There Are Monsters Everywhere

Mercer Mayer
Dial Books for Young Readers (2005)
ISBN 9780803706217
Reviewed by Conner Agurene (age 3) and Mom for Reader Reviews (12/07)

At some point in his or her life, every kid growing up wonders if there are monsters lurking about. Our hero knows there are monsters in his house, even though they hide when Mom or Dad is around. But one day, our hero finds a solution that gives him confidence to face down any monster.

“Conner, did you like the book?”
“Yes!”
“What did you like about it?”
“I liked everything. All the monsters!”
“Are you scared of monsters?”
“ No, monsters are not anywhere . . . They are somewhere, but it aren’t scary.”
“Do you have a favorite monster?”
“I like all of them. The one with the duck was funny.”
“Would you like to take karate?”
“Yes, because I like the punching.”
“Would you take out the trash for Mommy?”
“No, because I don’t want to see any monsters.”

Parent’s comments:

Mercer Mayer has a delightful way of treating a very scary and serious subject for little kids. Though there WERE monsters everywhere (my son loved pointing them out), they were all drawn with personable characteristics, such as wearing broken wristwatches, band-aids, braces, and glasses.  His illustrations in “There Are Monsters Everywhere” are very humorous and help ease the scariness of monsters.  I look forward to reading his other work, “There’s a Nightmare in My Closet.”

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