Monsters

Hoban, Russell

ISBN 10: 0590434225 ISBN 13: 9780590434225

Publisher: Scholastic, 1991

Synopsis

John's obsession with drawing monsters takes him to a doctor, where a startling discovery is made about the degree of reality of John's drawings

About this title

Reviews

John likes to draw scary monsters. When he appears to be starting a drawing of a particularly large one (the tail alone fills an entire sheet of wrapping paper), his parents become concerned. Mr. Splodge, the art teacher, thinks John's drawings are first-rate. Dr. Plunger takes the matter lightly at first, allowing John to finish the drawing. From the waiting room, his mother and father hear a noise like "two or three heavy metal rock bands all playing at once." John emerges quite content, and readers glimpse claws and eyeballs just behind the door. While adults may find this a rather gruesome ending for unsuspecting Dr. Plunger, youngsters will find the story quite satisfying and will undoubtedly relate to John's preoccupation with monsters. Children will return again and again to Blake's childlike drawings complete with monsters eating, zapping, and clobbering each other. The remainder of the humorous ink and watercolor illustrations effectively characterize the concerned parents and their seemingly innocent child. An offbeat, sophisticated story reminiscent of the Zemachs' The Judge (Farrar, 1969) or one of Roald Dahl's zany cautionary tales. --Pearl Herscovitch, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

John spends most of his time drawing monsters of all shapes, sizes and colors, and his parents are worried. When their son begins devoting himself to a master project--drawing parts of a "serious" monster on big sheets of brown wrapping paper--Mom and Dad pay a visit to John's teacher. He seems to think that there's no cause for concern, since "boys are naturally a bit monstrous." Unappeased, the couple then consults a doctor, who wants to have a little chat with John. The doctor makes the mistake of providing the boy with more wrapping paper and markers so that he can finish his masterpiece. It soon becomes clear that John's passion for drawing has grown to monstrous proportions and that his parents' fears were justified. Hoban and Blake bring John's monsters to life in this subtly wicked story, which may give imaginative youngsters a specific--and horrific--goal. Ages 6-9.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Scholastic
• Publication date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0590434225
• ISBN 13: 9780590434225
• Binding: Library Binding
• Illustrator: Blake Quentin
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 28