How to Catch a Monster

by Adam Wallace, Andy Elkerton (Illustrator)

Overview

From the creators of the New York Times bestselling How to Catch a Leprechaun and How to Catch an Elf!

There's a monster in my closet,
with claws, and teeth, and hair,
and tonight, I'm going to scare him!
He lives just right through there...

Get ready to laugh as a young ninja heads into the closet to meet the monster that's been so scary night after night! But what if things aren't what they seem and our monster isn't scary at all? What if our ninja hero is about to make a friend of strangest sort?

If you dare to travel beyond the closet door and into the land of the monsters... you might just find the very best reward of all. But with robots, lava pie, and a smattering of traps—catching monsters is no easy business!

Is there a monster living in your closet? Are you brave enough to catch him? Parents and children will love sharing this fun and inventive picture book, which reminds us that things aren't always as scary as they seem.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781492662907
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Publication date:	09/05/2017
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	448,410
Product dimensions:	10.20(w) x 9.50(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Adam Wallace is a children's writer and cartoonist living in Australia. He is the author of How to Catch a Leprechaun, How to Catch the Easter Bunny, and How to Catch the Tooth Fairy.

Andy Elkerton is a children's book illustrator based in the United Kingdom.

Editorial Reviews

"The rhyming text flows well and the bright illustrations are giggle-inducing, especially when the monster does something VERY unexpected." - Kiss the Book

From the Publisher

2017-07-15
When a kid gets the part of the ninja master in the school play, it finally seems to be the right time to tackle the closet monster. "I spot my monster right away. / He's practicing his ROAR. / He almost scares me half to death, / but I won't be scared anymore!" The monster is a large, fluffy poison-green beast with blue hands and feet and face and a fluffy blue-and-green-striped tail. The kid employs a "bag of tricks" to try to catch the monster: in it are a giant wind-up shark, two cans of silly string, and an elaborate cage-and-robot trap. This last works, but with an unexpected result: the monster looks sad. Turns out he was only scaring the boy to wake him up so they could be friends. The monster greets the boy in the usual monster way: he "rips a massive FART!!" that smells like strawberries and lime, and then they go to the monster's house to meet his parents and play. The final two spreads show the duo getting ready for bed, which is a rather anticlimactic end to what has otherwise been a rambunctious tale. Elkerton's bright illustrations have a TV-cartoon aesthetic, and his playful beast is never scary. The narrator is depicted with black eyes and hair and pale skin. Wallace's limping verses are uninspired at best, and the scansion and meter are frequently off. Only for dedicated fans of the series. (Picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews