My Teacher is a Monster! (No, I Am Not.) by Peter Brown

My Teacher is a Monster! (No, I Am Not.) by Peter Brown
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Rating: 5 stars

Here's another great book by author/illustrator Peter Brown that teaches kids that there is sometimes more to a person than what you see at first...

Bobby gets straight to the point: "My teacher is a monster." We readers can already tell by the great illustration by the uber-talented Peter Brown. Mrs. Kirby looks all right from the neck down in a prim, old-fashioned dress. But her head...yowzah! Yup, definitely a monster with those snaggly teeth and bumpy skin and ferociously mean, unamused, constantly grumpy eyes.

"ROBERT!" Mrs. Kirby roars at him when he makes a paper airplane.

Bobby is appropriately frightened of her, so when he sees her at the park one day, he completely freaks out.

Gasp! (I love it when they first spot each other a the park.)

Yet he knows he can't be rude. So he raises his hand to being a hilariously awkward conversation pointing out how strange it is to see her out of school. Mrs. Kirby agrees, and they sit in awkward silence.

Until something happens that changes their relationship and view of each other forever.

A gust of wind blows off her hat, and she frets and worries and nearly cries as the hat is near and dear to her. They both chase it this way and that, but Bobby is the one that catches it.

"Oh, Bobby! You are my hero!" Mrs. Kirby exclaims.

They both freeze by the un-monster-like gratitude that just happened, but they can't undo what was done and said, so they begin to have a less awkward, more lovely day at the park as each shows the other what they like to do there, when alone. As they play together, Bobby sees her in a new light, sees different sides of her he's never seen before. Through the illustrations, as Bobby gets to know her, and she gets to know him, too, Mrs. Kirby transforms from a monster to a normal human.

(Except she's still monster-like when he makes paper airplanes in class, which I completely understand. We all have a finite amount of patience...or at least I do...!)

This book has been out for quite some time so you've probably already seen it before. I even listened to an interview when author/illustrator Peter Brown talked about the process of making the book, and about how he had to be careful when he went on author visits to schools because, well, he didn't want to plant the idea in kids' heads that their teachers were, in fact, monsters!

This is a fantastic book with a great lesson with illustrations both funny and spot-on. Peter Brown has done it again! (To see all of my reviews of his books, click HERE.)

Mr. Tiger Goes Wild by Peter Brown

Mr. Tiger Goes Wild by Peter Brown

Rating: 4.5 stars

Here's a brand-new book for ya.  I actually went to a bookstore to wander around the children's section and look for newly published, fall, and Halloween books.  I found a whole bunch of 'em, including this one that I purchased for a little friend who turns three on Saturday.

It.  Is.  GREAT!

Mr. Tiger lives in a busy, animal-filled town and is "bored of being proper."  Smiling is out of the question; he can only muster a stern look of frustration.  (The word "bored" is the only reason this book doesn't get 5 stars.  I know, I know...picky, picky me.)  He just can't be himself in his stuffy top hat and tight suit; he is unhappy. But Mr. Tiger finally gets the nerve to loosen up, have a little fun, start going a little wild.  He starts small: he stops walking on two feet and goes back to a primal four.  He then starts chasing (gasp!) children.  He roars on park benches.  He leaps acrobatically instead of stiffly sauntering.

Everyone was perfectly fine with the way things were.
Everyone but Mr. Tiger.

After he takes his clothes off (ha!), the still-stuffy townspeople suggest he go live in the wilderness, if he's going to be wild.  So, happily, he does.  It is beautiful there, and he has a grand time.

For a little while.

Then he gets lonely and realizes that he misses people.  As my philosopher-dad would say, he knows he's got to live as an individual, but in society; he's got to find the right balance of living true to himself, but also within the rules.  He's welcomed back to his hometown, where he finds "that things are beginning to change."  Many animals have abandoned two-legged walking in favor of four-legged bounding.

Mr. Tiger became wilder each day.

By the end, a feeling-more-free Mr. Tiger is smiling in an aloha shirt.

I don't just like this book because, coincidentally, two days before I discovered it I also discovered Katie Perry's song "Roar"(yup, I linked you to the song with lyrics because you know me, I can't remember the words to even my favorite songs).  And, two days after discovering this book, my boys and I drove home listening to said catchy song, had it turned up full blast, and roared like fools (who also think we are champions).  Or like fool tigers maybe.

No, I like this book because everyone should read it, and everyone should learn from the message of the succinct and talented author-illustrator Peter Brown.  (I like his stuff, but I think this is his best book by far.)  Especially grown-ups who feel like they live in a stuffy world, who feel pressured to look and act a certain way.  We should all remain a little wild, I think, for our own soul's sake but also so to be a good example for our kids (maybe that will give some of us a little inspiration to go a little wild).  By daring to be a little unique, I'd like to show them that they, too, can dare to be a little unique.

May we all roar more!

The Curious Garden by Peter Brown

The Curious Garden by Peter Brown

Rating: 4.5 blooming stars

Our family has a serendipitous relationship with Peter Brown.  On one of our first trips to the library, Ben grabbed a random book off of the shelf.  That book was The Flight of the Dodo; the entire book is about birds pooping from the sky.  Ok, not entirely, but I just didn't get it.  I thought that the author needed about five more books through which he could mature...I also thought it was the first book I'd read where the illustrator should stick to illustrating.  Know your strengths and weaknesses, right?  Well, I was wrong on that one.

Fast forward about six months.  Lorelei, Ben, and I were at a big ol' bookstore, trying to find a book for Lorelei's friend who was undergoing surgery that day.  I wanted to find an inspiring book that would captivate her attention while her body recovered.  I came across The Curious Garden, totally by luck.  (It seems like large book stores are frustrating places to find good children's books.  They stock what sells, rather than the gems that many people don't know about.  Bring back the local little shops!  I'd have to drive 30 minutes to get to the closest one!  Sigh.  Maybe in my next life.  Or do I just want to be Meg Ryan in "You've Got Mail"?)  I picked it up, even though the last Peter Brown book I picked up reminded me too much of my diaper-changing day job.

Anyway, Peter Brown definitely got it right this time.  Inspired by a true story, the book is about curious little, red-headed Liam who lives in a dark, dreary city and decides to add some green to it.  He finds a sad, struggling little garden and decides to take care of it.  Eventually, the gray city becomes alive with green.  The illustrations are just wonderful--I was truly swept away in them. 

I think that I'd be a fan of the book even if the story was just ok and the illustrations were just fine.  It has the word curious in it.  I want Lorelei and Ben to know that word inside and out!  And, like little Liam, I want them to act on their curiosity and maybe just maybe they'll add a little bit of joy to the environments in which they evolve.  My fingers are crossed!

Good job, Peter Brown!