by Robin Bennet
Illustrated by Tom Tinn-Disbury
Cover design by Alex Dimond
Published by Firefly Press
Who can resist such a wonderful, crazy-looking orange monster smiling on this gorgeous cover?!
Burping & sneezing are normal in everyone's life but they are not quite as normal for Max. He's just an ordinary, grubby boy who likes to have fun - but if Max burps he turns into a monster! Fortunately, when he sneezes, Max turns back into a boy. Sounds simple enough, doesn't it? But what if he burps or sneezes without trying & he changes at a slightly inconvenient moment? As a monster, Max roars loudly & does a lot of typical monster stuff, like jumping out on people & has even tried to gobble his cat, Frankenstein - just to see how cat tasted!
*The cat is fine, don't worry*
A hidden staircase, a full moon outside & a cat that enjoys *monstering* just as much as Max - all the perfect ingredients for an exciting monster night plan. Max even had a special, giant door to leave the house as a monster! It was a goal 'to protect & do good' with his special monster skills.
Max meets the very annoying, very clever Peregrine, his nemesis & has to devise a plan to keep all his own & his family's special 'talents' a secret from everyone.
Not all monsters are bad - but there was something going on around town that not even Max could explain.
Somehow things were getting smashed all over the place but that really wasn't Max's style, nor was it Peregrine's. Will anyone ever discover what's really going on? You'll have to read to find out!
This is such a creative & imaginative story, very skilfully tied together with so many threads of hilarious detail. Superb illustrations by Tom Tinn-Disbury just serve to elevate the funny factor even more!
Spiders make a special appearance in this laugh-out-loud story. Brainy young Peregrine is so smart & organised but everyone has a 'thing', don't they? He hates spiders more than anything, even broccoli!
There's something very intriguing about Max's mum but it might be a big surprise when you find out!
Max seems to have a few little snags to iron out with his transformation to huge, furry monster & back to a boy! Will he manage to figure it out?
Missions at night take Max all over the town & local area. His parents just wonder if he's been part of the stories they see in the newspaper each morning. Some articles are much more surprising than others.
There's a tea cosy / bobble hat that plays a very important role, as you can guess! Can you imagine a connection between this & pink wellies? We also learn that Max's mum is from Krit, the smallest country in the world. Max's dad explains their deceptively spacious house is based on his own reverse cloud technology theory!
There's fun, mystery, new friendship & tons of adventure in this whacky-bonkers story. Everyone needs to read this one - smiling is guaranteed.
Always remember: Different is good!
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