Review by Booklist Review
Ages 2-6. For a younger audience than Bradbury's Switch on the Night (also reviewed in this issue), this striking picture book takes a hands-on approach to dealing with nighttime fears. In fact, it may be hard for parents to pry their kids' hands off the book and get them to bed. Using die-cut, black pages, the book begins with the monster's "two big yellow eyes" glowing through round holes. Each flip of a page displays more features shining in electric colors through new holes--"a long blue nose / a big red mouth with sharp white teeth / two little squiggly ears . . . ," and so on--until the narrator announces, "You don't scare me! So GO AWAY scraggly purple hair . . . ," and dismisses the monster page by page, feature by feature, like the departing Cheshire Cat. In the last half of the book, the monster appears on pages in the same vibrant colors that showed through the cuts in the black pages. Graphically playful and exciting, this picture book promises to jazz up any story time and to give individual children a measure of control over at least one monster. ~--Carolyn Phelan
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Die-cut holes in the cover reveal the "two big yellow eyes" of the title hobgoblin in Go Away, Big Green Monster! by Ed Emberley (first published in 1992). The sturdy laminated pages that follow also have die-cuts that show the monster's fleshy "long bluish-greenish nose," "a big red mouth with sharp white teeth" and more. But the text gives readers the confidence ("You don't scare me!") to take away its scary features with each succeeding page turn until he's gone-"and don't come back! Until I say so." A fun way to conquer fears. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-- A graphic delight. In the tradition of Lois Ehlert's Color Zoo (1989) and Color Farm (1990, both HarperCollins), this is a clever series of die-cut pages that lets children construct and then deconstruct a big green monster. The book starts with a black page, and two round eyes gleaming through the text. ``Big Green Monster has two big yellow eyes.'' Each page adds a new adjective-laden element, including a ``long bluish-greenish nose'' and ``scraggy purple hair'' until the culmination of effects prompts a response of, ``YOU DON'T SCARE ME! SO GO AWAY . . . .'' Each subsequent page subtracts one of the scary pieces until the last page is entirely black, featuring the words, ``and DON'T COME BACK! Until I say so.'' This imaginative original work is a most friendly way in which children can take control over their own ``monsters'' or nightmares. It also has great visual appeal because of the bold interplay between shape and color. --Elizabeth Hanson, Chicago Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
In the first half of this fear-dispelling book, graphically distinctive die-cut pages reveal, bit by bit, a monster with 'sharp white teeth' and 'scraggly purple hair.' The process is then reversed as the text commands each scary feature to 'go away,' until there is nothing left but a black page instructing 'Don't Come Back! Until I say so.' Entertaining and empowering for young children. From HORN BOOK 1993, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
By turning these stiff, die-cut pages, even very young children can assemble a green monster with ``two big yellow eyes...a long blue nose...[and] a big red mouth with sharp white teeth...'' and then make it go away again, feature by feature. Emberley, a Caldecott medalist whose delightful drawing books demonstrate a combination of rudimentary forms to create a world of images, uses simple shapes in bright colors to build a scowling, cartoonish face that seems to float against the solid black field- -scary, but deliciously so. A satisfying game that may also allay some nighttime fears. (Picture book. 2-5)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
