A Field Guide to Monsters: Googly-Eyed Wart Floppers, Shadow-Casters, Toe-Eaters, and Other Creatures - Hardcover

Olander, Johan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0761453598 ISBN 13: 9780761453598

Publisher: Two Lions, 2007

Synopsis

In this delightfully gruesome collection, renowned monstrologist Johan Olander guides you through the world between reality and fantasy, where the creatures of your worst nightmares appear—even in your sock drawer!

With this essential field guide, you’ll:

• learn about monster habitats, life cycles, and how to avoid the most dangerous creatures
• see historical evidence of monster sightings (from claw prints to cave carvings)
• read about chilling monster encounters
• find out how you can become a monstrologist, too

A Field Guide to Monsters profiles more than twenty-five previously undocumented monsters. Olander will stretch your imagination to new limits with his impressive research, colorful observations, and eye-popping ink-and-digital artwork that reveal a madness unsurpassed.

About this title

About the Author

Johan Olander is a firm believer in monsters and aliens and will trust any report of sightings until proven false. When not out chasing aliens, Johan also works as a freelance writer and illustrator. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife and daughter.

Review

This colorful volume is chock-full of fascinating and humorous details. The encyclopedic entries provide information about the life cycles, habitats, diets, and unique characteristics of unusual creatures. Recommended safety measures are also included when applicable since some of these creatures eat children. The inspired format resembles a well-used scrapbook with page edges that look as if they are folded, frayed, and browned. Through a clever and imaginative use of mixed mediums that include ink, pencil, watercolor, oil paint, and Adobe Photoshop, Olander depicts stained and crumpled notebook paper filled with field observations including pictures and diagrams, a reproduction of a 100-year-old wood-panel painting of a Snouted Grabber stealing someone's silver, and archival papyrus scraps. Color is used sparingly to great effect: the blue eyes of a Patooty, fuchsia eyes of a Flesh-Eating Tub Frog, red teeth of a Razor-Twigged Tree Beast, and, of course, the bold, red "DANGER TO HUMANS" warnings. The spread that follows the title page includes a brief explanation of the science of monstrology; the key traits of a person who can see a monster, including an open mind; and a list of tools recommended for anyone considering field study. This superb, playfully farcical presentation with its multiple levels of humor will capture children's imagination. Warning for squeamish readers: there are references to toilets, sewage, flatulence, and places where the sun don't shine. --School Library Journal, November 2007

Edition details

• Publisher: Two Lions
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0761453598
• ISBN 13: 9780761453598
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 64
• Illustrator: Olander Johan