'The best books, reviewed with insight and charm, but without compromise.'
- author Jackie French

Saturday, 18 December 2021

Review: Archie & Reddie: I really Dig Pizza! (book #1) and We Will Find Your Hat! (book #2)

Archie and Reddie, two adorable and energetic fox friends, have arrived! 

And they seriously make a splash! The Archie and Reddie is a VERY cool series for junior readers. 

I fell in love with it as soon as I opened the first book.

They are short, sweet, funny and entertaining and they’re delivered in comic book style, so the story is mostly dialogue and the brilliant illustrations COVER each and every page.

In I really Dig Pizza!, Archie finds a pizza and buries it so no one can find it. But Reddie is a super sleuth and when he discovers a mysterious pile of dirt, he recruits Archie to help solve the mystery.

In We Will Find Your Hat!, it’s Hat Day and Archie and Reddie are going to a hat party. But Archie can’t find his most favourite hat. The white and fluffy one! Reddie comes to the rescue and is there to help Archie find it, but it isn’t as easy as they both first thought.

I simply adore these books. The immediacy of the dialogue, and fun and simple stories, the funky illustrations all come together to deliver something unique, outrageously fun and perfect for junior readers. 

The text is large and there’s not a lot of it, so these books are perfect for readers just starting out. But they’re so much fun, everyone is going to want to read them (and they should).

Candy James has created some really cool characters in Archie and Reddie, and they really do come alive through these stories. On the back of each book, they even talk to each other about the story inside — its quirky brilliance.

And just a side note on Candy James. This author/illustrator creator is actually two people. Husband and wife duo, Candy (who draws) and James (who writes), come together as Candy James. It’s all explained at the back of each book, along with background info on Archie and Reddie and where the inspiration for these two cool characters came from.

These books, this series, is brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. Highly recommended if you like fun, funny, funky junior reads.

Title: Archie & Reddie: I really Dig Pizza! (book #1) and We Will Find Your Hat! (book #2)
Author/Illustrator: Candy James
Publisher: HarperCollins, $16.99
Publication Date: 1 December 2021
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781460760802 (I Really Dig Pizza!) / 9781460760819 (We Will Find Your Hat!)
For ages: 6 - 9
Type: Junior Fiction