A Mirthful Guide to Monsters and Manners!
Smarter Than A Monster
by Brandon Mull
Illustrated by Mike Walton
Publication Date: October 1, 2019
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Length: 32 pp
Ages 4 to 8, Grades 1 to 3
ISBN-13: 978-1629726106
Related Links:
Brandon Mull’s Website
Brandon Mull on Instagram
Mike Walton’s Website
Mike Walton on Twitter
About the Author:
Brandon Mull is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of the Fablehaven, Beyonders, and Five Kingdoms series. A kinetic thinker, Brandon enjoys bouncy balls, squeezable stress toys, and popping bubble wrap. He lives in Utah in a happy little valley near the mouth of a canyon with his four children and a dog named Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Brandon loves meeting his readers and hearing about their experiences with his books.
About the Illustrator:
Mike Walton has been a professional illustrator for more than twenty years. He earned his B.A. in Illustration from art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. He’s worked in animation, comic books, web comics, trading cards, and all manner of media throughout his career. Smarter Than a Monster is his debut children’s book. He currently resides in Southern California and considers himself a nerd who loves visiting Disneyland attending the San Diego Comic Con.
Publisher Synopsis
No monster wants you to read this book. The more you know about monsters, the more you will know how to defeat them.
Little kids have big fears, which they often imagine to be scary creatures, like monsters. But this book helps explain how knowing “Monster Facts” can help kids outwit them.
Want to avoid monsters?
Fact: Monsters love dirt and grime, so when faced with two kids, the monster will choose the dirty one every time.
And if toys and clothes are all over the floor, you may get ambushed by a mess-loving monster.
Survival Tip: Take baths and keep your room clean.
Smarter Than a Monster will arm young readers with practical advice in this innovative and imaginative parenting tool that teaches common sense and positive and healthy habits.
Advance Praise/Endorsements:
“A smart intro to surviving monster encounters. I wish I’d had this book before I met my first fog giant.” – Seth Sorenson, Protector of Fablehaven
“Aims to diffuse the anxiety of imagined horrors at bedtime. The way to banish monsters, the text sensibly suggests, is for kids to arm themselves with knowledge about their characteristics, behaviors, and weaknesses. As neon-bright cartoons show children demonstrating the dos and don’ts of dealing with the impish beasts, Mull provides monstrous attributes largely aimed toward ensuring that children practice sterling habits.” – Publishers Weekly
My Review
Smarter Than A Monster: A Survival Guide is exactly what you’d hope for in a picture book from Brandon Mull, the author of Fablehaven — it’s kooky and fun and filled with imaginative, vibrantly colored illustrations of sundry monstrous creatures.
Smarter Than A Monster reads like a children’s practical guide to monsters, but its content turns out to be as instructive about hygiene and good habits as monster survival. Older kids will figure out the agenda pretty quickly, but they’ll likely grin and admire the humorous set up. And hey, kids need to learn good habits, right? So why not spice things up by adding monsters for good measure?
For the artwork, author Mull has tapped illustrator Mike Walton, who makes his picture book debut here. Walton’s monsters are zany and whimsical and, in the eyes of a young child, just creepy enough without being frightening.
From the monster-covered end papers to the endorsement from Seth Sorenson on the back cover, Smarter Than A Monster: A Survival Guide is an inventive, hilarious common-sense guide that should make imparting lessons to your kids less horrifying and more humorous.
— Dawn Teresa
Verdict
5 of 5 Hearts. A Mirthful Guide To Monsters and Manners!
Buy the Book
*Disclosure of Material Connection: I would like to thank Shadow Mountain for providing me a copy of Smarter Than A Monster. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
ReadLove 