Papertoy Monsters

Gr 5—7—Featuring designs from 25 paper engineers, these 50 punch-out, fold, and glue-together models will supply modestly dexterous monster lovers with an army of roughly hand-sized, garishly colored grues, leering uglies, creepy-crawlies, and toothy sentient food. Grouped by type, the models range from a cheerleader Medusa to box-headed mummy rising out of a coffin, from a green mutant rat named Nom Nom to teacher-turned-mad-scientist Leonard Rottenbottom and a fetid lunchbox monster, Yucky Chuck. Each one comes with assembly instructions, a paragraph of background "information," a large photo of the finished model and, fitting on a single sheet of stiff card stock, the required body parts. Glue and a spoon or pencil for rounding and to hold down tabs until the adhesive sets are the only required tools. For craftier sorts, a final "create your own" section offers uncolored punch-out versions of 10 entries, and on the closing pages each designer supplies a personal statement. Though best considered a gift item, this could also serve as a source for display material or a collective class project.—John Peters, formerly at New York Public Library