Fluff: Mess Up!
by Matt Stanton
(ABC Books)
“ ‘Hello? Is this Organised Grime?’ Fluff says into the phone. ‘I’m looking for someone to clean our caravan. Yes, it’s urgent. There’s been an accidental food fight and … well, we have a fish with a poop problem.’ ” (Fluff: Mess Up!)
Fluff: Mess Up! by Matt Stanton is shortlisted for the 2025 CBCA Book of the Year: Younger Readers.
Congratulations on Fluff: Mess Up! being shortlisted by the CBCA, Matt, and thank you for speaking to Joy in Books at Paperbark Words blog.
Author Interview: Matt Stanton
Your books are incredibly popular. Which one ignited your career? Which book or series is your most popular?
Thank you. I try to make all my books as accessible to kids as possible, particularly kids who don’t normally consider themselves readers. Funny Kid is the series that has reached the most kids. It’s also the series with the most books (14 and counting).
What do you think it is about Fluff: Mess Up! that has attracted the attention of the CBCA judges this year?
With Fluff, I’m trying to create bridges for kids between picture books and novels. I don’t believe that in order to do that you need to shout the loudest. Sometimes books in this space can be visually overwhelming and I wanted to create something that could be shared between adults and children and have depth and heart alongside the humour.
What impact has being a shortlisted CBCA book had on you or the book so far?
My hope is that it is helping kids and teachers discover the series. There are so many amazing books out there at the moment and anything that aids people in discovering a new series is a great thing for reading.
What genre is the book?
The genre is humour, although I like books with depth of character so I try to achieve that in all my novel writing.
Why have you chosen Gilbert and Fluff as your main characters? How would you describe their relationship?
Childhood can be lonely and friendship is complicated. Gilbert finds in Fluff a best friend who never leaves. This is meaningful to Gilbert as he adjusts to life after his dad has left. Play can be a great way to process difficult things in life and Fluff is a series all about that.
What is something funny about them or what happens to them? What type of humour is this?
Gilbert and Fluff try to get out of cleaning up their own mess and so they do what lots of us would love to do – they outsource their chores. However it turns out, avoiding tough things has a tendency to make the tough things bigger. I hope kids (and adults) find this humour to be relatable.
Which minor character would you like to find out more about? Why?
I actually love Gilbert’s mum. She’s a great mum managing some very difficult situations and she is finding ways to parent that allow her kids to still be kids. I really admire that about her.
How does Fluff: Mess Up! continue on from Fluff: Bullies Beware! book 1 in the series?
The Fluff books (there are three) can be read in any order. In fact, Mess Up! Is the second book in the series but the one I wrote first. I like to make books that stand alone within a series so that readers can enter the world of the characters through which ever book is the most available to them.
What is a new development in this book?
In every book Gilbert tells a different imagined story about why his Dad doesn’t live with them anymore. It’s only by reading more than one book that you realise Gilbert is using his imagination to deal with a more difficult truth.
What is a deeper layer or source of further depth in the story?
A theme in many of my books is that our imaginations can be a tool in our healing. A rich inner life can help us with our outer life. It’s somewhere we can play, create and connect.
What is the most cringeable part of the story?
Probably the part where the giant rabbit throws a baby.
The most outrageous or hyperbolic?
Fluff and Gilbert end up having to start their own cleaning business, which grows to such astronomical heights that they end up with a fleet of jumbo jets but nowhere to park them.
The book is generously illustrated. How would you describe your style?
My illustration style focuses on character and the way characters are revealed through facial expressions and movement. I love the tender humour of artists like Bill Watterson and Charles Schulz and I am indebted to their influence on my work.
Your favourite smoothie?
Mango.
What is one way you would suggest using Fluff: Mess Up! in schools?
I use Fluff in schools to explore character creation. I encourage students to create an imaginary friend for themselves, explore different aspects of the character they’ve created and then add them into stories of students’ real life experiences. This opens up some interesting and fresh creative spaces in their writing.
What’s a sneak peak into the next book in the series?
In Fluff Unstoppable Gilbert is desperate to win at something and so Fluff convinces him to join an exercise group for senior citizens. It’s a funny story about sport, competition and what the elderly in our community can teach us about life and fun.
paperbarkwords.blog 
One thought on “Fluff: Mess Up! by Matt Stanton”