Still climbing the treehouse at 65

Paula Xiberras

While 65 might be considered a reasonable age to retire for some, for Andy Griffith’s treehouse franchise it’s a chance to reflect and realise that there is a whole lot more renovating to do at the tree house and to take that promotion up to yet another level in the next installment.

Right now we are on storey 65 and Andy Griffiths as always is continually climbing the topsy turvey, language ladder of that continually growing tree house and he’s also breaking the rules in his illogical land of literature and the kids love it. They love it because it is child centred and in its realm of a physical world with few constraints, although within legal parameters, (as Andy says any bad behaviour has its consequences) the possibilities are endless, hence the storeys continually being added to the already heavily laden tree house that has proved a fruitful franchise for Andy and his illustrator Terry..

In the 65th instalment Andy has his protagonists wandering through ‘time and space’ encountering ‘alternative versions of themselves’.

The 65th story treehouse resonates with children because among other goodies it has, as the blurb says, it has every child’s dream ‘a birthday room where it’s always your birthday.

Andy is assisted as always with long term collaborator and illustrator Terry Denton because ‘their ideas feed off each other’ and the third member of their creative team, Andys wife Jill.

And for all aspiring authors where does Andy look for inspiration for his books? Well, Andy watches ‘great comedy’ and reads ‘funny books’.

The 65th Storey Treehouse is out now published by Pan Macmillan.