The 52-Storey Treehouse

Andy Griffiths' The 52-Storey Treehouse is a gloriously daft mystery for 7 year olds about a missing publisher and a birthday nobody seems to remember.

What happens

It's Andy's birthday. He's sure Terry has a surprise planned. But Terry is far too busy training his Ninja Snails (they're doing all the moves, he insists, just really slowly).

Then there's the book. It's due any day and Mr Big Nose hasn't rung to nag them, which he always does. So they ring him instead. His office is empty. The chairs are knocked over and there are vegetable leaves everywhere.

That's no ordinary mess, says Andy. That's a mystery!

Off they go to their high-tech detective agency, which takes ages to get into (the security checks include a dance contest and a trivia quiz). There's a disguise machine, a flying fried-egg car and a lot of hot jam donuts. The trail leads to Jill in an enchanted sleep, a castle made of vegetables and a caterpillar that will eat absolutely anything. Steamrollers included.

Anyone who's read these books will know the feel. Andy talks straight to your reader the whole way through, and Terry takes everything literally. Tell him "you can say that again" and he will. Word for word!

The jokes come thick and fast and they're very silly. Fairy tales get muddled up, a tomato insists it's a vegetable, and a magnifying glass makes Terry think everything is enormous (including Andy).

It's worth knowing that the humour has a cartoon edge. The chainsaw-juggling level has a bit of blood and a couple of severed fingers on it. One character's parents were squashed flat by giant vegetables at a country fair, and there's a pot of "human soup" bubbling away. It's all played for laughs, but a very literal child might want a grown-up nearby for those pages.

If your reader loves nonsense, they'll be in heaven. Who doesn't want a friend who'd forget their birthday and then save the day anyway?

What to read next

The treehouse grows by thirteen storeys at a time (it was 39 storeys last time). When this one's done, The 65-Storey Treehouse is next, with a time machine made from a wheelie bin.