Review: MONSTER MELANGE
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 5, 2014
This is definitely my favorite book of The Top of the Wardrobe series. Billy's stuffed toys that sit on the top of his wardrobe are at it again...this time they are off to hunt for monsters! Monsters are lurking in some familiar places like under the bed as well as places in which you would never expect to find them like the car wash.The monsters really are not very scary because they are depicted as comic characters in the colorful illustrations. This book is targeted for children age three through eight so it is perfect for siblings to share. Each page contains four lines in verse. The monsters are personified doing tasks like knitting, baking and playing chess. Billy does have a problem; there is not enough room for all these monsters under his bed. My favorite story is the one at the car wash. A lot of children are afraid of the car wash. Viewing it as a place where these friendly monsters work can be one way to see it as an amusing experience. I love Molly who has huge fantastic lungs to blow the cars dry, and Norris who polishes everything up bright.For children afraid of monsters, Billy shows how turning on the light is the way to get them to run away because they are more afraid of you than you are of them. Hunting for Monsters provides a safari adventure for children in which they hunt monsters not animals. By using exaggeration and fun illustrations in these silly stories, children will soon have their fears turned into laughter.Highly recommended as a fun read aloud for younger children and as an early chapter book for children in the early elementary grades.