The illustrations are brilliant in How to Catch a Monster, AKA, Confronting Your Fears and Discovering They’re Not as Scary as You Thought. Okay, so I wasn’t consulted during the naming of this book, thank goodness! So, the illustrations. They’re bright, colourful, detailed, kind of quirky and very engaging. I loved them!
The illustrations are brilliant in How to Catch a Monster, AKA, Confronting Your Fears and Discovering They’re Not as Scary as You Thought. Okay, so I wasn’t consulted during the naming of this book, thank goodness! So, the illustrations. They’re bright, colourful, detailed, kind of quirky and very engaging. I loved them!
The story is told in rhymes. Our main character has secured the role of ninja master in the school play so they’re feeling brave. Dressed in full ninja garb and with a backpack filled to the brim with tricks and traps, hero ninja kid (whose gender is never identified and I love this!) sets off to confront their monster. Yep, it’s a literal monster that hides in their closet.
Instead of finding something that belongs in your nightmares, hero ninja kid not only overcomes their fear but makes a new friend. Aww! There’s even some fart humour with a surprise as our monster’s farts smell like strawberries and lime.
My favourite element was the wind up shark that came out of the backpack of tricks but this is me we’re talking about. It was always going to be the shark. 🦈 😊
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
There’s a monster in my closet, with claws, and teeth, and hair, and tonight, I’m going to scare him! He lives just right through there …
Get ready to laugh as a young ninja heads into the closet to meet the monster that’s been so scary night after night! But what if things aren’t what they seem and our monster isn’t scary at all? What if our ninja hero is about to make a friend of strangest sort?
If you dare to travel beyond the closet door and into the land of the monsters … you might just find the very best reward of all. But with robots, lava pie, and a smattering of traps – catching monsters is no easy business!
Is there a monster living in your closet? Are you brave enough to catch him? Parents and children will love sharing this fun and inventive picture book, which reminds us that things aren’t always as scary as they seem.
Like many others I have a fairly significant case of dentophobia. My childhood dentist, in their infinite wisdom, told me that because I have deep crevasses in my teeth it was inevitable that I’d end up with a mouthful of fillings regardless of how well I brushed. This was after they’d already tortured treated me throughout my childhood, pulling all of my stubborn baby teeth that refused to leave me.
So, while this is a children’s book and I was reading it with that in mind, part of me was also keen to see if it had any wisdom to share with someone who hasn’t been to a dentist since their wisdom teeth were removed. I’m no closer to making a dental appointment now than I was before reading this book.
I liked the idea of applying dental fears to dinosaurs because dinosaurs make everything better, but overall the book just didn’t work for me. The rhyming worked sometimes and at other times it felt forced, for example, rhyming toothpick with picnic.
The pictures were cute and colourful. There’s a dinosaur with braces.
A family sit together munching on their lunch during a picnic with the sun smiling overhead. There’s even a dinosaur in need of dentures, wrinkly mouth and all.
There’s some facts about each dinosaur featured in the book at the end and also a glossary of toothy terms.
I thought it might be me being picky so I read it to my mother, who worked as a dental nurse before she retired. Naturally I pretended she was a child I was reading it to and showed her the illustrations as I read. It didn’t work for her either. Having said that, I haven’t read this book to a kid with dentophobia and a love of dinosaurs. If you want to check it out for yourself, here’s the link to the book on the publisher’s website.
Thank you very much to NetGalley and Schiffer Kids, an imprint of Schiffer Publishing Ltd. for the opportunity to read this book.
⭐⭐
Rating: 2 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
What if a brachiosaurus needed braces? If a tyrannosaurus used toothpaste, would it squash the tube? A young child on the way to a dental checkup wonders if dinosaurs ever had cavities and if they had to brush their teeth, floss, get braces, and use fluoride or mouthwash. This whimsical picture book includes eleven common terms related to dental and oral health, along with a glossary of name pronunciations and fun, scientific facts about each of the eleven dinosaurs mentioned in the story. It takes an imaginative, humorous look at dinosaurs’ dental health and eases children’s fears about going to the dentist, while cleverly encouraging them to take care of their own teeth.
