Ten year old Milly McCarthy lives in Cork with her mam and dad, younger brothers Ryan and Zack and her baby sister. She’s a lovable, confident, feisty character and her adventures make us laugh.
These fast paced, action packed stories are told by Milly as she shares her experiences of familiar situations in an inimitable, chatty style. We meet her classmates, her best friend Laura and we love her long-suffering Dad! Whether at school, home or dance class, Milly plunges herself into everything with 100% enthusiasm which often gets her into trouble!
Karen Harte’s hilarious illustrations are on every page and support the easy to read text which includes a variety of font sizes and capital letters for emphasis. The illustrations include text messages as well as text boxes and speech bubbles – the books are perfect for beginner chapter book readers.
Milly McCarthy is a Complete Catastrophe
Milly’s class enter an Irish Climate Heroes competition and win first prize – a trip to Rota Wildlife Park. It’s an eventful day and Milly manages to get herself into trouble with a peacock and a baby giraffe before causing chaos in the butterfly house. There’s even more chaos when they visit Monkey Island but surely nothing can go wrong in the Education Centre…
But the journey home is eventful as they are chased by one of the park rangers who tells Milly’s teacher, Múinteoir Emer, that there’s an extra bus passenger!
We love the idea that Milly and her classmates come up with for their competition entry and the way that they work together. Milly’s enthusiasm for the animals at the park is infectious and we love the way that she shares what she learns. It’s impossible to share all the incidents in the story that made us laugh – there are so many – but we laughed out loud at the white poodle and the parcel and love what Milly packed into her rucksack for the trip!
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Milly McCarthy and the Irish Dancing Disaster
When Abbie Horgan brings her Irish dancing medal to school, Milly decides that she wants to become a World Champion Irish dancer. After convincing Dad to pay for lessons Milly learns the steps then competes in her first class feis (competition).
Milly becomes so addicted to dancing that she practises everywhere! At Milly’s next feis Abbie injures herself so at the last minute Milly dances in her place. It’s an important dance that the school has won for the last two years and they need to win again. Milly knows all the steps so what could possibly go wrong?!
Our daughter is an Irish dancer and we both loved reading about Milly’s experiences. Thankfully the competitions we’ve attended have been a lot less eventful than Milly’s but they’re not without nerves and drama. There were so many incidences that made us laugh – the bun wig debacle, the too big shoes and the sick next to the stage (that does happen). We love the dress illustrations and felt sorry for the dance teacher, Ms O’Brien. We hope her therapy helps!
Milly McCarthy is a fabulously likeable heroine who inadvertently manages to turn everyday situations into complete disasters. We can’t wait to read her next adventure – Milly McCarthy and the Sports Day Shambles.
Age Range: 5+
Author: Leona Forde / Illustrator: Karen Harte
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