Matt Stanton, Funny Kid Catastrophe, (Funny Kid #11), HarperCollins Publishers, November 2022, 240 pp., RRP $ISBN 9780733341991
Funny Kid is back, but this time his mum has decided to run for mayor of Redhill, which means he will no longer be Funny Kid, but… First Kid! To make their family more relatable and electable, his parents decide to buy a cat. Trouble is Funny Kid wants nothing to do with this new feline intruder, he calls Catastrophe, and who also seems out to get him! Funny Kid does all he can to make sure the cat knows she’s not welcome. Trouble is…it works! Catastrophe runs away. It’s only then that Funny Kid, with a little help from his friends, realises Catastrophe might not have been that bad after all and may have even liked him! The whole team go looking for the cat but it’s only when Duck, his pet duck, helps, that Funny Kid knows just where to find the cat and also has a plan to get his mum elected.
Funny Kid Catastrophe is fast-paced and very funny, with Matt’s illustrations throughout perfectly matching the humour in the text. It took me back to the understated comedy of the Charlie Brown comics I read as a kid.
Highly recommended for newly independent readers and kids who love a laugh while they read.
Reviewed by Deborah Abela
