By Jamie Smart, coloured by Emily Kimbell (David Fickling Books)
ISBN: 978-1-78845-310-3 (PB)
Laced with cheerful welcoming charm by cartoonist, comics artist and novelist Jamie Smart, Max & Chaffy books for younger readers (four when this one comes out) hark back to more traditional times and fare. Initially introduced in Welcome to Animal Island, little Max moved to a new home in a lighthouse and soon made some amazing friends: Orlando, Crumbs, Moose, Pedalo and a strange little creature called Chaffy.
The little fluffball has mismatched ears and is easily confused: constantly getting lost and needing Max and the reader’s help to be where it belongs. The reason for getting misplaced so much is a desire to locate other Chaffys (as seen in follow-up fables The Great Cupcake Mystery! and Search for the Ice Chaffy!): a desire magnified once the soon-to-be inseparable pair joined the Official Chaffy Finding Club…
Unlike Smart’s multi award-winning comics offerings (Bunny vs. Monkey, Looshkin – the Adventures of the Maddest Cat in the World!!, Fish Head Steve!, Corporate Skull, Space Raoul, and many brilliant strips for The Beano, Dandy and others) or his illustrated kids novels like the Flember quartet, Max & Chaffy adventures are crafted for early readers, offering strong directed stories laced with interactive pages, with participation an integral part of the storytelling. The most engaging of these page games are regularly recurring Search & Find tableaux – just like Where’s Wally? – cunningly combined with grouping/collecting moments (as they search for new specimens of Chaffy), offering flavours of Pokémon and echoes of Mr. Men whenever they find and befriend them.
Joyous, inclusive and accepting, this fourth outing sees our tiny tot stars seeking new Chaffys – all with a list of identifying characteristics – before teaming up with grumpy sea captain Foghorn. He takes them on a tour of Animal Island’s wilder shores and ultimately under the sea, where one quest is soon satisfied by the discovery of a timid, rapidly-inflating Puffa-Chaffy before they are all distracted and diverted by unearthing a pirate treasure map in a bottle…
When they discover it was drawn by Foghorn’s ancestor – and World’s Greatest Pirate – Captain Boombox Foghorn, they just have to go find it, aided by the restless spirit of Boombox himself. An extended undersea excursion sees them all experiencing fabulous creatures and places, discovering a unique new Chaffy to add to Max’s growing list and learning that there’s much more than one kind of treasure…
That’s reiterated by a bonus feature requiring a second read as Boombox urges a review of the buoyant bouncy pages and a search for his lost valuables in the recesses of the pages and panels.
Exuberant, enticing, rewarding and eminently re-readable, this is another must-have pearl of great wisdom no kid of any age could possibly resist.
Text and illustrations © Fumboo Ltd. 2024. All rights reserved.
Max & Chaffy: Hunt for the Pirate’s Gold! will be released on August 1st 2024 and is available for pre-order now.