View source for Max and Molly's Guide to Trouble: How to Build an Abominable Snowman by Dominic Barker and Hannah Shaw

{{infobox1
|title=Max and Molly's Guide to Trouble: How to Build an Abominable Snowman
|author=Dominic Barker and Hannah Shaw
|reviewer=Sue Magee
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=A great book for boys and girls just mastering reading.  It's witty, it's fun and develops reading skills without any of the pain. Recommended.
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=160
|publisher=Orchard
|date=February 2012
|isbn=978-1408305218
|cover=1408305216
|aznuk=1408305216
|aznus=B006W2UZGY
}}

I'd like you to meet Max and Molly Pesker of Laburnum Avenue, Trull.  They're twins, with red hair and bright, fun-loving natures to match and this time they have a real problem on their hands.  Laburnum Avenue is snowed in and Mum can't get to the supermarket.  Until the road is cleared they're going to have to live on the supply of EMERGENCY BEANS which their father has been storing in the cellar.  There's also a humanitarian aspect to their problems.  The Goodley children (could children ever have had a more appropriate surname?) from across the street eat tofu but have never tasted toffee!  That can't be allowed to continue, now can it?

It's fun.  It's witty - even for an adult who is many multiples of the target age group and even though Max and Molly must be, er, challenging to have around they're not deliberately naughty.  I mean it's perfectly reasonable to build a ski-slope for their pet hamster, isn't it?  And what better place than Max's head?  There's a long way to fall?  Simple - a parachute has been designed. I'm not even going to try and explain how the mayor ended up driving a snowplough and the next door neighbour (who at 28 is 'elderly and at risk') walked barefoot in the snow...

You're worried that your children might end up trying to persuade the local radio station that there's a yeti loose in the area?  There's a simple remedy - you need to keep proper food (ask the kids - they'll explain what it is) and not EMERGENCY BEANS in the cellar. Look on the positive side - the book has short chapters, great vocabulary and excellent illustrations.  Boys and girls are going to whizz through the book and get a real sense of pride in what they've achieved.  That's worth having two children in a gorilla suit (yes - you read that correctly - just one gorilla suit) in the back garden isn't it?

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.  We're off to build a snowman now - or we would be except for the fact that it's raining.

We've met author Dominic Barker [[Adam and the Arkonauts by Dominic Barker|before]] and we still remember illustrator Hannah Shaw from [[The Great Hamster Massacre by Katie Davies|The Great Hamster Massacre]].  They make a great combination too!

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[[Category:Dominic Barker]]
[[Category:Hannah Shaw]]