My Teacher Is a Monster! (No, I Am Not.)

From the opening admonishment--"ROBERT!"--it's clear that narrator Jeff Woodman knows how to portray an intimidating teacher. Young Bobby has made the classic mistake of flying a paper airplane in the classroom and has gotten off on totally the wrong foot with his teacher, Mrs. Kirby. Will he ever be able to rectify the situation? And what a misfortune it is to meet up with Mrs. Kirby at the park! Woodman's narrating skills are evident as he uses inflection, pacing, and emphasis as both Bobby and Mrs. Kirby. At some moments, the genuine excitement over a spectacular paper airplane flight is clear in Bobby's voice, and at other moments, listeners detect that Mrs. Kirby has a softer side. Jazzy music complements the production. A.R. � AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

Starred review from April 14, 2014
Context is key in this revelatory tale from Brown (Mr. Tiger Goes Wild), dedicated “to misunderstood teachers and their misunderstood students.” Bobby and his teacher are at odds, and it’s easy to see why: “Ms. Kirby stomped. Ms. Kirby roared.” Ms. Kirby—who disapproves of Bobby’s paper airplanes in class—looks like a furious komodo dragon, with her brown-speckled green skin, toothy underbite, and pointy claws. One Saturday at the park, the two accidentally meet. When a gusty wind nearly tosses Ms. Kirby’s hat in a lake, Bobby saves the day, and Ms. Kirby rejoices. As they awkwardly chat, Ms. Kirby’s fearsome features gradually transition from reptilian to human. Bobby relaxes too, and the thing that tore them asunder—the paper airplane—proves perfectly appropriate for fun at the park. Brown, imagining Ms. Kirby from a child’s perspective, handles her transformation smoothly, prompting readers to revisit earlier pages. Comic traces of monstrosity linger in Ms. Kirby (she still goes green at classroom clowning) yet Brown makes it clear that teachers are people too—even the “mean” ones. Ages 4–8. Agent: Paul Rodeen, Rodeen Literary Management.

July 1, 2014

K-Gr 2-With his signature retro-inspired, mixed-media illustrations, Brown's latest picture book explores a new facet of themes he's touched upon before: identity, perception, and acceptance. Bobby is a likable, if ever-so-slightly naughty, everykid. His big problem is Ms. Kirby, a giant reptilian creature with a mean overbite and a tendency to stomp and roar. She also happens to be Bobby's teacher. A carefree Saturday in the park is nearly ruined when Bobby runs into Ms. Kirby. Brown astutely captures that awkward moment when students encounter a teacher outside the context of the classroom. In a spread featuring Bobby on one end of a park bench and the hulking Ms. Kirby on the other, the gutter separates the two characters, emphasizing their physical and emotional distance. Over the course of the day, Bobby and his teacher learn that they share some interests. As the story progresses, Ms. Kirby incrementally loses her green hue, her massive snout, and her oversize limbs, slowly transforming into a regular human teacher. Besides the sweet message, the strength in this school story is the humor of Bobby's deadpan stare. Looking directly out from the pages with his wide eyes, Alfalfa-esque hairdo, and jug-handle ears, Bobby will win the hearts of readers with his rascally charm, if not the no-nonsense Ms. Kirby.-Kiera Parrott, School Library Journal

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from June 1, 2014
A behaviorally challenged little boy for whom paper airplanes are a particular weakness learns to see his teacher as a person when he meets her outside the classroom.Bobby's teacher stomps, roars and takes away recess (not without reason). The little boy's one refuge is the park-but so is Ms. Kirby's. In a marvelously illustrated, wordless spread, Brown shows how both Ms. Kirby and Bobby feel when their private moments are interrupted by the other. But in a show of maturity, Bobby understands that running away (no matter how much he may want to) will only make things worse. Some painful small talk and a hat rescued from the wind slowly lead the two to deeper interaction. And when Bobby takes her to his favorite high overlook, Ms. Kirby, who has slowly been losing her green skin, spiky teeth, hippolike nostrils and hulking bulk, silently hands him a piece of paper. The flight is epic. Afterward, Ms. Kirby still roars and stomps and frowns upon paper airplanes in class, though she retains her human features (if not her skin color, at least not all the time). The digitally composited and colored India ink, watercolor, gouache and pencil illustrations use a palette of green, shades of tan and brown, aqua and salmon that suits the text's tongue-in-cheek humor and monster theme, the colors brightening as Ms. Kirby loses her monster-ness.Here's hoping readers who are similarly challenged in the behavior department will get both messages: Teachers are people, and they give back what they get. (Picture book. 4-8)

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Starred review from April 1, 2014
Preschool-G *Starred Review* Bobby's teacher, Ms. Kirby, is a roaring, teeth-gnashing, galumphing giant green monster. Really! (And it has nothing to do with her reaction to that paper airplane Bobby threw.) When Bobby goes to the park to blow off some steam, something terrible happens: he runs into his ghastly teacher. Ms. Kirby isn't happy to see Bobby, either, but after some awkwardness, they start a friendlyif formalconversation. When a sudden gust of wind blows Ms. Kirby's favorite hat away, Bobby's the one who catches it before it flies into the pond. Soon Ms. Kirby and Bobby are showing each other their favorite places in the park, and all the while, Ms. Kirby looks less like a grumpy monster and more like a friendly young teacher in a big hat. Brown (Mr. Tiger Goes Wild, 2013) shapes his cartoony characters with blocky patches of bright colors, and at the heart of the awkward-pause-filled humor are Bobby and Ms. Kirby's marvelous facial expressions: Bobby, with an impressive cowlick, has a constant look of shocked disbelief, while Ms. Kirby wears a deadpan grimace of resignation. That is, until they each learn there's more to the other than just a misbehaving student or grouchy teacher. This playful, eye-catching story goes a long way to humanize both teachers and students. Ed: kill the period after Not in the imprint title.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)