This Monster Cannot Wait!

March 15, 2013
Stewart, from This Monster Needs a Haircut (2012), is going camping for the first time, and he (literally) cannot wait. The camping trip is five whole days away. That is agony for such an impulsive and excitable monster. (Even on the title page, he's already urging readers to "Just read the book already!") In the hopes of speeding things up, Stewart paints the clocks, changes the calendar and even builds a time machine--but nothing works. Then Stewart realizes that if he could just make the end of the story come faster, camping would come faster too! Crumbling the fourth wall for readers, he reaches down to tug at the corners of the pages, while eagerly ripping another completely in half. Fortunately, Stewart's parents are not amused and make him tape the book back together. Toothy and unkempt, with wild eyes and a temper tantrum of a roar--"I wanna go camping NOW!"--Stewart fully embodies a preschooler who has not yet mastered the art of waiting. Barton's sprawling, hand-lettered text and its buoyant placement match the urgency of Stewart's desperation. Patience is certainly a virtue, and one that is difficult to learn. For youngsters working on self-control (a school-readiness skill), Stewart does...eventually...learn that good things come to those who wait. (Picture book. 3-5)

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March 1, 2013

PreS-Gr 1-Stewart, introduced in This Monster Needs a Haircut (Dial, 2012), returns to learn a lesson about patience. Looking forward to vacation, he wishes he could make time go faster. Although his mom tries to teach him that good things come to those who wait, he wants to go camping "NOW!" In despair, he asks his dad, "I'm never going camping, am I...? When he realizes that the picture book he is in will conclude with the much-anticipated trip, he tries to move the story along by tearing at the pages, and he receives a time-out from his parents. At school, Stewart's friend Feliz says she does not want vacation time to arrive because she'll miss all her classmates. Stewart tells her, "You're so worried about next week that you're missing right now!!" The impatient monster admits that he, too, should make the most of the present. When the big day finally arrives, he shouts, "It was totally worth the wait." The sprawling text printed in capital letters emphasizes Stewart's impatience, and the quirky ink and Photoshop illustrations add many humorous moments to the story. The spread portraying the camping trip is especially striking: the glory of the natural setting provides a beautiful backdrop for Stewart and Feliz as they toast marshmallows. Pair this lighthearted lesson with another amusing monster-centered story, Kent Redeker's Don't Squish the Sasquatch! (Hyperion, 2012).-Linda L. Walkins, Saint Joseph Preparatory High School, Boston, MA

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