Matt Stanton, Bullies Beware! (Fluff #1), ABC Books, November 2023, 212 pp., RRP $15.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780733342080
Matt Stanton’s books, either his solo efforts or those written with his wife Beck, are always hilarious. He has a ridiculous sense of humour reflected in both the storylines and the illustrations.
In this, the first of a new series, Gilbert lives with his Mum and older sister in a caravan after his dad disappeared in outer space. When this happened, his Mum gave Gilbert a comfort bunny which has now grown not only to be enormous but also to talk to them, be Gilbert’s best friend and squeeze into the caravan to live with them. His name is Fluff. There’s also a talking goldfish.
The local bully, Carl, also lives in the caravan park just across the way with his grandma. He makes Gilbert’s life a misery. His latest prank is to steal all Gilbert’s underpants from the clothesline and decorate the street, letterboxes, and the school gates with them. Gilbert and Fluff spend a lot of time thinking up reprisals but every time they do, Carl comes up with something else. Eventually, Gilbert and Fluff decide not to react at all and just talk to Carl politely, which rather takes the wind out of his sails.
This funny, quirky book actually has a serious underlying message. The font size and layout vary and the pages are illustrated with black-and-white drawings. At the end of the book are instructions on how to draw Fluff and a notice about the next book in the series. Great fun!
Reviewed by Lynne Babbage
