You guys!
We made it to 31 days!
I bet everyone here has read this book.
I got it for review way back in the day.
By back in the day I mean before the summer.
and AH!
I LOVED it!
I knew I wanted to save the review for 31 in 31,
and thought I’d put it here, on the last day.
Not cuz it’s Halloweeny.
Yes, it has monsters, but monsters are a year round thing people!
But because I wanted to end with a BOO! and a SCARE! and a BANG!
and launch you right into PiBoIdMo,
which is the snazziest of ideas for awesome from Tara Lazar,
who wrote this book!
I have to admit;
I would have probably never gone to The Monstore to by a monster
with the express purpose of getting my younger sibling away from me.
There’s four of us in our family, and we never fought.
Still haven’t.
But I would have loved the monsters for all their other uses anyway!
AND
I’m giving away a copy of The Monstore!
See, I got it for review,
but bought one too.
Gotta support those authors!
“But I already have one!” you say.
“GREAT!” I say, “Then give it away as a gift!”
If you don’t have any friends who would appreciate a picture book as a gift,
I say you’re hanging out with the wrong crowd!
ANYWAY…
on to the book!
Title: The Monstore
Published by: Aladdin, Simon and Schuster, 2013
Written by: Tara Lazar
Illustrated by: James Burks
Word Count: 542
Pages: 32
In one word: Deliciously monsterish!
In one sentence: When Zach’s plan to get monsters to frighten his little sister, his plan backfires, and he can’t even take the monsters back!
Favorite pages:
Likes:
- The delicious language. Seriously, so much alliteration and assonance!
- I’m going to give you a few:
- squirmy worms
- the right to a refund
- A monster threesome is more gruesome than a twosome
- No more sneaky sister snooping, sleepwalking, or snatching his stuff
- tiara terror
- creepy creak
- The illustrations really pop off the page
- kids will go crazy dreaming up what the Monstore 2 looks like!
- It reads through quickly
- So many monsters!
- How some parts are illustrated like panels of a graphic novel!
Learns:
- Siblings not getting along is no new territory. In fact, it’s a universal truth practically! So do it in a fun way and you’ve got a book everyone can relate to!
- Paying attention to every word really pays off (see alliteration and assonance above!)
- Monsters are NOT just for Halloween. Or just for boys 🙂
You know how you’ll be entered to win;
just leave a comment about what you read!
I think the drawing will be Saturday or Sunday;
I’ll be traveling most of the day today after work,
and again tomorrow.
Can you say Halloween in the airport?
I’m dressing up 🙂
But don’t forget PiBoIdMo and NaNoWriMo start tomorrow!
Another year of trying to pull off both!
Happy Halloween everyone!
KE and SS
My kids and I enjoyed The Monstore!
Thanks for doing this challenge, Kathy Ellen!
I read You Will Be My Friend by Peter Brown.
What a great book for Halloween and the final day of Pre-PiBoIdMo!
I read ONE COOL FRIEND by Toni Buzzeo, illustrated by David Small. My favorite part of that book is the Dad’s tortoise. 🙂
The Monstore is so fitting to be the last book for this challenge. Thanks so much for hosting this Kathy! It has been a treat to participate. I read My Grandma Lived in Gooligulch by Graeme Base. Grandma lives in the middle of nowhere somewhere on Australia and tames wild animals like wombats and kangaroos. The best part is that it rhymes. Now getting ready for PiBoIdMo.
I read “Big Bad Bunny” by Franny Billingsley. I has a bit of a Halloween theme as Big Bad Bunny is really a mouse named Baby Boo Boo. I have heard of children being named Baby and still being called that as adults. I know it is a cultural thing, but it made me want to share this book with them.
This book is cute and sweet and funny. It is a great read aloud book.
And as of today, I have reached 150 books read this year. My goal is 200, which I know is doable. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping to get me back on track. I have looked forward to the daily email messages.
My Grandma was named Babe at birth because she was the youngest and they could not think of a name right away 🙂 She eventually had a formal name too but the nickname Babe stuck!
Today, I read, GOODNIGHT GOON. A beloved classic gets a kind-hearted send up in this utterly monsterized parody; energetic art and a hilarious text.
This was perfect for Halloween written in rhyme.
The Monstore is a great book! Today I read SEA MONSTER’S FIRST DAY by Kate Messner it’s a good story to show kids how to solve their problems, and my favorite parts are the speech bubbles with hilarious lines!
Thank you, Kathy Ellen, for 31 in 31–it’s been so fun it makes me always want to read a picture book a day!
Today I read Chalk by Bill Thomson. It is a wordless book and it is absolutely wonderful! The story is so magical and the illustrations are gorgeous. Can you tell I’m in love with this book? Anyway, thank you so much for doing this challenge Kathy Ellen. It was a lot of fun!
“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” by William Joyce. Illustrated by William Joyce and Joe Bluhm. It was fun this month!
I read a favorite Halloween themed book (but great year-round!) “Popcorn”, written and illustrated by Frank Asch. A big favorite when I was growing up, and now a favorite of my children too.
Kathy Ellen, thank you for hosting this fun challenge! I’ve enjoyed thinking about what I respond to and enjoy in a picture book.
I’m a day late, but I wanted to thank you, Kathy, for doing this. I didn’t hit every day, but I did most days, and it was a great prelude to PiBoIdMo.
My book was finally reading Creepy Carrots. I heard so many great things about it and wanted to read it for a long time. It was well worth the wait.
Same time next year?