The 169 storey treehouse by Andy Griffiths. Illus. by Terry Denton

Every child dreams of building a treehouse in their backyard and for the last 13 years Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton have provided kids with 13 amazing treehouse books filled with magical adventure, hilarious fun and inspiring stories. This is the last of the Treehouse series and it is really going out with a bang! It must have been tricky to find an end to this incredible series, but Griffiths and Denton have outdone themselves providing a bigger than ever treehouse experience for young readers.

The story begins with an unexpected weather event.  Terry left the door to the WHATEVER WEATHER YOU WANT dome open, and they must get up there to shut it down before the weather destroys the world. When that is accomplished they find themselves hiding on the Hall of Funhouse mirrors level to get away from the truancy officer who is determined to send them to a proper school. What they don’t realise is that behind the mirrors are their doppelgangers, Anti-Andy, Terrible-Terry and Junkyard-Jill, and they want out. What ensues is an exciting funny story that will keep Treehouse fans engrossed and entertained as Terry and Andy are forced to go to school and the doppelgangers create as much havoc as they want.  The Principal is not impressed by the boys' creativity but ultimately they help create a bigger, better treehouse school after a Massive Monkey Mayhem event created by their doppelgangers destroys the old one.

Griffiths and Denton reveal much about the previous treehouses in this book, giving new readers to the series an insight into all the books.  The story is typically crazy, and the illustrations are energetic, almost like slapstick comedy in a book. There’s so much to laugh about and it will appeal to the most reluctant, easily distracted reader.

Themes: Tree-houses, School, Doppelgangers, Cooperation, Imagination.

Gabrielle Anderson