Rating: 4 stars
I can't believe Lorelei likes this book. I actually checked it out from the library because I was curious about a book that would encourage the idea that monsters are under the bed. I hid it from the kids for a week or two, but they found it on the dining room table. I need a better hiding spot.
Here's the gist of the story: The little boy you see peeking under his bed is looking for his monster, but instead he finds a note: "Gone fishing. Back in a week. Gabe." A week! Without a monster!? The little boy can't sleep without a monster for a whole week! So he calls on (the monster world?!) and five monsters appear, one at a time, to "interview" for the position. The little boy finds fault with each of them: The first doesn't have scary claws, the second paints his fingernails, the third is a girl (Lorelei's favorite line: "Boy monsters are for boys and girl monsters are for girls!"), and the fourth is too funny to be scary. Finally, Gabe reappears and, after some threats to eat his toes if he lets them fall to the floor, the little boy drifts off into a contented sleep.
The author got the idea for the book when her fourth child was born. Her third child just wouldn't go to bed, and, during what she called "not her finest parenting moment," she wished that she could put a monster under her third child's bed so that she'd stay put. I love that the author is from Spanaway, Washington, a little town sorta near Tacoma, on the way to my beloved Mount Rainier. We have dear friends in Spanaway. I wonder if they have ever run into Amanda Noll? I'll have to ask!
The illustrations look so lush! I can't wait to read this; it sounds great. And I can totally see why Lorelei finds THAT line so funny; the truth is often funny ;)
ReplyDeleteWe LOVE this book and haven't read it in a while, thanks for the reminder!
ReplyDeleteI'm a school librarian. I read this to students first thru sixth and they loved it.
ReplyDelete