I feel like cheating with this review and just telling you to check out the review Lola wrote, which you can find here. Thank you Lola for already articulating so well what I wanted to say. 😊
So, onto my ramble.
I quite liked the stories of Mr Mysterious in Part One and Ms Mysterious in Part Two. The initially unseen depth of their sweet but sad stories were unexpected, although to be completely honest I felt Cici had no business playing Nancy Drew and interfering in their lives in the first place.
I loved Cici’s inquisitive nature but wasn’t a fan of the sneaky way she went about her investigations. I loved that she cares about people and wants to help once she solves their ‘mystery’ and understands what she can do to help (not that she was asked to help in the first place) but I hated that she spends the rest of her time lying to her mother and using her friends.
Because Cici is so Cici-centric all we know about one of her friends until the very end is that they are a whinger. Seriously, would you want to be friends with someone who can only describe you as a complainer, even if they’re right? It’s not that I hated Cici. A lot of the time I found her endearing and sweet but she really irritated me too. Thankfully she does learn lessons along the way about the way she’s treated her friends and mother.
My brain went a little nutty during the first story when all of the kids are lying to their parents and sneaking off to go hang out in the middle of the bush with a strange old man. Granted, he was a lovely but sad old man and I doubt he would slap a mosquito actively draining all of his blood. He could’ve been a creepy old man though. I know it’s just a story but my adult brain is practically hyperventilating (no, I don’t know how that’s physically possible either) at the thought of sending a message that it’s okay to lie to your parents to secretly meet a stranger in a remote location! Nuttiness aside, I adored the old man in the first story. He was an absolute sweetheart.
Naturally I loved that the scene of the second ‘mystery’ was the local library. Woohoo! Cici manages to solve Ms Mysterious’ mystery the first time she checked out the book that Ms Mysterious has been checking out every week for many years (of course). There’s no romantic hiding in the depths of my icy cold heart but I admit I really liked the love story of Ms Mysterious and her beau.
The illustrations were gorgeous and I loved the soft warm colours used throughout the book. The layout was really well done, with layers showing crayons, pencils (with pencil shavings) and pens laying on top of pages in Cici’s journal that made it seem as though the reader is peeking over her shoulder at the page she’s working on. She’s also pasted in relevant bits and pieces, including postcards from her friends, newspaper articles, letters and photos. The creativity of telling the story through graphic novel format interspersed with journal entries and drawings makes this visually a really interesting book.
I wouldn’t mind revisiting this book again in a few months. I wonder even as I’m writing this if I’ve been a bit harsh on Cici’s Cici-centricity. I’m interested to know if I’ll find her more endearing and less irritating next time. I hope so because the stories are quite good. I’d probably give the stories alone 3.5 stars but because I loved the illustrations so much I’m rounding up.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Cici dreams of being a novelist. Her favourite subject: people, especially adults. She’s been watching them and taking notes. Everybody has one special secret, Cici figures, and if you want to write about people, you need to understand what’s hiding inside them. But now she’s discovered something truly strange: an old man who disappears into the forest every Sunday with huge pots of paint in all sorts of colours. What is he up to? Why does he look so sad when he comes back?
In a graphic novel interwoven with journal notes, scrapbook pieces, and doodles, Cici assembles clues about the odd and wonderful people she’s uncovered, even as she struggles to understand the mundane: her family and friends.
I was quite interested in the premise of this graphic novel. Mary enters the dreams of some seriously troubled people to gain insights that will help her father (who runs a sleep disorder clinic) to help them. Mary is trying to cope with the ‘loss’ of a patient and the guilt she feels for what she feels is her responsibility in the circumstances surrounding the loss. The fact that there’s been another presence in Mary’s lucid dreams since the ‘loss’, in the form of a disembodied eye and the words “Dreamer, wake unto me”, only adds to the creep factor.
