Roarsome: Phase One by Joel Slack-Smith, illustrated by Rebel Challenger

Title: Roarsome: Phase One

Author: Joel Slack-Smith, illustrated by Rebel Challenger

Genre: Humour

Publisher: Scholastic Australia

Published: 1^st April 2024

Format: Paperback

Pages: 176

Price: $16.99

Synopsis: Half lion. Half werewolf. All pillow. Totally roarsome! All Walter wanted for his birthday was a limited edition, nitro-powered drone. Instead, he gets a tattered old lion-shaped pillow (that smells suspiciously like werewolf wee). Roar-kward! Now the full moon is out and Roars the lion-pillow has come to life for one night only, looking for adventure. Roars doesn’t just want some fun … he wants all the fun!

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Walter is hoping for a limited edition, nitro-powered drone for his birthday- which is on New Year’s Day. Do you think he gets that? Of course he doesn’t, why would anyone even think he gets that in a novel like this? He gets a tattered old lion pillow that, unfortunately smells a big like werewolf wee.

So what now? Well, things really kick off when the full moon comes out and Roars the lion-pillow comes to life – but only for the night of the full moon. And Roars wants an adventure – and all the fun!

We all know what a werewolf is, and how werewolves are created – but how does werewolf pee affect the things a werewolf might take a leak on? Enter Roars, to tell us how. The only reason Roars can come to life is because a werewolf broke into the pillow store he was in, peed on him, and the next thing Roars knows, he’s alive for one night, and then bam, back in a pillow store until he arrives at Walter’s place. Walter can hardly believe it – until Roars wants to play with everything and eat everything. So the two new friends set out on an adventure that involves mini golf, being chased by an angry mob, and finding their way home in a hot air balloon – all in one night! The question is – can Walter handle it?

In this totally roarsome adventure, the first in a new series from Scholastic Australia and Joel Slack-Smith, join Walter and Roars in an epic adventure that only takes place once a month. In Phase One, when we meet Walter and Roars, their adventures are just beginning, but at first a bit hesitantly. Walter’s uncertainty about a werelion pillow – or whatever Roars is meant to be, highlights the delightful absurdity of this book and its exceptional ability to use humour well, and ensures that the jokes are not tired. Instead of relying on constant toilet humour, Roarsome uses it cleverly in a way that is seemingly tied to the were powers that Roars has. It’s also used as a tool to save the day, well sort of, because it can also cause a lot of chaos.

A lion pillow like Roars is always going to be a mixture of fun and chaos, so really, I didn’t blame Walter for being nervous at first. Though the premise of a pillow or toy that only comes to life once a month at the full moon is quite intriguing. We know why this is the case for Roars, thanks to a werewolf. Yet it also opens up a range of possibilities for how pillows and toys can come to life, and the adventures that they might have. Hopefully not as chaotic as going on an adventure with Roars, who wants to do everything and eat everything he can in one night! Poor Walter – he has to try and keep up with Roars. I did like that the adventure was contained in one book, and that it has a thematic element – a once a month adventure, which is quite an interesting way to tell the story. It allows Walter and the readers to truly appreciate Roars and his quirks, and to learn how to appreciate the little things, and not having things happen the way you want all the time. A break between things can be fine – and this series looks like it is going to be lots of fun as well as showing younger readers that waiting for fun things to happen can mean we get the most out of them.

It’s also lots of fun and filled with humour, and starts in media res – in the middle of the story. This will draw readers in, because they will want to know how Roars and Walter got to that point after reading the first chapter which is full of action. From the get-go, readers will be laughing and wanting to run around with Roars and Walter. I liked the combination of text and images – there was a good balance for all readers, and can take young readers into longer stories. A series like this is engaging, fun, and a joy to read – something that a reader getting into books can immerse themselves in and take their time with, or a book that confident readers can read in between things, when they need something funny and light-hearted to enjoy. What a fantastic idea for a series! I hope this one does well.