Best-selling children’s author and illustrator, Matt Stanton, returns with the seventh title in the Funny Kid series. Matt is a favourite at writers festivals, school visits and bookshop appearances, and has built a large audience of keen fans, eagerly awaiting this new instalment of Funny Kid’s adventures.
With illustrations on almost every page there is no doubt that this book will engage even the most reluctant readers. As Matt says:
If a child is saying they hate reading, all it means is they haven’t found something they’ve loved to read yet.
So we need a different way in.
This is why I write my Funny Kid series. Not every child says they love to read, but every child loves to laugh. So my job is to make every page as funny as I possibly can and to engage them from the moment they open the first page. I do this using words and illustrations and by ensuring that I’m speaking in their language.
Max Walburt, the eleven-year-old hero of this story, has a tight group of close friends including Duck. Duck is a real duck who is Max’s sidekick in his exploits.
Max is exasperated by his siblings and frustrated by his parents, who are well-meaning, generous and kind, but not always on Max’s wavelength. This leads to a major misunderstanding, and a family road trip to an adventure park with the whole group of friends.
Will Max survive a game of dares and prove his bravery? Will the Tower of Dying Deathly Doom seal our hero’s fate? Will Duck find his way to the adventure park and home again without the help of Max and his friends?
Along the way we meet a host of crazy characters, all hilariously illustrated. My personal favourites are the Fat Skulls motorcycle gang. Their conversations with Max and his friends are filled with menace, tension, good advice, generosity and…. dancing! Max either wins over or bamboozles the adults that are creating roadblocks to his goals. He is shown to be funny, kind, smart and resourceful.
I also enjoyed the humorous portrayal of Max’s parents dealing with a motorcycle policeman in front of a car full of kids. This scene seemed very real to me! There’s another level of humour at play here that adults will enjoy. This book is suitable to read aloud, but ensure everyone can see the illustrations, as they add so much to the story.
This chapter book is a fine addition to the Funny Kid series and will appeal to children 7+. The illustrations are VERY engaging. All the books in this series can be read separately, so if a young reader starts with this book ( #7 in the series) they can read the others in any order and still get Max-imum hilarity.
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