Review by Booklist Review
Following their collaboration Even Monsters Need to Sleep (2017), Wheeler and Van Dusen return with the same cast of lovable monsters (aliens, yetis, dragons, giants, trolls, Frankenstein, Bigfoot, and Nessie) to banish trepidations about starting school. Each creature gets three lines of rhymed text ending with the same tagline, asserting that yes, even monsters go to school. The appealing sing-song cadence is complemented by page-filling gouache illustrations that provide a feast of visual details, portraying each scholar in an appropriate and imaginative setting (a beaming narwhal and a penguin wearing a Penguin's hockey jersey welcome a bashful yeti to their frozen classroom). Tasks range from sorting new school supplies to catching the bus to recess, lunch, and figuring out where the bathroom is. At every turn, helpful adults and welcoming classmates offer lots of smiles and warm encouragement. Everything about this romp is cheerful and reassuring, and readers will be happy to know that school is for everybody including little monsters just like them.--Kathleen McBroom Copyright 2019 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
When a blue-horned monster girl (first introduced in the co-creator's Even Monsters Need to Sleep) is reluctant to go to school, her father reminds her that every monster--even famous ones--attends classes. Van Dusen's vivid, action-filled art shows the cast of friendly monsters taking part in typical school tasks. Bigfoot rides the school bus; Frankenstein impresses his peers with iron-soled Chuck Taylors; and Troll runs out from under his bridge to enjoy recess with a group of goats. The blue monster child is encouraged by the examples of other pupils--as readers may be, as well: "You're ready! And you know the rule... All little monsters go to school." A fun read for readers who are thinking about Halloween monsters a bit early. Ages 4--8. (June)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1--On the first day of school, the little blue, furry monster child from Even Monsters Go to Sleep, trudges downstairs to breakfast. Dad regales his reluctant pupil with exuberant descriptions of how other monsters are enjoying their big day: Bigfoot hops onto a yellow bus and gives a thumbs up from the back window; Frankenstein's brand-new jacket and cool, platform, metal-studded sneakers garner admiring glances from his classmates; and tousled-haired Troll has a ball at recess, playing tag with billy goats. Each fun-filled scene is relayed in jaunty, rhyming verse with a repeated concluding line that names the individual monster showcased and delivers the message that "Even ["Yeti", "Nessie", "giants" etc.] go to school." Van Dusen's colorful, gouache illustrations are packed with comical details, like three-eyed aliens who "go gaga over school supplies" and chow down on crayons and massage glue onto their noggins. By the time breakfast is eaten and fangs are brushed, the formerly hesitant child eagerly embraces "the rule … All little monsters go to school." VERDICT A witty and encouraging pep talk to ease back-to-school jitters.--Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ont.
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A grown-up monster describes in rhyming verse how monsters of all types go to school, and so must this child monster, no matter how glum about the prospect. The copyright page and first spread show a very reluctant monster coming down the stairs, dragging a bouncing backpack, to a breakfast of mush. No text sets up this situation. Instead, the text reads "When Bigfoot wakes, he combs his hair," which is confusing since none of that is shown. The page turn then syncs text with image, showing Bigfoot jumping out of a tree to catch the bus: "and steps out in the morning air. / Yellow bus is waiting there. // Even Bigfoot goes to school." The rhyming, smartly scanning stanzas continue, showing that Frankenstein (the monster, wearing Converse-like shoes), dragons, Yeti, bridge trolls, the Loch Ness Monster, Jack's giant, and aliens all go to school. The last few spreads return to the titular monster, blue-furred with yellow horns and purple stripe and sporting a pink dress and purple backpack, getting ready and then happily waving goodbye while headed to the bus. Van Dusen's gouache illustrations are spring-bright and cheerful, every (nonscary) imaginary beast delighting in some aspect of school. Once past the opening narrative hiccup, young readers will delight in the premise and in the myriad visual details, which do include gender-binary restrooms in one scene.Every monster, imaginary or not, will enjoy this and hopefully also find something to enjoy about school. (Picture book. 3-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
