And so begins one of the funniest 4th wall breaks in cinematic history. Spaceballs is still one of my top Mel Brooks movies and one of my all time favorite comedies. As I have watched it nearly 40-50 times, I find myself only watching when the bad guys are on screen. Luckily, outside of the merchandising scene the Spaceballs provide the best bits of comedy where they actually admit that they are in the middle of making a movie. This little trick is called a 4th wall break. A 4th wall break is where the characters int he film break down the wall that separates them from the audience. This is accomplished in many ways. In High Anxiety, a camera zooms in a breaks a window. In Blazing Saddles, the climactic battle at the end of the movie spills over into another movie studio. In Spaceballs, they talk about making money from the movie, they talk about making the movie, they even slash a poor member of the film crew with the schwartz. It really adds to the absurdity of the film and for me, pushes it gleefully over the top. So what does this have to do with a kids book by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton?
Well, the 13-Story Treehouse is a book about an Andy and Terry who live and work in a 13-Story treehouse. The treehouse is every little boys dream come true with a giant swimming pool, a lemonade fountain, an automatic marshmallow shooting robot, a bowling alley, a giant catapult, a room full of pillows, and other fun, productivity destroying distractions. Just looking at the map of the treehouse itself would have kept my eyes busy for a long time and my brain fueled with imaginary adventures that I could have hanging out with Andy and Terry. The plot of the book involves the authors actually writing the book that you hold in your hands. Their publisher, Mr. Big Nose, demands that Andy and Terry come up with a new book within a week. Since they haven't started one yet, they have a lot of work to do. What follows are 13 (intentional) chapters of outright hilarity and delicious absurdity. There are a few Roald Dahl references peppered into the dialogue and it's easy to see that the authors were inspired by Dahl's sillier work like The Twits.
While the humor flies off the handle and goes beyond mere silliness, it never devolves into gross-out potty humor. I found this to be fantastic. I am a big fan of Captain Underpants and Super Diaper Baby. I am glad that someone is able to walk the tightrope of humor above the feces tank. (Oops! Even I fall victim from time to time!)
This book comes highly recommended for any reluctant reader, but lends itself especially to boys. I would have devoured this book as a child. I would have read it over and over again until the pages fell out. The text is a tad sparse, but the book is rich with fun illustrations and that's kind of the point, right? Many kids who can't focus or have attention span issues don't read much because they physically just can't sit for 300-400 pages of text. It's an impossible task. They get frustrated and give up. Get them this book. I believe that it can spark a love of humor and reading in any child and should have a spot on your child's bookshelf.
As I finish this review I will leave you with some immortal words from a great man who lost his wife to cancer, then quit Hollywood to raise his kids.
You had me when you mentioned Roald Dahl! I cannot wait to try these now.
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