Illustrated Chaos: Aussie Kids Who Giggle
Share
- Andy Griffiths published The 13-Storey Treehouse with Pan Macmillan in 2011; the series has since expanded to The 169-Storey Treehouse (2023).
- Paul Jennings' first collection, Unreal, won the 1985 Australian Children's Book of the Year Award for Younger Readers.
- Anh Do's WeirDo series debuted in 2012 with Scholastic Australia, illustrated by Jules Faber.
- Terry Denton has illustrated over 80 books, including Griffiths' Just! series (1997–2013) and the entire Treehouse catalogue.
- The Treehouse series has sold over 10 million copies in Australia alone As of May 2026.
- Griffiths' Once Upon a Slime (2017) is a creative-writing guide disguised as a joke book, published by Macmillan.
The 117-Storey Treehouse — Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton
The middle chapter in the Treehouse marathon — 117 floors of shark-tanks, time machines, and existential dread delivered with zero self-seriousness.
By the time Andy and Terry hit 117 storeys, you'd think the format would feel mechanical — another thirteen floors, another deadline crisis, another solution involving a glow-in-the-dark grotto or a remembering machine. But Griffiths and Denton keep the chaos fresh by leaning into the absurdity of their own premise: these two will build literally anything to avoid actual work. The illustrations carry half the comedy — Denton's scratchy pen-work lets panels spill into margins, and sight gags layer three deep. If your kid giggled through the earlier volumes, this one delivers the same hit. Explore our current copy of The 117-Storey Treehouse or browse more Coffee Table Books at Patina.
Just Crazy! — Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton
Pre-Treehouse Griffiths — thirteen short stories where the chaos is smaller-scale but no less unhinged.
Before the infinite treehouse, Griffiths perfected the short-form chaos narrative with the Just! series — bite-sized absurdities where a pencil case gains sentience or a talent quest collapses into farce. Just Crazy! works because each story operates on kid logic: if a thing seems like it might explode, it will; if a pet could talk, it would roast you. Denton's illustrations here are sketchier, more marginal — closer to notebook doodles than the full-bleed chaos of the Treehouse books. It's comfort food for the 8–11 set who aren't quite ready for chapter books but find picture books condescending. Explore our current copy of Just Crazy! or browse more Coffee Table Books at Patina.
Mascot Madness! (Schooling Around #3) — Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton
The Schooling Around series is Griffiths at his most Roald Dahl — every adult is useless, every kid is scheming, and the school mascot costume becomes a prison.
Henry McThrottle gets stuck inside the Northwest Southeast Central School mascot suit — a bear, naturally — and the zipper jams. What follows is peak Griffiths: Henry stumbles through the school day trapped in synthetic fur, unable to communicate, increasingly delirious. It's darker than the Treehouse books — there's real claustrophobia here — but still filtered through Denton's cartooning, which keeps the stakes light. If your kid loved the Treehouse series but wants something with a tighter plot, Schooling Around nails the middle ground between episodic gags and actual narrative. Explore our current copy of Mascot Madness! or browse more Coffee Table Books at Patina.
Once Upon a Slime — Andy Griffiths
A creative-writing manual disguised as a gross-out joke book — Griffiths weaponising his own process to trick kids into storytelling.
Griffiths knows exactly why kids freeze in front of a blank page: they think writing has rules. Once Upon a Slime systematically demolishes that anxiety with 45 prompts that prioritise weirdness over correctness — write about a character made of slime, invent a superhero whose power is embarrassment, describe a day from your dog's perspective. The format is half-workbook, half-permission slip: every prompt comes with Griffiths' own example, usually involving bodily fluids or structural collapse. It's the rare writing guide that doesn't bore its intended audience to death. Explore our current copy of Once Upon a Slime or browse more Coffee Table Books at Patina.
Mega Weird! (WeirDo #7) — Anh Do & Jules Faber
Anh Do's misfit-kid series hits its stride in Book 7 — diary-format chaos with Jules Faber's scratchy illustrations doing half the emotional work.
