Ancient Legends Classical Myths Dragons and Serpents Ferocious Giants Half Man, Half Monster Movie Monsters Bloodsucking Beasts Urban Myths and Legendary Creatures

Gr 4—7—In this examination of a mix of characters from pop-culture, folklore, and history, vague phrasing allows for misinterpretation. Sometimes the monster's fictional status is confirmed in phrases such as "Legend has long had it…" (Urban Myths). Other times the phrasing reads more like a biography, as in the spread in Bloodsucking Beasts on Edward Cullen, of the "Twilight" books and movies: "Edward and his family live in the small town of Forks, Washington, where it is often cloudy" and "Edward's favorite [prey] is the mountain lion, but his brother Emmett prefers grizzly bear." Nowhere will readers learn that the origin of the character is in Stephenie Meyer's work. Another problem is the inclusion of characters that belong to the pop-culture of an audience older than that of the books. Jason from the "Friday the 13th" franchise and Hannibal Lecter from "Silence of the Lambs" each feature in Movie Monsters, for example. In addition, the books' cartoon drawings are flawed by excess depictions of blood, mucus, and drool.