With the evenings starting to draw in, here at The Madhouse we've got back into a rather lovely routine of getting into pyjamas earlier (rather than staying outside riding bikes and scooters around the car park until bedtime) and snuggling up with a book to read together as a family. We've been enjoying discovering all the new books that we've received lately because they all seem to have one thing in common - a rather silly sense of humour that has the Mini-testers (oh ok, and me !) giggling their heads off ! Findus Moves Out followed this trend, much to their delight.
Findus is a rather nutty and slightly naughty but nevertheless endearing cat who can't help bouncing up and down on the bed when he wakes up (way too early) every single morning. His owner eventually has enough and the two part ways, with Findus heading off to live in his own house at the bottom of the garden. But, even if they don't want to admit it, they both miss each other and decide to go back to how things were before.
It's a lovely tale of putting up with loved ones' shortcomings and trying hard to accomodate other people's needs which can be adapted to explore a multitude of family situations - Sophie complaining about Juliette being noisy when she's trying to do her homework, Juliette getting up way too early at the weekend, Pierre giggling and sticking his tongue out at his friends during afternoon naptime at school when he should be going to sleep ... Nobody's perfect but in life, we can all make an effort be as un-annoying as possible. Sounds like a great life-lesson to me !
The illustrations have quite a vintage, retro feel to them and the pictures of the cat leaping around madly (and the chickens !) had Juliette, in particular, giggling as I turned every page. The Madhouse Mini-testers have requested this book several times at bedtimes and have been squealing excitedly before I've even got to the first page. Juliette does always end up doing impressions of Findus bouncing around on the bed though, so I may have to move it forward to a mid-afternoon read so that the excitement doesn't prevent them going to sleep !
I've just discovered that this is the sixth story in the Findus & Pettson series so I'll definitely have to look out for the others.
I also have a giveaway coming right up where you will be able to win 3 copies of the book - don't go away !
star rating : 4.5/5
RRP : £10.99
Disclosure: We received a review copy of the book.
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I love the illustrations, I can imagine they have a huge appeal to both kids and parents.
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