Weir's the class weirdo — art-obsessed, socially oblivious, perpetually one prank away from disaster — and Do writes him with the same warmth he brings to The Happiest Refugee. The diary format keeps the pacing brisk: each page is a mix of Weir's rambling first-person and Faber's cartoons, which amplify every mortification. Mega Weird! works because Do never punishes Weir for being himself; the chaos is situational, not mean-spirited. If your kid loved Wimpy Kid but wants something with an Australian accent and less cynicism, WeirDo delivers. Explore our current copy of Mega Weird! or browse more Coffee Table Books at Patina.
Don't Look Now Book 1: Falling for it and the Kangaroo Key — Paul Jennings
Paul Jennings invented the Australian weird-tale-for-kids format, and Don't Look Now is his attempt to serialise it — two intercut narratives where the bizarre is treated as documentary fact.
Jennings has always written stories where the supernatural arrives without preamble — a boy finds a kangaroo key that unlocks anything, and suddenly he's unsticking frozen time or opening his own skull. Don't Look Now alternates between two protagonists (Max and Rory) in separate storylines that will eventually collide, which gives the book a structural complexity Jennings' earlier collections (Unreal, Unbelievable) didn't bother with. The tone is peak Jennings: deadpan delivery of escalating madness, with a current of genuine melancholy underneath. If your kid has aged out of his single-story collections but still wants that Jennings weirdness, this series bridges the gap. Explore our current copy of Don't Look Now Book 1 or browse more Coffee Table Books at Patina.
As of May 2026, these seven titles are part of Patina's rotating stock of Australian middle-grade chaos — the kind of illustrated paperbacks where every second page is a sight gag and every chapter ends with something catching fire, metaphorically or literally. Griffiths, Do, and Jennings between them have cornered the market on making Australian kids giggle through the awkward years, and Denton's and Faber's illustrations are as much of the experience as the text. If your 8–12-year-old claims to "hate reading," hand them a Treehouse book and watch the complaint evaporate. Shop all Coffee Table Books at Patina Paperbacks →
Where can I buy Andy Griffiths Treehouse books secondhand in Sydney?
Patina stocks rotating preloved copies of the Treehouse series, along with Griffiths' earlier Just! and Schooling Around books — all shipped Australia-wide from our Sydney shelves. Availability shifts with what trades in, but as of May 2026 we've got several Treehouse titles in stock, including mid-series volumes like The 117-Storey Treehouse. Check the Coffee Table Books collection for current listings.
Are Paul Jennings books still worth reading in 2025?
Honestly, yes — Jennings pioneered the short-form weird tale for Australian kids in the 1980s, and the best ones (Unreal, The Cabbage Patch Fib, the Quentaris books) hold up because they treat the supernatural as mundane and let the emotional stakes do the work. Don't Look Now is his attempt to stretch that format into a serialised middle-grade novel, and while it's structurally messier than his story collections, the core Jennings weirdness is intact. If your kid loved Griffiths or Do, Jennings is the godfather of that entire vibe.
What age group are Andy Griffiths books aimed at?
The Treehouse series officially targets 7–12-year-olds, but the real sweet spot is 8–10 — old enough to track the episodic chaos, young enough to find Terry Denton's sight gags hilarious. Griffiths' earlier work (Just Crazy!, the Schooling Around series) skews slightly older, with tighter plots and darker humour. Once Upon a Slime works for any reluctant writer aged 8 and up who needs permission to be weird on the page.
Is Anh Do's WeirDo series similar to Diary of a Wimpy Kid?
Structurally, yes — both use the illustrated diary format, mix first-person text with cartoons, and centre a socially awkward kid navigating school disasters. But WeirDo is warmer and less cynical than Wimpy Kid: Weir's mishaps come from enthusiasm rather than scheming, and Anh Do writes him with genuine affection. Jules Faber's illustrations have a sketchier, more kinetic energy than Jeff Kinney's clean-line style. If your kid loved Wimpy Kid but wants something with an Australian setting and a kinder emotional core, WeirDo delivers.
Do I need to read the Treehouse books in order?
Not really — each book follows the same formula (Andy and Terry add thirteen new treehouse levels, get distracted, nearly miss a deadline, solve it with cartoon physics), so you can jump in anywhere. That said, there are running gags and character callbacks that land better if you've read a few in sequence. The 117-Storey Treehouse sits mid-series, so it assumes you know the rhythm but doesn't require deep lore. Start wherever you can find a copy; kids will backfill the gaps if they care.