Rocky Lobstar: Time travel tangle! by Rove McManus
Scholastic Australia, 2020. ISBN: 9781760665067.
Recommended for primary students. This is the second enjoyable and
'krilliant' book in the Rocky Lobstar series by comedian Rove
McManus. It is an ideal stepping stone for younger readers moving up
from early fiction - it has similar humour to the Treehouse
books but comes in at around 100 pages shorter.
Rocky Lobstar is part-boy, part-lobster. He is the star of Felidi's
Fabulous Sideshow Carnival which also boasts a bearded strong lady,
an alligator magician, a contortionist, a sword swallower and
others.
Rocky might burp too loud and use an array of silly lobster-themed
exclamations, but he is overall a likeable character with many
positive qualities. He is energetic, quick thinking, cheerful, a
responsible owner of his pet sea-pig, Bubbles, and is always polite
(even to machines). He has a great sense of daring and humour, is a
loyal friend and never gives up.
In this adventure Rocky and his best mate Goober accidentally break
a prized tea set belonging to Carnival boss, Mr Felidi. Luckily a
visiting celebrity professor happens to have left her new time
machine at the carnival. What follows is a journey that stretches
the imagination, tangles time and includes some great rhymes along
the way.
McManus holds a fine art qualification along with a lifelong passion
for drawing and animation, and he has packed humour and liveliness
into every page and drawing in this book. The story leads to a
wonderful double page illustration bursting with amusing characters,
where you find more fun details the longer you look. Themes:
Creatures, Travel, Friends.
Kylie Grant