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

Tuesday, 28 June 2022

Review: The Listies Big Number 2

The Listies (AKA Matt and Rich) are back with Big Number 2, and this time things are going to get messy (pun intended times 2)!

Nan’s evil nemesis (the Nanasis) is up to her old tricks again, and she may have even taken it a bit too far. 

She’s captured Nan’s beloved pet ferret Vanessa AND she’s taken the town’s water supply.

While Nan tries to track down Vanessa, Matt and Rich must head back into the tele-porta-loo to retrieve a special blue pencil for the Nanasis, or she’ll never give the water back.

They head to the “maul”, a very special kind of shopping centre with some very special rules. Seems like a dream until they ignore Nan’s warning about late night shopping and get themselves in a very serious bind.

Can Matt and Rich escape late night shopping and return home with the blue pencil they need? Can Nan rescue her darling Vanessa?

I literally laughed out loud while reading the first book in this series (Tele-porta-loo), but I laughed out loud times 2 for this instalment. The Listies are stupendously hilarious, and this series is going to have kids in stitches.

Delivered in a graphic-y novel/sometimes comic book type style, the book is heavy on the illustrations, which are funky, expressive and super fun. The text is large and there’s not too much, so this really is a perfect book for junior readers looking for something easy to jump into.

I think you definitely can read book two without reading book one, but I recommend you start with book one simply because I don’t want you to miss any of the laughs.

The Listies are taking Australia by storm with their hilarious novels and stage shows. I cannot wait to see what comes next.

Title: The Listies Big Number 2
Author/Illustrator: The Listies (Richard Higgins and Matt Kelly)
Publisher: Puffin, $14.99
Publication Date: 5 January 2022
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781761042126
For ages: 7+
Type: Junior Fiction