Monsters on Machines: 11/19/10

Anytime I see a monster book at the library I snag it and bring it home for my son to read. I borrowed Monsters on Machines by Deb Lund because it looked appealing to both of my children. Harriet likes monsters but doesn't have the patience to sit through chapter books like her brother. Lund's Monsters on Machines is brightly illustrated and short enough for Harriet.

The basic gist of the book is that a team of monsters are meeting in the morning at a construction site. They are monsters who use monster machines to build skyscrapers. Each monster has his or her own job and machine to get the job done. This part of the book is excellent but the ending spoils the fun of having monsters going to work.

Why oh why can't monsters just be monsters in books? Why do they have to be revealed to be children or in this book, child monsters? Why can't a book about construction sites have monsters actually working instead of pretending? When ever a monster book pulls that reversal at the end it's like having the carpet pulled right out from under my children's feet. They HATE these endings and in turn end up hating the book.

Comments (2)

Comment #1: Sunday, November, 21, 2010 at 10:04:38

Deb Lund

Thanks for checking out my monsters! I admire your goal of reviewing a book a day. I thought about doing a skyscraper book, but this one is about a house. Fortunately, after over twenty years as a teacher and librarian, and with regular monster fan mail and school visits, I see lots of kids' reactions to this book. I appreciate your unique perspective and honest review!

Comment #2: Friday, November 26, 2010 at 16:15:00

Pussreboots

Thank you for stopping by. The picture books I read with my children are how I'm able to read a book a day. If I weren't reading with them, I'd be doing updates every couple of days or maybe only weekly.