From the Publisher
Praise for Mary McScary:
A Barnes and Noble Halloween National Storytime Pick!
"[A] trove of ideas for mischief-making young readers." — Kirkus Reviews
Praise for The Little Shop of Monsters:
2016 Children's Choice Book Award Winner
"Frightfully funny. Children will scream for repeated visits to The Little Shop of Monsters." — School Library Journal
"Readers are sure to visit this shop again and again for its fantastical creatures and its slightly sinister tone." — Kirkus Reviews
"Readers looking for friendly, cuddly monsters should shop elsewhere — as Stine ominously reminds readers, 'When you come to the Little Shop of Monsters, you don't choose a monster... a monster chooses YOU!'" — Publishers Weekly
Kirkus Reviews
2023-04-12
The creators of Goosebumps and Arthur team up for a monster of a joke book.
Two monster friends, one big, one little, perch on a tree branch. Funny decides to improve glum Hunny’s mood with some irresistible jokes. Hunny remains unimpressed and resolutely grumpy, but Funny increasingly ups the ante, assuring Hunny more and more firmly that the best gags are yet to come. Funny tells a dozen jokes in total. Some are incoherent, while others are mildly amusing; all but one feature monsters, many involving monstrous appetites: “What’s the monster’s favorite school lunch?” “The teacher!” Funny believes that each one is hilarious and cracks themself up, but Hunny is unmoved. The impasse is resolved with one moment of slapstick: Funny jumps up and down on the branch in frustration, then becomes unbalanced, falls off the limb, and lands in the water below with a huge splash. Hunny thinks that the pratfall is hilarious and finally guffaws, good humor restored. Many readers will find the so-bad-they’re-good jokes and the ending satisfyingly absurd. Blocky collage illustrations of varied textures and cheerful colors, set against a flat background, carry readers through the text; the monsters are toothy, but most are reasonably friendly looking. Touches of red provide accents. Large text and mostly simple words will appeal to beginning readers. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Comic fun for those who appreciate farce—or monsters. (Picture book. 5-9)
