By Jessica Anscombe
Treehouse Tales – Author Andy Griffiths – Illustrated by Terry Denton
If you have young readers in your house and have heard of Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton, there’s a chance you’ve been awaiting the release of this book, their latest funny story collection, Treehouse Tales, which just came out in March (2022). Their previous works, including the ever–popular Treehouse Series – that centres around a magical ever–expanding treehouse full of wild and wonderful nooks – has had children in stitches for years. My two children are still little, so this latest one, Treehouse Tales, is the first book of Andy and Terry’s to come into our repertoire. We read the kids some of the stories at bedtime a few weeks back and they were both in stitches – sometimes rolling off the bed and onto the floor! One story – The Day We Put Chairs Up Our Noses – is a particular favourite and since the first reading is almost always requested.
The book includes 13 brand new stories, “too silly to be told…until now!”. The tales are short enough that they are perfect for little attention spans, but there’s enough of them that you can keep the laughs going if the mood strikes!
The stories include quirky illustrations on every page. Plus, another feature I liked is the large size of the font. All the font used is quite large, but some words and short sentences are even bigger than the rest – and in bold. This is great for little ones that might be starting to recognise a few words and older children that are starting to read their first longer books.
I’ve really enjoyed seeing the kids giggle at bedtime – it’s such a nice way to connect after a busy day. I have a feeling we will be going through the Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton back catalogue too!
Happy reading families!
Jessica Sanford (AKA Jessica Anscombe) is a librarian and writer living on the Central Coast. She has a passion for literature and writes fiction and non–fiction. Jessica was the winner of the Wyong Writers’ 2021 Short Story Competition and has also been longlisted for the Furious Fiction prize. You can read her short stories on her website jessicasanfordwriter.com. You’ll also find her over on instagram @jessicasanford_