Melissa Garside (text) and Lauren Mullinder (illustrator), Lexie Moon and the Word Burgling Bungle. Riveted Press. January 2025, 128 pp., RRP $12.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781763526037
The premise of this latest chapter book series from Riveted Press will appeal to science-loving children in the middle primary years. It’s about Lexie, a budding ten-year-old inventor, and what happens when her prize creation – The Vocabuliser – is stolen by a villainous thief.
Lexie intended her invention for good. To help her little sister say tricky words like spaghetti. But somehow, in the hands of the evil Gizmo Lightfinger, the invention backfires and is used to steal the voices of people and animals. The story follows Lexie and her grandpa as they chase Gizmo around town, watching in horror and trying to figure out how to stop him as he wreaks havoc.
Lexie is a spunky protagonist and uses some of her other inventions in her bid to stop Gizmo. Kids will enjoy things like the Slushy-nator that projects ice and the Nose-Knows that helps sniff out the baddie.
This highly imaginative first book is sure to have young readers clamouring for more. It would make a good jumping off point in the classroom for either creative writing exercises or science experiments.
Reviewed by Heather Gallagher
