Tag: Monsters

The Monster Hypothesis by Romily Bernard

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Rating: 5 out of 5.

What I Loved: The main character Kick is EVERYTHING! She is adorable and funny and full of energy and smarts! I loved her adventure and was so glad she was written the way she was. She is the perfect example of being who you really are.

How I Felt: The Monster Hypothesis has such a fun story that had me so interested in the story. The main character, Kick is into science and I really loved how that was woven into the story. We always need more science in our children’s lives and this book makes science so fun!

To Read or Not To Read: This book is perfect for middle graders that enjoy a little bit of spooky and mystery! My third grader can’t wait to start this one!

Where To Find This Book:

Amazon Amazon Kindle Goodreads

Kick is starting a new school in a new town while she temporarily moves in with her grandmother, a fake psychic. After a trio of mean girls set their targets on her, she tells everyone that she is a psychic like her grandmother.

With her newly exposed (and fake) abilities, people turn to her to help with the town’s curse. Every 100 years, the town’s children will turn into monsters. Believing this curse to be fake, she tries to figure out this mystery. The clues, though, begin to make it look like this curse might actually be real. Using her science knowledge and her friend’s help, she creates theories and tests them to figure out this curse.

The Monster Hypothesis by Romily Bernard
Audience: Children’s Middle Grade
Page Count: 304 pages
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Pub. Date: December 10, 2019

Romily Bernard graduated from Georgia State University with a literature degree. Since then, she’s worked as a riding instructor, cell-phone salesperson, personal assistant, horse groomer and exercise rider, accounting assistant, and, during a very dark time, customer service representative. . . . She’s also, of course, now a YA novelist.

So don’t let anyone tell you a BA degree will keep you unemployed.

Romily currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia, and Find Me is her debut novel. It placed first in the 2011 YA Unpublished Maggie Awards (given by Georgia Romance Writers) and won the Golden Heart Award for YA Romance from the Romance Writers of America in 2012.

I was provided an advanced reader’s copy of this book for free. I am leaving my honest, unbiased review voluntarily.

Mike the Monster by Tom Story

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Rating: 4 out of 5.

My Thoughts:

What I Loved: The monster in this story is cute and my daughter found him adorable. She loved how he would hide just out of sight and she was so happy that he just wanted to help at the end.

How I Felt: This was a cute story focusing on the loss of something important. The little girl Sophie, was so sad to have lost her special ring. My daughter was able to understand Sophie’s sadness, which made her appreciate the happiness when it was found. There were some things that I felt were unclear in the story. There is something like a black shadow monster in Sophie’s room and I think the blue monster, Mike, scares it away, but that was never made very clear in the book. Additionally, I’m not really sure why Mike is trying to help Sophie, where he came from, or how he is connected to the ring. Overall though, this was a cute story, that was fun for my daughter to read.

To Read or Not To Read: This is a good story for a pre-k to early elementary school.

What’s This Book About Anyway?

Sophie is on a walk in the forest with her parents and has lost the ring her nanny gave her. After hours of searching they are unable to find it. They return home, but Sophie feels like something is there watching her over the next day. That night, she discovers Mike, the monster and he takes her back to the forest. He is able to help her find her special ring and return her home.

Where to Find This Book:

Amazon

Goodreads

Footnotes:

I received an advance review copy of this book for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

#shejustlovesbooks #shejustlovesbooksforkids #mikethemonster #tomstory #kidslit #kidsbook #childrensbook #bookreview #bookblog

The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch

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Rating: 5 out of 5.

A tiny bit of warning. This is a kid’s book review, so I usually tell you the moral of the story, and what happens throughout the book, but if for some reason, you don’t want that spoiler on a kid’s book….This is a Girls Rule kind of excellent book.

My Thoughts:

What I Loved: I LOVED the Girl Power stuff happening in this book! The very last few sentences had me jaw-dropped and then applauding. I am not even kidding.

How I Felt: Oh my gosh you guys!!! This is the 40th anniversary of this book, but it’s my first time reading it. And to tell you the truth, I think I loved it more than my daughter. It definitely spoke to me and I “got” it more, but she’ll get there. I was just going along with the book, watching this girl outsmart this dragon over and over so that she can rescue her prince. And then she goes to rescue him, and he’s like “Go clean up and come back” WHAT!!!! Her response though, you’ll have to read the book, but it was so perfect.

