Blue, Barry & Pancakes: Mount Choco Meltdown
Dan Abdo and Jason Patterson
Rock The Boat

In this third instalment featuring three best friends, worm, Blue, is excited to show Barry (frog) and Pancake (rabbit) a poster about an ice-cream sundae contest. They take some persuading but eventually agree to participate but they have just one hour to create the sundae and win the much coveted trophy – something to put in Barry’s empty trophy room. He decides that the way to win is to get a tub of chocolate ice-cream from Mount Choco. The trouble is its location is closely guarded by a giant, razor-toothed yeti.

There are obstacles in their way – the Sea of Sea Sickness to cross, sunglasses to extricate from a very tricky place, not to mention performing some funky dance moves to impress the yeti and each of the three friends is key in overcoming an obstacle. But will they make it back in time to present their creation to be judged and if so what will the outcome be?

Absolutely absurd but young fans of graphic novels will gobble it up and enjoy the ingredients that comprise the back matter.

Supersize Squirrel and the Attack of the Zombears
Luke Séguinn-Magee
Oxford Children’s Books

Despite being billed as a supersized hero of the forest and starring in two previous books, this is my first literary encounter with Sonny aka Supersized Squirrel and his sidekick Blaze Bunny.

Their third mission is full of action and we see the two facing a very spooky zombear mystery in the middle of a storm in the dark dark woods: surely their most chilling challenge ever. Squirrel calls it the Zombi-pocalypse. Scary as it is after an unexpected encounter, he insists they plus their old enemies the F.A.R.T. ‘march into this challenge with our weird superpowers and our heads held high.’

Can they together get rid of the poisonous pollution unthinkingly dumped into Bear Pond that’s at the heart of the trouble, restore the zombears to ordinary bears and put everything back to normal? And what of that movie in the Warren: can they catch the ending?

Silly, satisfying and fast moving with friendship and super-heroic feats at its core..