Beano: Minnie’s Mission of Maximum Mischief by Craig Graham & Mike Stirling, illustrated by Laura Howell

Cover illustration by Laura Howell

There seem to be very few things that I enjoyed as a child that have survived through into the 2020’s but Dr Who, Lego and The Beano would most definitely be on that list. Where other childhood reads and activities have fallen by the wayside, those that have not just survived but have thrived have done so by reinventing themselves for the modern world.

In the case of The Beano, gone are the stereotypes and characters that would no longer be considered acceptable, replaced by new characters and stories that are more representative of today’s society – still with that subversive, slapstick humour I remember from my youth, but also more empathetic and with enormous appeal to all of our children.

Having shaken off her label as The Minx, Minnie is playing in the quarter final of the Super Epic Turbo Cricket European Tour of Mischief when we meet her and the rest of her team. Unimpressed both by cousin Dennis being team captain and the appearance of the rival team’s star player Whelan, Minnie determines to play her best but succeeds only in making a fool of herself before realising that she needs to play as part of the team and turning things around. Once back home, Minie cannot understand why her parents don’t appear to be delighted by her team’s victory and starts to plan a huge prank to cheer them both up.

At school the following Monday, Minnie is horrified when class teacher Miss Mistry announces that Whelan is joining the class and even more so when he joins their sports team. But when Minnie’s prank on her parents threatens to make things worse, she discovers that she and Whelan have more in common than she first thought – could he be just the friend she needs?

Minnie is just as much fun as she always was and young readers will love her anarchic behaviour – either alone, or with cousin Dennis – but the story is not all fun and games. When Minnie realises that her parents’ relationship is in trouble, she faces a future that is not what she anticipated – something that many young readers will empathise with and which is tackled very well here. Added into the mix to balance this out though are plenty of fart gags and some brilliant illustrations from Laura Howell to bring the plot to life wonderfully well, creating a great read for Year 3 upwards that will be just as popular in Year 6.

A wonderful Christmas stocking filler. Beano: Minnie’s Mission of Maximum Mischief is on sale now. Enormous thanks to Farshore Books for my gifted review copy.