Monster Day at Work

Kindergarten-Grade 2—This charming book is a monster version of Bring Your Child to Work Day. Monster Son and his Monster Dog accompany Monster Dad to work. The day begins with a morning meeting, which means donuts and pastries for Son. Then Dad and Son do a little work on their computers and it's time for lunch in the cafeteria. Son takes a little snooze while Dad continues working. After a trip to the gym, the trio stop for a treat and head home for dinner. Monster Son just can't imagine how his father gets so tired every day, but the food is great. He decides to spend the next day at home with his mother because she does nothing all day. This page is humorously illustrated with Monster Mum multitasking, frantically using all of her arms (and growing a few new ones) and legs to get her work done. The illustrations are funny and creative. There are many strange-looking monsters, all different and none scary. There is plenty of white space, which makes the illustrations pop. Text is minimal-no more than a sentence or two per spread, and that is all that is needed. The art carries the story along at a lively pace. Children will love this book and so will adults. It may generate some lively discussion about what adults do at their jobs.—Mary Hazelton, Elementary Schools in Warren & Waldoboro, ME
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The fact that Dyer’s characters are monsters doesn’t change the basic truth: to kids, adults’ daily lives are one baffling ritual after another. A father and son duo—both hairy, peach-colored, horned beasts—decides to spend a day together at Dad’s workplace. None of it makes much sense to the young one—choosing a tie, fighting the morning transit, scribbling nonsensical notes (“blahblahblah”). But our protagonist makes the most of it, chomping on doughnuts during the big meeting, playing video games at his dad’s desk, and drawing all over his father’s carefully filled-out graph paper. There’s no plot arc here—the youngster doesn’t get into trouble or learn any lessons—but it’s reassuring in how it views work from a kid's point of view. This childlike perspective is strengthened by the purposely flimsy three-dimensional look of the mixed-media illustrations as well as the goofy details plopped among the general realism (the local bank is a giant piggy bank). “It was all very easy,” concludes Monster Jr., and that describes the book, too: effortless and comforting. Preschool-Grade 1. --Daniel Kraus