Freddie Foxworthy may find making friends difficult but give him an arts and craft project and he’s all over it!
His latest project is kicked off by a suggestion by his Year 8 teacher, who is planning for making hand puppets at the end of term. Unfortunately this idea goes badly in class, but Freddie is too excited about it to just let it go. At home, with a little help from YouTube, he begins to gather the tools he will need.
One necessary element is the glue required to mould the head of his hand puppet. After mixing up a bowl of flour and water for his project, a neighbour’s dog decides it looks good for lunch. Not only does Freddie no longer have any glue, its owner arrives announcing his bull terrier Masher died from eating Freddie’s glue!
Freddie is horrified, but while doing some work for the owner to apologise, ends up with his hands in the ashes of departed dog Masher. When these ashes get mixed up in Freddie’s new puppet project, amazing things begin to happen. Suddenly Freddie has a friend that wants to spend all his time with him.
Meanwhile, another lady in their street has blamed Masher for the disappearance of her prized cat. She will not let go of her claims even now Masher has gone, and her upset kicks off more than one mystery. How can all of things have happened? All Freddie wanted to do was some arts and crafts!
A fun middle grade book including crafts from New Zealand’s Queen of Crafts – Fifi Colston. But MASHER isn’t just about crafts. The family dynamics within m/c Freddie’s family are laugh out loud funny, and the neighbourhood dynamics messy.
Freddie’s new friend enables opportunities to make human friends and also get to know his neighbours better. Is MASHER real, or is he just what Freddie needs right now?
Illustrations by this award winning illustrator/author are lightly sprinkled through the book adding more fun to the story.
An entertaining and highly relatable read for middle grade / tween readers with an extra section at the rear of the book showing readers how to make their own Papier-mâché puppet.
Author / Illustrator – Fifi Colston
Age – 8+
(2022, Puffin, Penguin Random House, Family, Neighbourhood, Mystery, Dog, Bull terrier, Papier-mâché, Arts and crafts, Glue, Fantasy, Fame, Siblings, Humour, Funny, Apology, Puppet Show, Making things, Animal ashes, Blame, NZ, New Zealand Author)