Monsters, Mind Your Manners!

PreS-Gr 1—In rhyming prose, Spurr describes the rude ways in which monsters conduct themselves. From drawing on the walls to hogging the entire seat on the bus, they create pandemonium everywhere they go. "With mouths wide open, MONSTERS chew./Yuck! Who wants to see that goo!/MONSTERS do not know it's rude/to start a battle with their food." But they miss out when they put up a fight at bedtime, for "that's when the world's best books are read!" The boys and girls pictured look on with astonishment at all the terrible behavior. It is they who enjoy a cozy bedtime story with Dad while the monsters lurk behind them jealously. The text provides a good assortment of common behavior issues for exasperated adults to discuss with young children. Scales's comically rendered monsters enhance the story's humorous element, although the unpolished mix of handpainted and computer imagery is distracting. Digitally blurred to indicate motion and left rough around the edges, the artwork brings to mind a frozen animated TV show. Though the text is palatable, the illustrations may not be to everyone's liking, rendering this work less appealing to a general audience than Jane Yolen's "Dinosaur" books (Scholastic/Blue Sky).—Jayne Damron, Farmington Community Library, MI