Written by Libby Hamilton
Illustrated by Jonny Duddle
and Aleksei Bitskoff
and Aleksei Bitskoff
Templar, 2011
$17.99, ages 5-8, 20 pages
As the scariest night of all nights approaches, here's a book to confirm your children's worst fears: the existence of monsters all around them.
Dr. Thomas Jelly, the book's fictional narrator, warns readers, "Don't be fooled," things do go bump in the night and all those sensible people who claim they don't, had better wise up fast…or else.
Just look at the bite taken out of the cover of Jelly's book -- and what about that big jiggling eye at the top? If that's not enough, Jelly offers plenty of flaps and fold-outs to get skin tingling (or should we say, get readers giggling?).
But first, read Jelly's intro, a taped note on the title page. The important phrase to hone in on: "Bravery is overrated." Jelly's advice: The moment readers sense a monster, high-tail it out of wherever they are. Hindsight, after all, is useless if they've been eaten.
Jelly's first spread shows that monsters are especially rampant in the home. Sorry Mom and Dad, they really do live under the bed, not to mention in your refrigerator, under sofa cushions, in toilet bowls, behind wall portraits, in the oven, in bubble baths and of course, in your children's closet.
So what can readers do to avoid getting drooled on or forbid, being eaten? Well, first they need to know how to spot monsters and Jelly's sagest advice: Listen to your gut and it will guide you.
If readers are feeling queasy, Jelly says, that's probably monster breath they're smelling. And if they're having a bad day, they should consider that a monster has caused it, even if they don't want to believe it. After all, denial is the first step to becoming a monster's lunch.
Jelly then offers a few examples of annoying monsters. Among them: the bare-branched Thievintree, which likes to snatch scarves and stick them out of reach, and the Mail O'Masshy that lives i
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