Most kids love the unusual things in life. It’s about seeing what could be in the world around them. These fun monster books will be right up their alley.
Monster Manners
written by Joanna Cole, illustrated by Jared Lee
published by Scholastic
Scholastic Reader (level 3)
Rosie Monster looked like the perfect little monster. Her only problem? She had terrible manners, terrible monster manners. She was too friendly, too polite, too nice. Rosie asked her friend Prunella to teach her how to be a better monster. Prunella shows Rosie how to make monster faces, how to order in a restaurant, even how to behave when visiting friends, but Rosie’s manners don’t improve. Then something occurs that only Rosie’s not so monster manners can solve and her parents realize they’re lucky to have her, just the way she is. Children will enjoy this mixed-up manners tale and the delightfully rude lessons taught by Prunella. There’s a page of fluency words at the end of the book for young readers. *Reviewed by Carrie Anne
Clyde Monster
written by Robert L. Crowe, illustrated by Kay Chorao
published by Puffin
picture book (age 2-5)
Clyde was young but growing. He loved his mom and dad. When not at home he loved to spend his day in the forest doing summersaults. But when it came time to go to bed Clyde was afraid, afraid of the dark, afraid of people. You see, Clyde is a little monster who is afraid of people hiding in his room, under his bed, behind his chair, waiting to scare him. This is a wonderful tale of childhood fears of the dark. As parents, we know that monsters aren’t real, but that doesn’t make our children’s fear of them any easier. Clyde and his family discuss his fears: “Would you ever hide in the dark under a bed or in a closet to scare a human boy or girl? Of course not! exclaimed Clyde. The monster perspective makes this story more approachable to discuss your own child’s nighttime fears. *Reviewed by Carrie Anne
Go Away, Big Green Monster
written & illustrated by Ed Emberley
published by Little Brown
picture book (age 3-8)
A Caldecott Medal winner
Through the use of die-cut pages, a scary monster is created page by page. But once the monster is complete the reader tells it You don’t scare me! So go away Now each page removes a piece of the scary monster until the end and don’t come back. As the child creates and then destroys the monster in the book, page by page, they see that the monster isn’t as scary as they thought. This great interactive approach gives children control of the monster and hopefully helps them to understand and control their own fears. *Reviewed by Carrie Anne
“The Very Worst Monster” by Pat Hutchins will give you and your child a good laugh. Hazel is a horrible monster but all her family is so busy oohing and awing about how horrid her baby brother is no one notices her. This is a cute story about siblings but these siblings are competing to be the very worst monster! My son thought the monster’s antics were hilarious and I thought the sentiment about siblings was sweet. Cute book!
Big Lips and Hairy Arms
written by Jean Jackson, illustrated by Vera Rosenberry
published by DK Publishing
picture book (age 4-8)
Two monster friends, Nelson and Thorndike, are enjoying a cold and windy evening together when they are interrupted by a mysterious phone call: “I have big lips and hairy arms, and I’m only five blocks away!”The two friends try to distract themselves with caterpillar crisps and a game of Pin the Teeth on the dragon, but as the calls continue, with the caller getting closer to the house, they become a little worried. In the end, everyone is pleasantly surprised when the mystery caller is revealed. Children will enjoy the suspense and delight when the mystery guest is revealed. be . The colorful illustrations aid in keeping the story from getting too scary. * Reviewed by Carrie Anne
“Twelve Terrible Things” by Marty Kelley is horrifying to me, yet my son loves this book. He must have slipped it in our library bag because I have no recollection of choosing this book, and I didn’t pre-read it when we got home. By then it was too late, my son was hooked on the dark humor this book delivers. The book offers up 12 terrible things, like a scary clown, a goldfish on its way down the toilet and monsters under the bed. The illustrations are all from the reader’s viewpoint so the scary things are looking right at you! Easily scared, I can’t watch horror film trailers without getting nightmares. I screamed twice reading this, my son just wanted “more more!”. I really don’t recommend this book for young kids although some older ones who like scary things will love it.
My Monster Mama Loves Me So” by Laura Leuck is more my kind of monster book for kids. Imaginative illustrations by Mark Buehner kept my little man pointing out spiders, bats, and owls and he loved counting the extra eyes and arms on the monsters. The story is really sweet too. It’s all the things a mama monster does throughout the day with her little monster. It’s a sweet message about how love can be an action as well as a feeling!
“My Friend Monster” by Elanor Taylor is a sweet and not at all scary look at a friendship between a little fox and the monster who lives under his bed. The monster was left behind by a previous owner of the house that the little fox moves into. This is a sad monster but with a little time and patience the monster and the little fox make new friends and all is well. The monster even gets his own bed in the little fox’s bedroom so he doesn’t have to live under the bed anymore.
“When A Monster is Born” by Sean Taylor is funny, my son didn’t find it as funny as I did but he still laughed and didn’t seem scared any of it. The story is about a monster and all the life changing choices he faces every day like whether to eat a principal or run through a wall of a school. This book feels like a choose your own adventure book, it’s fun, repetitive and silly. There is quite a bit of talk about monsters eating people, though nothing too gory.
Leonardo the Terrible Monster
written & illustrated by Mo Willems
published by Hyperion Books for Children
picture book (age 4-8)
Leonardo is a terrible monster. His attempts to scare people only elicits giggles. Then Leonardo has an idea. He decides he’s going to find the most scaredy-cat kid in the whole world and scare the tuna salad out of him. But when he does, he doesn’t feel so great. Now he has a new idea, instead of being a terrible monster he will be a wonderful friend. This is another wonderful tale by Mo Willems. The large book format allows for great use of space around his images and words. Mo Willems has the ability to write wonderful children stories that entertain both children and adults alike. * Review by Carrie Anne
“Go To Bed Monster” by Natasha Wing is a book anyone who’s ever struggled with bedtime will instantly relate to. The little girl in the book Lucy isn’t sleepy so she draws a monster but soon his refusal to go to bed even after she is sleepy backfires. I like this book and despite his refusal to believe the monster was a monster, not a dinosaur my son really likes this book and it got read 5 times today!
What monster books do your children love to read? Comment below or share on my Facebook page!
For more quick tips on helping your child learn to read check out my book; Raising A Rock-Star Reader. It is packed with fun ideas for families, book lists, and advice for parents.
Annie says
Have you seen There Was An Old Monster? by Rebecca Emberly? There is also a song you can download for free to go with it (URL in the book):
http://www.amazon.com/There-Was-Monster-Rebecca-Emberley/dp/054510145X
Linda White says
How about One Hungry Monster, can’t remember the author but it is illustrated by Mercer Mayer, a great counting book about a boy and a houseful of monsters and how he gets rid of them, very funny! (we read it ’til it fell apart, need a new one!). And-
Jeremy Draws a Monster is cute about a boy who never leaves his room, and one day he draws a monster, who is hungry and bored. So Jeremy ends up leaving his room and eventually figures out how to get rid of his monster!