Marshmallow Pie the Cat Superstar is a very entertaining, hilariously egocentric character. We immediately warmed to Marshmallow Marmaduke Vanilla-Bean Sugar-Pie Fluffington-Fitz-Noodle (Marshmallow Pie for short) who belongs to a little girl called Amelia. Amelia is determined to make him into a cat superstar. But that is easier said than done…
The Story: When Amelia picks up a leaflet advertising auditions for an animal acting agency she decides to take Marshmallow Pie. She does her best to teach him some new tricks, makes him a business card and helps him find a special outfit but his audition is memorable for all the wrong reasons so Amelia leaves. After a few days Marshmallow Pie realises that Amelia is sad so he tries to find a way to make her happy.
Marshmallow Pie is incredibly egocentric – everything is about him and he takes great delight in misbehaving and not doing what Amelia wants him to do! He is particularly fussy about which colour Shrimp Crunchies he likes, has a secret stash behind the sofa and we think it’s hilarious that he watches his favourite TV show on an iPad! But after his audition doesn’t go to plan, Marshmallow Pie also learns to be sensitive to Amelia’s feelings and comes up with a plan to make her happy. The plan also leads to new opportunities for him as well as new friendships for him and Amelia – the story is just the start of new beginnings for them both…
Neighbourhood rivalry runs through the story as Marshmallow Pie has a challenging relationship with his downstairs neighbour, a dog called Buster. He loves to tease Buster, whose owner spoils him with the best accessories from the pet shop, Pawsitively Perfect, but Marshmallow Pie’s grievances against Buster also play a big part in his disastrous audition!
Clara’s illustrations are fun, full of action and add so much amusement to the story. There are so many that make us laugh! Marshmallow Pie’s range of expressions is hilarious – we love his disapproving look on the cover of the book! A cast of talented animals attend the audition including a skateboarding sausage dog and a fancy rat but our favourite animal illustration is of a rabbit called Daisy Darling.
Maps in books are always fascinating to look at and we absolutely love this one which shows all of Marshmallow Pie’s special places – his cardboard box is where he watches TV on his iPad!
This is the perfect book for a child who is transitioning from reading picture books to early chapter books. So much of the story can be deciphered through the pictures and with eight short chapters it isn’t an overwhelming read. Activity sheets to accompany the story can be downloaded from Harper Collins website.
Age Range: 5 +
Author / Illustrator: Clara Vulliamy
Marshmallow Pie the Cat Superstar is the first of a series of books. The second, Marshmallow Pie the Cat Superstar on TV, has also just been published.
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