Reviews for After-school monster
Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
Ages 5-7. A simple, useful picture book about a contemporary childhood concern. When latch-key child Luisa returns home from school, she is met by an enormous monster who is also an unusual poet: "You're my sweet, my treat, my morsel good to eat." After the creature shouts more threats and trashes her apartment, Luisa--who has tried reasoning with the monster--finally gets tough: "I'm strong . . . inside where you can't get me." The final scene shows her Wild Things-like doll lying atop the trash heap. Paintings that are lively and colorful play up the engaging mayhem. (Reviewed Oct. 15, 1991)068810116XJulie Corsaro
Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Returning from school to her supposedly empty home, Luisa finds a monster who announces: ``I'm going to gnash you! I'm going to bash you! I'm going to crash you!'' Growing progressively larger, the creature chases Luisa around the house until she jumps on a kitchen chair and proclaims that her tormenter can't hurt her, because she is ``strong inside, where you can't get me!'' Now it is the monster who is screaming for help, as Luisa's bravery causes it to shrink to a tiny size. Finally, the triumphant girl tosses the monster in the trash. While Moss's mildly entertaining tale may reassure some particularly intrepid youngsters, it will very likely reinforce the fears of more fainthearted latchkey kids. Though this monster is anything but realistic-looking, the idea of suggesting dangers to youngsters home alone seems ill-chosen. Ages 5-up. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Fiction: PB Every day Luisa comes home from school to find a monster in her house. The monster chases her around, threatens to eat her, and messes up the house. Finally, Luisa challenges him, and he backs off, becoming smaller and smaller until Luisa picks him up and tosses him into the garbage. The message that it takes self-confidence to conquer a personal monster weighs heavily on a scanty though well-illustrated story. Horn Rating: Recommended, with minor flaws. Reviewed by: bc (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
Ages 5-7. A simple, useful picture book about a contemporary childhood concern. When latch-key child Luisa returns home from school, she is met by an enormous monster who is also an unusual poet: "You're my sweet, my treat, my morsel good to eat." After the creature shouts more threats and trashes her apartment, Luisa--who has tried reasoning with the monster--finally gets tough: "I'm strong . . . inside where you can't get me." The final scene shows her Wild Things-like doll lying atop the trash heap. Paintings that are lively and colorful play up the engaging mayhem. ~--Julie Corsaro
Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
When Luisa gets home, there's a monster waiting--huge, toothy, and spouting rhymed threats (``I'm going to crunch, to munch, to eat you for my lunch!''). Luisa is truly scared--but also courageous and resourceful. Confronting the monster first with ``the rules,'' then with her own inner strength, and finally with a neat reversal (``You have your monster, and I'm it!''), Luisa dumps him into the garbage and gets her homework done before Mom gets home. A useful extension of a frequent bedtime theme, illustrated with appropriate assertiveness and humor. (Picture book. 4-8)
School Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
PreS-Gr 3-- After school, Luisa meets a towering, fierce purple creature waiting right inside the door of her apartment. ``I'm going to pluck you like a rose. I'm going to chew off your nose. I'm going to gobble up your toes,'' it says. At first she is fearful, then she scolds, and finally she stages a direct confrontation: ``I'm strong too! Strong inside, where you can't get me!'' At that, the monster begins to shrink, and soon he is a limp, purple rag that she tosses in the garbage. The language is lively, playful, and concise. The watercolor-and-ink illustrations convey both mood and action in an attractive and appealing way. While this volume could be faulted for its touch of didacticism, or because children old enough to be alone after school are probably too old to relate to the monster metaphor and/or the picture-book format, on the whole, its virtues outweigh its flaws. It is refreshing to see a story set in a vibrant, Hispanic, inner-city neighborhood that does not focus on poverty or social problems. --Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
