Masher

Description

What would you do if you accidentally created a barking-mad glove puppet, with sharp teeth, a fierce attitude and an unpredictable mouth? A boy and a fast-talking terrier glove puppet form a hilarious double act in this warm and funny illustrated novel for readers eight years and older. Twelve-year-old Freddie Foxworthy just wants to do arts and crafts. He finds them a lot easier to deal with than his peers, and far more rewarding. His latest project is to create the perfect glove puppet from papier-mache. But when ashes from his metalhead neighbour's deceased bull terrier get into the mix, he finds he has accidentally made a growling puppet with an unpredictable mouth! Freddie has an overload of mysteries to solve - who is to blame for the late Masher's death? Was Masher responsible for the disappearance of a neighbourhood cat? And, most of all, is Masher actually for real? Surely Freddie couldn't be causing all this chaos himself? Masher is acclaimed author, illustrator and arts-and-crafts guru Fifi Colston's warm and funny novel about animal companions, imaginary friends, perceived enemies, and finding your happy place. No dogs or papier-mache were harmed in the making of this book.

Fifi Colston is a straight-up creative with her fingers in many arty pies. She is an award-winning junior-fiction novelist and illustrator of more than 30 children's books, a poet and a television presenter of arts and crafts - firstly on TVNZ's 'What Now' and then 'The Good Morning Show'. She has been creating World of Wearable Arts designs with 26 category entries in 24 years and has been a finalist and an award-winner many times over. She has also worked with Weta Workshop, 3 Foot 7 Productions, Pukeko Pictures and The Production Shed in the New Zealand TV and film industry as a costumier, puppet maker and illustrator and trainee scriptwriter. In between writing and creating, Fifi enjoys visiting schools and community groups, inspiring budding artists and writers through workshops in creative process.