The 65-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths

Ill. by Terry Denton. Pan Macmillan ISBN: 9781743533222
(Ages: 8+) Highly recommended. Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton's much anticipated addition to the Treehouse series - The 65-Storey Treehouse delivers on every level. Thirteen new rooms with an exploding eyeball room, a birthday room for any day of the year, a cloning room and a lollipop room run by Mary Lollipoppins. Tree-NN is a 24 hour news room that runs a quirky ticker tape comment at the bottom of each page. The addition of an ant farm with 65 chambers - ant bands, ant salons, ant bedrooms, ants who demand hamburgers, causes drama when the escaped insects attack Terry.
Unfortunately Terry's forgotten to obtain a building permit for the original structure and soon the friends are visited by Inspector Bubblewrap from Safety Central Headquarters. Terry's handy time-machine wheelie bin is the answer to their dilemma, going back in time to before the first treehouse was built to lodge a permit application. An unfortunate accident happens when the inspector climbs in means the chronometer sticks on the numbers six and five. Each double page spread is jam-packed with hilarious cartoons, funny sketches and crazy comments. They hurtle through time - visit with Prehistoric Pond Scum, dance with the dinosaurs - watch out for the Bignoseasaur, then Terry introduces Stone Age people to cave painting (even Barky has his own cave cartoon). There's a chariot race in Ancient Rome, problems with a Pharoah in Ancient Egypt and an unfortunate encounter with giant crabs 65000 years into the future. The inspector's bubble wrap comes in very handy along the way, especially when he's cut in half by a sword.
Another fabulous creative collaboration, from Andy and Terry, there's so much to investigate, explore, read and discover. This series is loved by young readers and is great for families to enjoy together.
Rhyllis Bignell