Book review: The 52-Storey Treehouse

The 52-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths, ill. Terry Denton, ISBN 9781742614212, Pan Australia

REVIEWED BY JOSEPH, 10, WA

Joseph is reviewing his own copy of this book.

I had to wait a whole year for this book. When it finally came out I read it from cover to cover in one sitting and I’ve read it many more times since.

This is the fourth book in the Treehouse series and once again 13 new storeys have been added, including a watermelon smashing room. But Andy and Terry soon remember something important — Mr Big Nose has forgotten to remind them about the deadline for the new book and he has gone missing. Could it be related to that book Fun with Vegetables by Vegetable Patty? They take off on an advegetable story (an adventure with vegetables) with the help of a little caterpillar with a surprising secret. And what has happened to Jill? Why won’t she wake up when Andy and Terry explode in?

I liked lots of things about this book. Firstly, the unexpected plot. My little sister kept wrongly guessing the next step of the plot. I liked the characters — some minor characters from earlier Treehouse books are back, and there are some new ones as well. My favourite part was the craziness of everything in the book, especially Terry’s ninja snails.

My special tip for reading this book is that you should read the other books in the series (like The 26-Storey Treehouse) first because then the jokes are funnier and they make more sense.

The illustrations in this book are by Terry Denton (like in the earlier books). They are just perfect for the Treehouse series because there are lots and lots of them and they’re the sort that you don’t get bored with. His drawings are like first drafts, it’s like you’re seeing them when he’s just finished drawing them. I like that.

I would recommend this book for 7 to 13 year olds and all adults who like a bit of humour. My special warning: if you’re scared of spiders, skip over Terry’s spider pictures — they are pretty scary. Both boys and girls will enjoy reading this book.

I rate this book 9.5/10 and it’s my favourite book in the series.

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Joseph is one of our regular book reviewers. His most recent review (if you don’t count this one) was of Our Village in the Sky. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!