I Need My Monster by Amanda Noll, Illustrated by Howard McWilliams
Such a gorgeous picture book! Last year Amanda at A Patchwork of Books was so enthusiastic about this book that I just knew I Need My Monster by Amanda Noll and illustrated by Howard McWilliams was something special long before I got my hands on it.
Ethan can’t go to sleep properly. Not when his resident under the bed monster, Gabe, has gone on a week-long fishing vacation. How would he ever go to sleep without Gabe’s familiar scary noises and his spooky green ooze? He missed his ragged breathing, his nose-whistling, and the scrabbling of his uncut claws. Luckily, he has a substitute monster appear under his bed. Unluckily, his panting wasn’t scary enough and he didn’t have claws. A second, third and fourth monster arrive but upon inspection none are as scary as Gabe and quickly dismissed.
Was I being too picky? NO.
I knew that my monster needed to be well-clawed and menacing.
The whole point of having a monster, after all, was to keep me in bed,
imagining all the scary stuff that could happen if I got out.
My boys love the monsters and are quick to fall into a fit of giggles over one particularly monster with a rather large tongue. I was a bit worried that my boys would be scared of monsters under the bed but no fear, it’s an adorable story of a rather unique friendship. Almost makes me wish I had my own monster under the bed.
A perfect read-a-loud book and illustrations to drool over. Seriously gorgeous illustrations. Highly recommend that you pick I Need My Monster up. It’s a beautifully spooky book full of monsterly fun!
Links of interest: Amanda Noll website, more book blogger reviews.
Genre: Fiction Picture Book, approx age 4-8.
Publisher: Flashlight Press. April 1, 2009.
Hardcover, 32 pages. ISBN 0979974623
Source: Review copy for 2009 Cybil’s nomination for which I was a panelist.
I Need My Monster is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.
Category: Book Reviews, Fiction, Picture & Board Books
Tags: Cybils 2009 picture book nomination, female author, Fiction, Halloween, I-L Title, M-P Author, published 2009, Publisher: Flashlight Press
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How neat. I literally just added this book recently to my wish list when I stumbled upon it for Oct reads. I just love the beautiful colors on the cover and of course it’s about a monster.
on October 15th, 2010 at 5:56 pmMy kids LOVE this book. We got it last year, and I was worried that they (then 3 and 1) would be frightened, but it was only giggles and more giggles. It’s in our Halloween/fall/generally spooky book basket right now.
on October 16th, 2010 at 7:44 amIt sounds like the point of the book is to make kids not be afraid. If the cover is any indication, the book is gorgeous!
on October 16th, 2010 at 8:32 amWe just picked this one up from the library yesterday! I can’t wait to read it to the boys!
on October 18th, 2010 at 7:49 am[...] Check out the full review here. [...]
on October 20th, 2010 at 6:12 amThanks for the great review. We posted a link to your review from the Flashlight Blog.
on October 20th, 2010 at 6:17 am