) is one of the most renowned illustrators and children’s book authors in Finland. The artist and illustrator is recognised for her illustrations in Finnish primary school books in collaboration with author Siri Kolu.Lumme is also the illustrator of two middle-grade series written by Kolu. The first series, Wild House, has appeared between 2019 and 2021. This was followed by the duo’s trilogy The Woken Ones of which the two first titles came out in 2022 and 2023.The artist began her own series of picture books as well. In 2019, Lumme brought out The Jungle Crew – Into the City! which is her debut picture book where the story of the Jungle Crew begins. This beautifully illustrated series presents a group of animal friends who move out of their home jungle into the city, and try to navigate their way in their new urban surroundings. All pictures are drawn and painted by hand, giving young readers a visually stunning series that teaches about being in a new environment and also taking care of it.