He's Been a Monster All Day

March 15, 2013
A mother's descriptive complaint sets her misbehaving preschooler to imagining the enjoyment of the crude mischief of a monster's life. Transforming himself into a scaly-skinned, green-faced ghoul, this boy begins to growl and grumble, sneer and scowl. He befriends the pet monster under his bed and makes general mayhem. This little guy revels in the grime of the gooey, slimy mud, loudly revving up his monster trucks and staying up all night, unafraid of the dark. But without manners and basic courtesy (please and thank you), he realizes that playing solo is disappointingly unpleasant. "Being a monster isn't so great. / I'm going home--hope it isn't too late...." Cozy in bed, sweetness returns him to a brown-haired, smooth-featured, sleepy little human. Moore's soft-toned, gentle and whimsical cartoon drawings in pencil and watercolors easily complement the smoothly readable, rhyming text. Much like Sendak's beloved Max, this child needs some time to exercise his outrageous thoughts before coming to terms with his own self-control. The comparison to Max is so obvious the book can't help but suffer from it, but it makes its own small rumpus. This young monster's journey could inspire some self-reflection on those cranky, crabby days. (Picture book. 3-5)

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August 1, 2013

PreS-Gr 1-While sitting in the time-out corner, a little boy overhears his mother grumble, "He's been a monster all day." The child starts to fantasize about being a green, warty ogre and indulging in the pleasurable mayhem of monster truck races, nighttime playground romps, and salamander-tail feasts. The dream begins to lose its appeal when he realizes that his manners-free lifestyle would scare everyone away: "Being a monster/isn't so great./I'm going home-hope it isn't too late.../Tomorrow she'll see/a monster I'm not!" Moore's pencil and watercolor cartoon illustrations show the boy as a charming google-eyed, scaly creature reveling in a mud bath and also as a sweet-faced sleepyhead tucked into bed. The gently rhyming text is perfect for reading aloud and will spark discussions of beastly and non-beastly behavior.-Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2013
Preschool-K With his rosy cheeks and impish smile, how could the little boy in this picture book possibly be mistaken for a monster? But that's exactly what his mother, surrounded by a path of destruction, calls him: He's been a monster all day! The boy, who overhears her, looks so sad about being called a monster that readers and kids will likely feel sorry for him. In response, the boy says, I wonder why my mommy / thinks that of me? / I guess if she does / then a monster I'll be! At this point, the book shifts into fantasy as the boy, depicted by Moore as a warty, toothy green creature, sets off on a mud bathfilled, monster-truck-driving, manner-free romp. Eventually, though, he realizes nobody wants to befriend a monster, and hopes maybe by now / Mommy forgot. (Aww.) With sound effects throughout, this rhyming read-aloud provides the opportunity for discussing appropriate and inappropriate behavior with preschoolers, as well as the concept of unconditional love.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2013
Overhearing his mother say, "he's been a monster all day," gets a young boy thinking about doing things monsters do, like ignoring rules and manners. But monsters also scare people away, and loneliness helps him resolve to be a little boy instead. Moore's colorful, imaginative, and not-too-scary illustrations leaven this familiar tale told in lackluster rhyming couplets.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)