Treehouse author Andy Griffiths hates playing favourites with his hit books

What’s your favourite Treehouse book? The author of the series, Andy Griffiths, finds that a difficult question to answer.

“That’s exactly like asking who’s your favourite child,” Griffiths said. “Each book is quite different, it goes to a different place.”

Griffiths is talking to Kids News about the launch of the latest book in the Treehouse series, The 156-Storey Treehouse, and despite his reluctance to name favourites, he is quickly swept up recalling the “flying eyeballs and intergalactic death battles” of The 130-Storey Treehouse, the escapades* of Professor Stupido to “uninvent the whole world” in The 39-Storey Treehouse and teaching cave people to read and write after dropping in on the past in a time travelling rubbish bin in The 65-Storey Treehouse.

In the newest story, Andy and Terry are in typical strife* after their plans to scam Santa Claus are foiled* by an evil snowman.

There are flamethrowers, cloning machines, a “bouldering alley”, an “amazing mind-reading sandwich making machine” and a TV quiz show hosted by Quizzy the Quizzical Quizbot – “because every treehouse needs a TV quiz show level”.

Griffiths said the idea for the plot* was planted by a Norwegian opera company.

“They got in touch three or four years ago and said ‘the Treehouse books are very popular in Norway, we’d like to do a Christmas opera and do you have any ideas’,” Griffiths recalled.

“I said ‘no, but I could imagine that if it was Christmas Andy and Terry would be trying to figure out how to get the most presents’.

“It just starts with that idea and complicating it all the time, thinking what’s the worst thing that could happen and then we make that happen.

“Then we think how would we try to respond and what’s the worst thing that could happen then.

“All the books are trying to solve a simple problem and the solutions end up escalating a simple problem into an enormous problem.”

The 156-Storey Treehouse is the 12th book in the series that started with The 13-Storey Treehouse in 2011. That first book is the most popular children’s fiction book sold in Australia, with more than 674,000 copies sold, according to Nielsen BookScan data.

Griffiths said he was enormously proud of the impact his work was having on young readers.

“It’s amazing, it’s more than I ever dreamt I’d be able to achieve,” he said.

“But I did start off wanting to not let modern-day kids forget that reading is a really important pleasure and a really important skill at the same time.”

The 156-Storey Treehouse, written by Andy Griffiths and illustrated by Terry Denton, (Pan Australia, RRP $14.99) is out on September 6.

GLOSSARY

• escapades: adventurous and exciting actions
• strife: trouble, conflict
• foiled: prevented from succeeding
• plot: storyline, main events of a story

EXTRA READING

No mistaking author’s support for Spelling Bee

Have you read these Aussie kids’ favourites?

QUICK QUIZ

1. What does Andy Griffiths compare being asked about his favourite Treehouse book to?
2. What is the name of the latest Treehouse book?
3. What number book is this in the Treehouse series?
4. Where did the idea for this latest Treehouse book come from?
5. How many copies of The 13-Storey Treehouse have been sold in Australia?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Story success
Work with a partner and make a list of why you think the Treehouse series of books are so successful and engaging young readers around the world.

Is it the plot? The illustrations? The humour? Elaborate on your points.

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Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and social, Critical and Creative thinking

2. Extension
Do you think humour varies in different places around the world? Would an eight-year-old in Norway find the same things to be funny as an eight-year-old in Australia? Explain your answer.

Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and social, Critical and Creative thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY
I spy nouns
Nouns are places, names (of people and objects), and time (months or days of the week).

How many nouns can you find in the article?

Can you sort them into places, names and time?

Pick three nouns and add an adjective (describing word) to the nouns.