The 26-Story Treehouse

Twice the treehouse, twice the fun? You bet. Griffiths and Denton follow the uproarious The 13-Story Treehouse with another cartoon-laden carnival of slapstick and self-referential humor—this time, with pirates. It isn’t just best buddies Andy and Terry’s treehouse that’s grown: this book is about 100 pages longer than its predecessor, extra space that lets Griffiths and Denton devote six pages to the 78 flavors of ice cream at the treehouse’s ice-cream parlor, more than 20 pages to a pirate-themed nursery rhyme, and dozens more to the stories-within-the-story that Andy, Terry, their friend Jill, and the dread pirate Captain Woodenhead recount. Whether it’s Jill and her menagerie of animals stacked precariously on a tiny iceberg or a giant, smelly fish head orbiting the Earth (it’s an important plot point), Denton’s furiously scrawled line drawings milk the silly, gross-out gags for everything they’re worth. Kids should be flipping pages faster than a pair of inflatable underpants can skyrocket the young heroes to safety (it’s also an important plot point). Best of all, Terry and Andy leave readers with a blueprint for a 39-story sequel. Ages 8–12. (Apr.)