There were too many backstories and ethical dilemmas that were dealt with too superficially for me to love this one. I would have preferred there to be less ‘stuff’ going on. You’ve got a daughter lucid dreaming for her father while clearly traumatised. He’s quite happy for her to be missing out on school because she’s doing what he trained her to do since she was a small child. You’ve got a mother who’s in a coma due to ‘the accident’ and the daughter who’s supposedly responsible for bringing her mother out of the coma. The father has his own backstory. Each patient has their own backstory. The FBI is involved. There’s the “Dreamer, wake unto me” thing throughout the story.
The artwork was interesting and the splashes of blood worked well in the scenes that were mostly greyscale. Having the dream/nightmare sequences in different colour schemes depending on the content and dreamer was a nice touch and I liked that it was the time the characters were awake that had the least amount of colour.
I didn’t have any problems with the dream/nightmare sequences being disjointed and strange. Had they all flowed seamlessly with no weird elements they wouldn’t have appeared dreamlike to me. What l did have a problem with was how quickly the story was wrapped up. It was all a bit too neat towards the end and the final few panels provided a pretty clichéd conclusion. Ultimately I didn’t love or hate it. While I was reading I wanted to continue to see how it would end but I don’t feel the need to urge you to read it immediately so we can gush over its awesomeness together.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Meet Mary Specter, a misunderstood teenage girl trained to be a lucid dreamer. Mary’s father runs a sleep disorder clinic where Mary enters the ghastly dreams of severely disturbed people in an attempt to help them. When a patient is revealed to be a serial killer, the nightmare world and the waking one become intertwined, putting Mary in real jeopardy. Set in a world where the boundaries between dreams and reality are tenuous, Night Maryis a very dark and terrifying trip into psychological horror.
Mel Tregonning’s artwork takes you inside the lonely world of anxiety and depression in such a beautiful but haunting way. The monsters that lurk and chip away at the main character piece by piece are perfect. Each monster is unique but clearly from the same monster gene pool. Once you’ve seen them you can identify them but would have trouble explaining them to someone who hasn’t seen them. Anxiety and depression feel like that. How can you truly explain to someone who hasn’t seen those monsters what they look like and how living with them impacts every part of you.
Step 2: Show me the book’s dedication.
This book is dedicated to Mel, the illustrator. How can that be?!
Step 3: Investigate further.
Upon investigating I came across this article and Mel’s website.
Step 4: Cry.
Step 5: Be grateful for the hope provided in this book, but maybe cry a bit more first.
At the heart of this book is a powerful message about early intervention. Support from people who care about you truly can make all the difference. There are ways to make the monsters retreat. You are not alone. Please know there is hope.
My heart breaks for Mel’s family. If she can have this much of an impact on me just because I ‘read’ her book I can’t even begin to imagine what her loss must be like for those who loved her in life. 💕
I ordered this from the library mostly because of the haunting cover illustration. I needed to know more. Now I do and while I don’t have as many tissues as I did before I started I’m so glad I found this book.
It’s part of the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge (Challenge Level 5-6) and I’m so glad it’s there. Children (and adults) need the message of this book. It’s not one that I’d just hand a child and go on with my day though. This is a book that deserves to be discussed.
P.S. There are a list of the reading challenge books here if you’re interested. My library has heaps of them. I love my library!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
On the cusp of having everything slip from his grasp, a young boy has to find a way to rebuild his sense of self. An ordinary boy in an ordinary world. With no words, only illustrations, Small Things tells the story of a boy who feels alone with worries but who learns that help is always close by. An extraordinary story, told simply and with breathtaking beauty.
By now you should know that Grug books are one of my favourite series that are supposedly for children. It doesn’t matter what Grug gets up to; Mum and I always want to know about it. So, today Grug decided to go shopping and in his travels he came across a playground.
Being a curious animal that began his life as the top of a Burrawong tree, Grug is always keen to explore his surroundings. Naturally, upon discovering the playground Grug investigates. What follows is a cross between a comedy of errors and a whirlwind exploration of all the playground has on offer.