To Read or Not To Read: Every little girl needs to own this book. It’s fabulous. And every little boy should own it too. Loved this book. We WILL be picking up an available copy in February!

What’s This Book About Anyway?

A beautiful princess is engaged to a handsome prince. They are happy, but then a dragon comes and ruins their castle and all of her clothes, and steals her prince. She finds herself a paper bag to wear as clothing and goes after that dragon. He keeps telling her to go away and come back tomorrow so he can eat her, but she is persistent and finally gets him to come out and do all these things so he’s utterly exhausted. She is able to slip right past him and calls to her prince to come down. He takes one look at her messy hair and paper bag dress and tells her to go clean up and come back. So…go check out the book to find out.

Footnotes:

I was provided this ARC in by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

The Paper Bag Princess will be published on February 4, 2020.

#netgalley #thepaperbagprincess #kidslit #girlsrule #whoruntheworld #girlpower #shejustlovesbooks #shejustlovesbooksforkids

Monsters Are Afraid of Babies by Nicholas Tana

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This book was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher, New Classic Books in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

What My Child Thought:

The illustrations in this book really captivated my daughter. She was so interested in each page and wanted to look at everything over and over. She loved the story too! She thought it was so funny that monsters would be afraid of babies!

What I Thought:

The illustrations really were quite great. The monsters were created in a way that made them clearly monsters, but not scary at all. The story was fun and the illustrations were perfect for each page. The story is short, and the sentences on each page are short, making it a fun, quick book.

What’s This Book About Anyway?

This book teaches children that monsters are afraid of babies. The story takes you through all the things that babies do that make monsters feel frightened like sticky messes, smelly things, snot, and so much more. It’s a cute read for any young child!

Footnotes:

#netgalley #monstersareafraidofbabies #nicholastana #childrensbook #childrensbooks #shejustlovesbooks #shejustlovesbooksforkids #bookblog #bookreview

Washington D.C. Monsters: A Search-And-Find Book by Rebecca K Moeller

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Rating: 5 out of 5.

This ARC was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

What My Kids Thought:

Both of my children have read this book now and have had so much fun. They both enjoy the illustration so much. The way the monsters are hidden on each page is thoughtful and fun. Some blend into the scenery while others are disguised as humans, making you really look at the pages.

What I Thought:

The book was written to really take a walk through Washington D.C. and experience the highlights. I wish there had been a bit more information just because I was interested, however, it really was the right amount for children. I guess I need to find an adult version of this book now!

The locations are different on each page, some inside, some outside, making each page so interesting. I had a lot of fun finding the monsters on each page too! This is a fun book that children will enjoy reading over and over!

Footnotes:

#netgalley #washingtonDC #shejustlovesbooks #shejustlovesbooksforkids #kidsbooksreview #bookblog #bookreview #kidsbooks

My Monster Friends and Me by Annie Sarac

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Rating: 4 out of 5.

A copy of My Monster Friends and Me was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review and opinion. This book will publish on Jan 1, 2020.

What My Kids Thought:

The illustrations in this book were so fun and the kids just loved it! I wasn’t able to turn the page until they had fully absorbed every detail! They were very interested in the idea of naming our monsters so they are not scary anymore. We talked about this quite a bit after we finished the book, so the idea did stick with them for a while!

What I Thought:

This book does a great job of giving children a tool to overcome their fears. It is discussed multiple times to help them remember what they can do. The illustrations were really great. I was even looking at them extra long just to take in all the details! The rhymes are times, a bit disjointed, but we forgave that because the book was so fun!

What’s This Book About Anyway?

A young boy goes through some of the monsters in his life, which are just what every little kid is scared of, a shadow, a monster under the bed, etc. He shows us that if we confront them and give them a name, they won’t be scary anymore.

Footnotes:

Thank you to NetGalley and the Sourcebooks Kids for providing this ARC to me in exchange for my honest review.

#netgalley #mymonsterfriendsandme #anniesarac #shejustlovesbooks #shejustlovesbooksforkids #sourcebooks