JIMMY'S GOT THE HOLIDAYS SORTED

It’s hard not to love Jimmy Rees. Originally known and loved by children everywhere as Jimmy Giggle, the pandemic saw him shift his offering to adults becoming one of our greatest sources of Covid-comedy with his real life skits and parodys, as well as allowing us to follow his own parenting adventures across social media. But mum and dad aren’t getting all the laughs. Whilst kids were sad to say goodbye to Giggle and Hoot, today they can all enjoy his clever humour with his picture books, illustrated by Aussie mum Briony Stewart, including his latest title ‘Holiday Sorted!’

Jimmy, your latest book is a tale of a chaotic family (yours!) going on holidays and all the drama that ensues when getting ready with kids involved. Did this story really happen to your family?

Doesn’t this happen to every family? My dad used to say “Anything that you want to come on the holiday, leave it at the front door and I’ll put it in the car”. If it wasn’t there then bad luck, it wasn’t coming. I was one of three boys, so the multiple toilet stops and crazy, high energy of holidays is something I’m familiar with.

Speaking of three boys, who is who in the zoo?

Yep, I've got three boys too, just like my dad. Lenny (7), Mack (4) and Vinny (4).

What’s your favourite part about writing books for kids?

The silliness. Kids’ books can be silly, fun and a bit crazy. Not everything has to make sense. The part I love the most is when our wonderful illustrator Briony Stewart sends back her drafts of all the pages. Briony injects so much fun and humour into the pictures, it’s at that point of the process that it comes alive.

What do you hope readers will take away from Holiday Sorted?

I hope that kids and parents can have a giggle (yes I said it) and realise that for the most parts families are pretty much the same. As a parent you can think, “OMG, is it just my family who are completely crazy”. When you ask around, no, everyone is crazy!

What are some of the biggest mistakes people make when planning a holiday?

Going too far away, ha! I am all for a holiday that is ... well, not just around the corner, but maybe close enough. We have a caravan and hit up a fair few caravan parks for our holidays at this stage of our lives. They are great, so many things for the kids to do. They wander around like they own the place. When we were living on the northern beaches, we would take the van to the caravan park we could literally see from our balcony. Lenny thought we’d gone interstate.

Can you share some tips for traveling on a budget?

Drive somewhere, and it doesn’t have to be far. We like to find the mix of heaps of things the kids can do and maybe a couple of adult things that would be fun. Last summer we went to Bright in Victoria which was only a few hours’ drive from home. The kids loved playing in the river, riding bikes, going in the pool at our accommodation, and the lolly shop; and for us... good food, lots of places to bask in the sun, bike rides and ... the lolly shop.

Where has been your all time favourite family holiday destination?

As a family we loved Sea World. Super fun for the kids. Beach. Rollercoasters. Waterslides. Beers. Wine. Gin. Laughter.

Where is next on your bucket list?

If I could get the family on an international flight somewhere, then that would be awesome. I’m not sure we all have the energy to do it just yet! Give it a couple of years.