No More Monsters Under Your Bed!

April 15, 2019
Can a magic monster patch make the monsters go away? "There once was a boy with a monster problem." Monsters lurk, waiting for him to bed down--hiding under the bed, in the closet, in the laundry, under the rug, and even in the fishbowl. He is so scared he can't fall asleep. "He was afraid of monsters with zillions of eyes watching him, monsters with zillions of hands grabbing him, / and monsters with cavity-filled teeth gobbling him up." This little boy is so afraid of so many monsters (exhaustively enumerated) that his parents give him "a magic monster patch to put on his pajamas" that makes him invisible to monsters. It works, of course, and the monsters grow bored and leave to find a more susceptible kid. The protagonist shares the badge with a friend, who shares it with another friend, and now--the protagonist points straight out of the book, like Uncle Sam--it's the reader's, included with the book. (A downloadable patch will also be available on the publisher's website.) Chouteau's picture book teaches its lesson with clunky, mundane prose, and, even though the monsters look more funny than scary in Even Or's unsubtle cartoon illustrations, the catalog of hiding places and monster types may serve to scare youngsters with real fears. The narrator and his family present white; his friends are children of color. A slick, well-intentioned package that offers nothing new to the dispelling-monsters genre, though it may be of some use in homes with persistent monster problems. (Picture book. 3-5)

COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

May 13, 2019
Many readers will relate to this story of a boy who is terrified of the monsters that visit his bedroom each night. The monsters are a diverse group, all equally frightening: “He was afraid of one-eyed monsters with pigtails, dressed in tutus... three-headed monsters with curly horns and sticky claws... and monsters that looked like his grandpa.” In Or’s candy-colored illustrations, however, the monsters are decidedly more silly than scary, and it’s apparent that the chaotic nightly visitations cannot stand. A remedy comes in the form of a “magic monster patch” presented to him by his resourceful parents as a sort of invisibility cloak that requires the boy’s bravery and belief in its magic. Chouteau suggests that mind over matter goes a long way toward putting the monsters to bed—and the book includes a patch for readers. Ages 3–6.