While I love all Grug books I did wish Grug’s best friend Cara was in this one. I adore Cara. I could imagine the expressions on her face as Grug flew through the air between each piece of equipment but wondered if she would have joined in or watched from the sidelines.
This is one of the earliest Grug books so the playground equipment actually looks like some of the slides and swings that made up a pretty significant chunk of my childhood. I got all nostalgic looking at the illustrations of Grug’s playground equipment so my review will now morph into me reminiscing about the good ol’ days.
My favourite thing to navigate at the park was this ugly but incredibly fun chunk of climbing heaven that consisted of four huge wooden frames that supported and held together four tyre bridges that were all connected by chains. There were no steps or easy access so you had to find a way to climb up this monstrosity that was probably built by an awesome bunch of local dads.
Some of the tyres weren’t quite as connected to the chains as they should have been. Half of the fun was knowing which tyres posed the biggest challenges and working out how to get past them without falling several metres to the very hard ground below. I’m fairly sure this type of fun would be banned by the safety police these days but it was brilliant!
Fun Fact: I was trying to think of the way to describe the metal climbing frame elephant that Grug encounters in this book so naturally I asked Google. When I came across a picture that was the closest to what I was looking for and that most resembled what I used to play on as a kid in the local park, the description accompanying the photograph included the word vintage. So apparently I’m now old enough for my childhood to be vintage. That’s fun! Sort of … 😜
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Playgrounds are full of fun and challenges for Grug! This classic Aussie hero is back from the bush to enchant a new generation of youngsters!
Wow! This is one of the best books I’ve never read! Both wordless and speaking volumes at the same time Rosie’s Glasses is allegedly a children’s book but I think it’s profound enough for all ages to get something from it. I’d actually dare say that the older you are the more you may need this book.
I love the idea of ‘reading’ this book with a child, taking turns telling the stories that are happening within the pages. It’s never too early to learn about perspective and never too late to be gently reminded of it. I adore the exploration of how our emotions can influence the way we see the world and interact with it.
I was talking to one of my doctors last week about how it’s easier to do the same thing over and over again. She is the undisputed Queen of Analogies and All Things Poetic and Deep in my life so naturally she likened thoughts and behaviours to grooves; water being more likely to want to travel the already well worn path. She talked about how it’s possible to carve a new groove in your life, that over time you can essentially train yourself to think and behave in physically and mentally healthier ways. We tend to get set in our grooves of how we see the world and those grooves deepen in time as we tread the same path, unless we make a conscious effort to change them. (P.S. Unlike most people I actually look forward to appointments with my doctors because I have the most profound, caring, extraordinary ones ever!)
This book reminded me of that conversation. The same thing that’s true of grooves can be said for perspective. We can inadvertently get stuck seeing the world one way when there are so many unexplored possibilities. It can take just the slightest shift in your perspective and your entire outlook can change, much like when Rosie puts on the glasses in this book and all of a sudden a world of colour and wonder opens up around her.
I love that reading the title Rosie’s Glasses made me think of rose-tinted glasses. The positivity associated with rose-tinted glasses seems to get a bad rap all around and even when I looked up ‘rose-tinted’ in the dictionary, Mr Collins told me that it’s “excessively optimistic”. I don’t know though. Is there such thing as too much optimism? I like to think that even when things in our life suck and there doesn’t seem to be any colour in sight that we can still choose to hope. Surely we can acknowledge the suckage of life (I’m not advocating denial) and still find the good as well.
I took some photos while I was sitting at the beach several years ago. Looking out across the ocean the water was sparkling, the sun was shining and the sky was blue. It was a gorgeous day. Then I looked behind me and there were angry storm clouds ready to release buckets and the sky was prematurely dark. If I showed you the photos you’d be forgiven for thinking they were different days, maybe even different seasons. Yet what the camera recorded was determined by what I was looking at at the time.
