New Monster in School

January 1, 2011

Gr 2-3-These tales of young monsters are quick, easy-to-read graphic novels with familiar plots (a game of hide-and-seek, the new kid in school). Talbot the werewolf fusses over his hair. Vlad the vampire tends to be a little bossy. Frankie Frankenstein solves problems by bashing through them, and Claude, the Invisible Boy, frets over a pimple before realizing that nobody's going to notice. Layouts are rectilinear and clearly sequential, with widely spaced word balloons that make the dialogue easy to track. Panel art resembles stills from a video game, and although this makes for occasionally distorted-looking limbs, it contributes a cinematic feel to the books. Oddly, even though one character is supposed to be Japanese and two are green-skinned, all the monster children have Caucasian features and hair. Discussion questions and other back matter support classroom use.-Paula Willey, Baltimore County Public Library, Towson, MD

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2010
Grades 2-4 The graphic-novel series Mighty Mighty Monsters is set in Transylmania, where classic monsters are reimagined as schoolchildren. Vlad, Talbot, Witchita, Milton, Poto, Frankie, Igor, and Mary are all friends, but the first day of class brings someone new to TransylmaniaKitsune. She loves pink, she is cute, and she is a fox (literally, kitsune is the Japanese word for fox). Her arrival at school signals a new stage in the ongoing boy-girl rivalry, and Kitsune shows the boys she can top them at a lot of their sports. However, she really just wants to be friends. This new series is written by the founder of the Canadian independent comics publisher Arcana Studio, which is in turn credited with the video-game-like art. The kids may be monsters, but theres really nothing spooky about them as they go about regular school-type activities, making this a fine read for most younger readers. The books design, with its faux-distressed look, adds another fun element, and readers will enjoy guessing all the monsters.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)