Bec Hill (Hodder Children’s Books) 2021, 166pp, RRP $15.99
Comedienne Hill’s first book is a cool kiddie title with nice characters, a sweetly rude sense of humour, and just enough scary stuff for rugrats.
Young Connie is a schoolkid who’s obsessed with the kind of toy slime you buy in shops, and her often-confiscated collection means she’s frequently called “Connie, Queen Of Slime”. A series of events lead to her trying to make slime at home and, after combining traditional ingredients with her Dad’s foot powder, yeast used to bake sourdough bread and leftover pizza crusts, accidentally creating a stinky slime creature she calls ‘Big’ (as in ‘Big Yikes’).
At first Big is respectful, and helps Connie with her homework and (less successfully) gives her a haircut, but soon the thing grows larger, smarter and – of course – a touch megalomaniacal.
With illustrations by Berat Pekmezci, this offers pleasing characterisations (Connie’s besties Nat, Amy and Allyce are a cute lot), non-stereotypical depictions of adults (teacher Ms. Strapp and Connie’s goofy Dad), a monster to rival anything in R.L. Stine’s endless Goosebumps YA series, and (spoilers!) an open ending.
Get slimy!
Dave Bradley
This title is available through the Hachette Australia website. Click HERE to purchase your copy.
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