Until I opened this book, remembering the contrast between the sunny and stormy photos has been my go to in thinking about perspective. Now I think I’ll be imagining Rosie’s glasses whenever I catch myself needing an attitude realignment. If I’m seeing a monochromatic world I can remind myself that I don’t need glasses to change my perspective. I just need to allow myself to see the rest of the spectrum.
I’ve said in a number of reviews now that the illustrations bring the book alive or they are everything. In this book they really are everything. They’re deceptively simple, easy to ‘read’ but with depth that you appreciate more as you keep looking. Dave Whamond’s illustrations capture the mood and story so well that words really aren’t necessary.
So, as usual, here I am writing a review that’s longer than the actual book but at least this time I’ll have company. That is, unless someone is smart enough to post a review that simply shows two illustrations, one of Rosie’s world without glasses and one with them. Now, why didn’t I think of that?!
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Kids Can Press for the opportunity to discover this little gem. Kid’s book? Sure, I can see that. Yet it’s not only a kid’s book. I’m looking forward to the release of Rosie’s Glasses because in my world it’s going to be a coffee table book so kids and once upon a time kids can both appreciate its message.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
In this wordless picture book, Rosie wakes up in a monochrome world, with a dark cloud over her head. As she plods through her miserable, grey day, the cloud follows. Mishaps and mayhem thwart her every move, irritating noises assault her – and the pouring rain makes everything worse. But then, on her way home from school, Rosie finds a pair of strange glasses. When she puts them on, her world transforms into vivid, joyful color. All of a sudden, she can see the beauty and fun in everything around her – and her dark cloud has disappeared. Are the glasses magic? Or could it be that changing how we look at the world can change the way we experience it?
Award-winning author and illustrator Dave Whamond is known for his energetic, humorous and colorful art. Here he uses three different color palettes to powerfully tell a story of how moods can affect what we see. The wordless format encourages visual literacy and deeper readings of the story based on individual interpretation. It also invites nonreaders to develop vocabulary and narrative skill by reading the illustrations. This book offers a perfect lead-in to a discussion about good and bad moods. It also works for lessons on self-awareness and personal development, and as an excellent reminder to children (and adults!) that we can all exercise some control over how we see our world.
There are so many negative reviews for this Harry Potter spoof but I loved it! While I expect a lot of die hard fans of the Potterverse will be greatly offended that anyone would dare parody the brilliance of J.K. Rowling it felt to me like someone from MAD magazine had been hired to provide an overview of the series and I laughed from beginning to end.
It is over the top. There’s toilet humour. Cameos include Elmo, Yoda, Larry King and Elmer Fudd. There are jokes that are so terrible I had to laugh at their absurdity. Harry’s scar morphs from scene to scene, from question marks to dollar signs to Prince’s love symbol.
The names of the characters we know and love get a makeover. Harry Potty is friends with Don Measley and Whiny Stranger. Barista Frappe teaches Defence Against the Dark Farts at Nosewarts. Harry is constantly trying to defeat Valuemart and his Odor Eaters. Students use their toilet plungers to cast spells including “REMEMBERALLTHISSTUFFICIS!” and all poor Valuemart wants is a nose.
If your blood boils at the thought of this heresy then this is not the graphic novel for you, but if you’re not horrified that someone would dare poke fun at Harry and his mates then you may find yourself enjoying a good chuckle like I did. I definitely want to read this one again!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
The creative team behind the hit Tales from the Crypt #8 “Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid” team up again to launch this new parody series from Papercutz! Following the killing of their mentor Dumb-as-a-door by the seemingly traitorous barista Frappe, Harry Potty, Don Measley and Whiny Stranger must find a way to defeat the nose-less dark lord Value-Mart (He-Whose-Prices-Can’t-Be-Beat) and his followers, the Odor Eaters in order to avenge the death of Harry Potty’s parents and bring balance to the world of magic.
This is one of those books where adult me and child me would have been at opposite ends of the reviewing spectrum. Adult me thinks that this book is simply beautiful. As the main character ponders different colours and imagines herself as a tree weathering the seasons I felt this lovely sense of tranquility.
