
Monster Max and the Marmalade Ghost
illustrated by Tom Tinn-Disbury
Interest age: 7 to 9
Reading age: 7+
Published by Firefly, 2022
About this book
Max looks like any ordinary boy but he has an awesome secret: when he burps, he turns into a huge, orange monster with amazing strength and sharp, pointy teeth. And he can turn back to his boy version just by sneezing!
When Max and his (joint) best friend, Peregrine, are rewarded with cake for helping an elderly gentleman, he offers biscuits too if they volunteer at the local day centre.
But almost immediately, odd things start to happen. The residents are behaving strangely: Reg is stuck on the ceiling, Sydney is trapped in the television, several of the ladies have become see-through and the marmalade seems to be haunted.
This is most definitely a job for Monster Max.
In this second adventure in the series, Max discovers that turning into a monster and eating everything in sight isn’t the answer to every problem. Sometimes cleverness and planning, provided by Peregrine, give you the best chance at success.
Plenty of epic, slapstick battles, spooky, icky, sticky ghostliness, bum jokes and fun are the background to an evolving friendship that doesn’t always go smoothly and a backstory that is starting to get very dark.
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Lists of recommended reads
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Halloween books for primary school children
Spooky stories can be utterly thrilling, and provide a safe space to be scared in an entertaining way