The marvellous submarine by Clayton Zane Comber and Conor McCammon

A couple of ordinary kids, a super smart gorilla and a crew of animals in a submarine reminiscent of the 13 Storey treehouse, are on a mission to save a clever inventor from kidnappers on Volcano Island. Twins, Poppy and Billy, live on Monkey Island with their mum (the inventor) and her assistant Harold (super smart Gorilla).  When their mother is kidnapped by the Fugitives (an incredibly unsuccessful former rock band) they phone their father who is in outer space doing important research tracking down extra-terrestrial lifeforms. He directs them to Mum's inventing shed where they find the most incredible submarine they have ever seen. They recruit the local animals to help crew the ship – Jemima the giraffe, a sloth, a penguin, flamingo, bat, cat, chameleon, octopus and 10 monkeys.  With their assistance and the help of various inventions they find in their mum's shed, the children overcome a wacky selection of obstacles and manage to thwart the villains who plan to drain the oceans and take over the world.

This wacky, fast-paced story contains everything from pirates to blue whales, invincible spray and exploding basketballs which combine to create a great adventure in this first book of the series.  The novel is a combination of text, highlighted words, large illustrations and comic style pages that will appeal to most middle primary readers, especially reluctant readers.

Themes: Submarines, Twins, Inventors, Kidnapping.

Gabrielle Anderson