As she and her mother gaze out her bedroom window and wonder what the crows are thinking when they see them I paused and thought about all of the native birds I feed. I often wonder myself what they’re thinking and whether they’ve named me like I’ve named them. I wonder what my name is in bird world.
I loved Jillian Tamaki’s illustrations that capture the joy of playing in the ocean, the diversity of a school playground and the majesty of birds in flight. The exploration of colour in the illustrations complements the girl’s musings about various colours along the way.
Adult me has read this book three times already but still thinks there’s depth to the story I’m probably missing.
Child me (and I’m not ashamed to admit this) would have liked the pretty and colourful pictures but would have wondered where the story was and asked why the girl turned into a tree. Yes, I was a very literal child and I loved my Roald Dahl books so if a story didn’t come with a defined plot and interesting (hopefully interesting and quirky) characters, I’d be a bit “meh” about the book.
However, it’s adult me reviewing this book so I’m calling it gorgeous.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Caldecott and Printz Honor-winning illustrator Jillian Tamaki brings us a poetic exploration of colour and nature from a young child’s point of view. They Say Blue follows a young girl as she contemplates colours in the known and the unknown, in the immediate world and the world beyond what she can see. The sea looks blue, yet water cupped in her hands is as clear as glass. Is a blue whale blue? She doesn’t know – she hasn’t seen one.
Stunningly beautiful illustrations flow from one spread to the next, as time passes and the imagination takes hold. The world is full of colour, and mystery too, in this first picture book from a highly acclaimed artist.
Inky the octopus lived at the National Aquarium of New Zealand for two years before his great escape. Museum workers discovered mysterious prints on the floor one morning in 2016 and Inky was no longer hanging out with his tank mate Blotchy. Workers believe that after the lid on Inky’s tank wasn’t secured properly the night before Inky took the opportunity to escape through a drain pipe in the floor that led to the sea. Inky the Octopus is a sweet rhyming children’s book that tells this true story from Inky’s perspective.
When I first saw this book I was cautiously optimistic. I had previously read Rosie the Tarantula: A True Adventure in Chicago’s Field Museum and found it disappointing so I wasn’t sure what to expect from Inky’s story. While I thought that Rosie’s story wouldn’t really be of much interest to anyone that hadn’t bought the book at the museum’s gift shop (sorry, Rosie!), I was delighted to discover that Inky’s story would have a much wider appeal.
Erin Guendelsberger’s rhyming is lovely. It flows well and is fun whether you read it aloud or to yourself. I expect children will enjoy seeing Inky embarking on his adventure and if other adults are like me they’ll enjoy making up new imagined adventures and friends for Inky.
I plunge. I swim. I breathe. I whirl.
I float. I spin. I glide!
I’ll follow my heart wherever it leads.
I’ll travel far and wide!
Whether Inky is peering through a spyglass he’s holding with one of his tentacles, pleading with Blotchy to join him on his great escape or whirling with a blissful look on his face once he’s in the open sea, all of David Leonard’s illustrations bring Inky’s character to life. The expressions of joy, astonishment and horror of the various residents of the Aquarium as Inky sneaks past on his way to freedom are fantastic as well. I adore the great use of colour throughout the book.
There are even some wonderful bits and pieces to enjoy once you’ve finished reading the story. Immediately following Inky’s imagined story you’ll find information about Inky’s life, including a classic quote from the Aquarium’s manager who laments that Inky “didn’t even leave us a message” and a photo of Inky. You’ll also read about some Other Odd Octopuses and learn some very cool facts on the Are You Squidding Me?! pages. You can find out more about Inky’s story here.
Long story short, this is an interesting, informative and fun picture book that I expect you’ll want to read more than once.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Out of this tank, I must be free. I must explore the open sea!
Inky the octopus is bored with aquarium life and wants to escape to the ocean! But just how can an octopus in a tank get to the open seas? Find out in Inky the Octopus, the only tale of the mischievous octopus to be officially endorsed by the National Aquarium of New Zealand.
Schizanthus Nerd 