A Field Guide to Monsters: 08/26/09

My son is a young monstrologist. He's been tracking them, describing them, mapping their habitats and illustrating them for the last two or three years. So when I saw A Field Guide to Monsters by Johan Olander in our public library I had to check it out for him.

The Field Guide is 64 pages of monster sightings, beautifully illustrated. Each of the monsters featured has its common name, scientific name, habitat (if known), diet (if known) and a basic description of what it does and if it is dangerous to humans.

Among the monsters included, Sean and I were most drawn to Hanger. It is a monster that eats leather and human flesh. It hangs in closets, cleverly disguised as a hanging coat or shirt. Before reading the book we had actually discussed spotting a similar monster but we didn't know its name. I guess it's nice to have confirmation!
The book ends with a monster called Wearm. It's a small parasite that climbs into ears, attracted by ear wax. According to the book it has been seen in San Diego. As an ex-San Diegan I can confirm hearing stories of the Wearm. Again, as a kid, I didn't know the monster's name.

A Field Guide to Monsters is a fun book for adults and children who still believe in monsters or like to make up monsters.

Comments (4)

Comment #1: Wednesday, August, 26, 2009 at 18:43:06

Michelle Miller

Great review! I'm going to check this out for my boys at the library. I know they will love it!

Comment #2: Monday, August 31, 2009 at 18:16:11

Pussreboots

Thank you. I hope you can find a copy. In the near future I will be reviewing another monster book: Monsters! Draw Your Own Mutants, Creeps and Freaks by Jay Stephens. It's also worth looking for if your boys like to draw monsters.

Comment #3: Saturday, August, 29, 2009 at 13:21:31

Joana

Have you by chance read Dragonology the Complete Book of Dragons? I wrote a review for it some time ago and included a scan from the inside pages. If you enjoyed A Field Guide to Monsters you'll probably love this one as much as I did. It's got interactive bits and pieces and well as history, habitats, and so on. Definitely amusing!

I'm planning on checking out A Field Guide to Monsters next time I'm in a bookstore. Sounds like something I'd love. lol

Comment #4: Monday, August 31, 2009 at 18:20:24

Pussreboots

Ages ago I read a dragonology book but I don't think it was that one. I read A Field Guide to Monsters because my son is so fascinated with monsters. He's not really into dragons (beyond a book of poetry edited by Eric Carle called Dragons, Dragons) so we haven't been reading dragonology books together.