Spud and Snowball and the Fancy Fish (Spud and Snowball #1) (Judith Rossell, ABC Books)

Mischief abounds in Spud and Snowball and the Fancy Fish, Judith Rossell’s new illustrated junior fiction chapter book, which introduces us to the adventures of two charming but chaotic cats. When Spud and Snowball order ‘Fancy Fish’ cat food online, they are instead delivered a pompous opera-singing fish named Sir Mimsy Woffle-Poffle Foffington. Hijinks ensue as Mimsy, who immediately mistakes the cats for his new butlers, puts them to work. The feline duo must try to cook Mimsy a fancy meal and decorate his fish tank to meet his refined tastes. They quickly realise that fanciness might not suit them as well as they first thought. Rossell is a bestselling, award-winning author of 16 books and illustrator of over 80, including Andrew Daddo’s similarly humorous Skoz the Dog series. Spud and Snowball and the Fancy Fish is bursting with bold, amusing illustrations, expressive characters and a highly visual use of text placement as the fancy fish’s singing often travels right off the edge of the page. Spud and Snowball are a hilarious double-act, with Spud leading the charge into absurdity, while Snowball provides an occasional voice of reason. This dynamic should serve them well in future books in the series – a great choice for emerging readers aged 6+ who enjoy animated animals and comic book–style comedy such as Anh Do’s Hot Dog series. 

Books+Publishing reviewer: Kathryn Wheaton Grierson is a library operations officer and aspiring writer based on Kaurna land. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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