Messy Weird! by Ahn Do

Ill. by Jules Faber. WeirDo book 10. Scholastic, 2018. ISBN 9781742768045
(Age: 8+) Recommended. Themes: Moving House, Family Life, Humour. Messy Weird continues the fun and craziness of the Do family's life. They have moved into an awesome but messy house with a wild jungle of a backyard. 'It's bananas,' comments Weir as there are boxes everywhere and loads of cleaning up to do. Banana yellow is the colour focus, with bright yellow backgrounds, a fun lenticular cover and creative and colourful font sizes and styles. The yellow text blends into the white pages making it difficult to access for readers with vision difficulties.
With Mother's Day only a few days away, Weir comes up with a fantastic idea. With his friends Bella and Henry they offer to clean up the house and yard for pocket money to buy special presents for their mothers. Early next morning with Dad, Mum and his siblings out shopping, Grandpa is left in charge of the eager cleaners. Of course he immediately falls asleep in his recliner and the trio are left to do the washing. With a whole box of washing powder added, they set the dial to Disgustingly Filthy and move on to the vacuuming. Every task they undertake results in problems and all three children discover just how much work is involved in housework. Ahn Do's humourous cartoons show the fun and problems Bella, Henry and Weir encounter, bubbles everywhere whilst washing the dishes, Bella's topiary bird, Grandpa's slide on the slippery dip and the discovery of directions to pirate treasure.
Along the way there are plenty of jokes, laughs, ideas for drawing and a near explosion from the soapsuds in the washing machine. The Weirdo series are just right for readers beginning chapter books and for reluctant readers. This is another winner for Ahn Do, fans of the Weirdo series will find Messy Weird entertaining.
Rhyllis Bignell