Review by Booklist Review
Normal 0 Gravel's latest is a wild and wacky pet-monster yarn. Ayoung girl convinces her dad to take her to the monsterarium: All my friends have pet monsters. With so many to choose from, it's tough to pick just one, but Papaloves the absolutely adorable baby Oogly-Wump. But training the newpet is not as easy as the girl thinks. It's time to break out the instructionalmanual! The training goes well, but as the Oogly-Wump grows, he also becomeslonely. Although the girl has a logical solution, it's going to take anotherconvincing conversation with her dad. The award-winning author-illustrator of theDisgusting Creatures series, Gravel is also the mistress of turning creepycreatures into fun, lovable, and yes even cuddly critters. There seems to beno end to the shapes and names of Gravel's creative and brightly coloredchildlike monsters, and the comic-book-style panels and word balloons contribute handily to the cheery, lighthearted atmosphere. Endpapers encourage readers to create their own weird monsters, with wacky names to match. Absolutely entertaining.--Lock, Anita Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Winnie wants a pet monster. Why not? All of her friends have pet monsters, ranging from Oggs to Blacktopus and Moogs to giant Foffles. Winnie pleads with her papa with "Bambi eyes" to please get one for her. She researches all the things she needs to do to take care of her monster, including walking, feeding, and even picking up "monster poo!" Soon, her skills of persuasion lead her to a visit at the Monsterium, where everything needed for monster care is available, including baby monsters to adopt. Readers learn about the hundreds of monsters available along with their attributes. Papa finds one he likes (sounds like a cute puppy dog, "arf"), and they adopt him. Winnie soon learns that adorable monsters take a lot of work to train, and in a fantastic spread of Winnie never getting any sleep due to her monster never sleeping, the work's cuteness quotient begins to wear thin. Gravel's digital artwork and use of Photoshop and Cintiq graphic tablet create entertaining and engaging characters. The half-title page invites readers to discover how Winnie will get her monster. VERDICT A fun, spirited read-aloud for storytime or classroom use.-Melissa Smith, Royal Oak Public Library, MI © Copyright 2016. 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 Kirkus Book Review
Snaggle-toothed, asymmetrical, bug-eyed monsters abound in this not-so-subtle "A pet is a big responsibility" primer. From the moment the protagonist starts obsessing over owning a monster, her father is doomed. To ensure a visit to the Monsterium, she wields some well-honed weapons. First there's the tweaking of parental guilt: "All my friends have pet monsters." Then she fires off enthusiastic promises to parental questions: "And who will pick up the monster poo?" / "I will!" The various candidates up for adoption have appropriately cutesy names such as Froops, Foffles, and Pooples. The winner is a barking Oogly-Wump that smells like pirates' feet. After Papa names him Gus, the baby monster proceeds to swim in the toilet and eat Papa's cellphone. When the maturing monster becomes despondent, the overenthusiastic protagonist's solution is hair-raising. The easy-to-follow dialogue is corralled within speech bubbles, and most of the cartoony digital illustrations are placed against graph-paper backdrops, bringing to mind a child's journal entries. The abundance of rainbow-hued monsters suggests that Gravel probably had a grand time flinging darts at a color wheel. Both the girl and her father are melanin-enriched, and the other children featured are also diverse. Included at the end of the story are five brief interactive exercises that range from monster naming to monster training. Though not quite as much fun as Gravel's Disgusting Critters series, this offering will still elicit chuckles from the younger set. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
