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Title: Meet the Monsters by Jane Yolen, Heidi E. Y. Stemple, Patricia Ludlow, Heidi Elizabeth Stemple-Yolen ISBN: 0-8027-8441-0 Publisher: Walker & Co Pub. Date: October, 1996 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.95

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Average Customer Rating: 3 (3 reviews)

Rating: 1
Summary: From Concerned Parent - Take Caution
Comment: This book is found in most libraries in the "easy reading area". It is designed for readers between the ages of 4 to 8. The book attempts to describe various monsters and ways to defend against them; however, the text, despite being a poor example of proper grammar and extremely difficult to follow, is really a very grotesque and violent description of how these monsters terrify, kill and devour innocent children. For example: The text states how a vampire "drinks blood", "your blood", "from your neck where the big vein beats under your chin", "the Jugular". It states that the Sphinx "...eats flesh", "Human flesh". Referring to Frankenstein's Monster, it states that Frankenstein was "made like a patchwork quilt, with bits and pieces of dead people all sewn together". The text states that you may see the Gargoyle "...scratching itself in nasty places." Finally, in the description of the Ogre and Ogress, the text reads "they like to eat people. They like people burgers, and people meatloaf, and especially people pizza." The illustrations alone are more than enough to be quite concerned about. The vampire illustration depicts a wide-eyed Dracula type monster with blood dripping from his fangs and an equally grotesque vampire bat perched on his shoulder. In front of this monster is an unsuspecting fear stricken young girl on her knees in a graveyard. The illustration of the Ogre and Ogress shows the face of a fear struck young boy as he watches a man, a woman and a young boy eat ground up human flesh, complete with eye balls. Despite the fictitious nature of the book, the illustrations and text are clearly inappropriate for the books intended audience. Both the text and illustrations are more apt to instill fear in young children rather than to stimulate their imagination. Processing the real from the imagined in the mind of a young child is often times a difficult task which usually requires parental influence to assist children with the distinction. This book does nothing to assist parents with that responsibility. I do not recommend this book to any audience. A big disappointment by a quality author and illustrator.

Rating: 4
Summary: and how to get rid of them
Comment: My 5 year old son loves this book. He brought it to school with him and it was all he and his friends could talk about. The monsters are scarey, but it does tell how to get rid of them, which is very important to the younger set. I think my son was also fascinated by the stories behind the monsters. At his age he knows only some of these by name and few by reputation. It actually took the edge off of some of the monsters. Fear of the unknown is worse than fear of the known.

The variety of monsters, not just halloween favorites, was also a plus. The Loch Ness monster, the Sphinx, Medusa are each a perfect jumping off spot to talk about geography or history. I found it fun too.

Rating: 4
Summary: Great fifth grade library reference lesson
Comment: This review is aimed towards teachers and librarians. Meet the Monsters by Jane Yolen and her daughter Heidi Stemple might actually be scary to 3rd graders because of the vivid illustrations, but fifth graders are delighted - the scarier the better. The authors collaborated on the book through the Internet via e-mail rather than working together in person, and I think the idea of that kind of collaboration is an important way to illustrate yet another use for the Net. Unusual for a picture book, it has a bibliography. Students can use their card or electronic catalog to search for books on the bibliography and hopefully grasp the idea of research as a skein of knowledge. Finally, the presentation of monsters from so many different cultures can lead to other folktales or research on a specific monster as well as the creation of new monster stories. Like so many of Jane Yolen's books, Meet the Monsters touches on human emotions, fear and humor. Her inclusion of monster fighting methods can also provide discussion of how one does protect oneself in a scary world.