I am once again writing about monster picture books because they are so utterly wonderful and I think it is interesting how monsters are used in literature for all kinds of different purposes; to understand something unknown, put the blame, or even see someone else's perspective. Monster books are really just fun for something that is perceived as so intense in our society I am a huge fan of how they try to make it more light hearted even if the monster is eating your classmates.
Mike Thaler (1989) The Teacher from the Black Lagoon. New York: Scholastic Inc.
This book was a lot of fun and showed how scary the first day of school can be, to get a new home room, to be in a new school, and even get a new teacher that you aren't use to can be kind of terrifying for students. Especially if all they have ever heard are rumors that the teacher can be a real monster! In this story the the main character is going to a new class his teacher Mrs. Green is suppose to be a real monster, she ends up being green, having claws, breathing fire, and eating one of her students to teach fractions. Mrs. Green has all the kids worried they won't make it alive out of their first day.
Mike Thaler (1993) The Principal from the Black Lagoon. New York: Scholastic Inc.
In this book the main character gets sent to the Principal's office for using his teacher's wig to sweep up the room. On his way there he tells stories and things he has heard of what the Principal has done to kids he knows that ended up in the office. Even the walk there is terrifying and he begins to talk about kids that go to her office and never return, kids that have gone there for chewing gum in class and all that is left of her now is a skull. When th main character gets there Mrs. Green (who again isn't a monster) gives him a fair punishment, he ends up leaving the office celebrating because the Principal didn't give him rabbit ears.
I found these books as a series of four and to not do all my book reviews on the same basic message (or at least I could pull out a reoccurring theme from the stories) so for the sake of not sounding redundant I will only type-up about the two I have given a brief summary of. I really found this theme of fear with the unknown and authority in these books, obviously when it came to school. It is a scary time for students when things change around them. Students also are afraid to be punished and of the people that have the ability to punish them, so for course they are going to make up stories and gossip of what happens when you get in trouble. I think that the author did a good job of capturing the essence of being in grade school and being afraid of the uncertain future, whether it being getting a new teacher or going to the principal's office because you did something wrong.
I really enjoyed how the teacher and the principal in both stories were both focused around on the ongoing theme of being afraid of school. Especially how the author, in a way, reminded me of how I felt when I was going into a classroom for a first time or if I got in trouble and was sent to the principal’s office. Because the stories were so refreshing I do think that it would be good to use for parents to read to their children before a first day of school; just so they know that no matter what you think about your teachers they are there to help and when you think they are being really scary it’s most likely because they want you to do better.
Jack Kent (1975) There's No Such thing as a Dragon. New York: Random House, Inc.
This story is about a little boy that awakes and finds a dragon in his bedroom and when he tries to show his mother she doesn't believe him and just tells him, "that there is no such thing as dragons". As the little boy goes about on his normal day the dragon ends up eating things around him, like the boy's breakfast and as the dragon does this he grows bigger and bigger; until he is so big that he can make the house mobile and pretty much where the home as clothing. Once the dragon gets to be this size the mother finally admits he exists, then the dragon shrinks again back to the size of a small dog (which is the size he started as when the mother said he didn't exists).
I think this story is trying to show that the little boy is trying to show his mother something and she refuses to see it, because dragons don’t exists. Because the mother doesn’t notice the dragon it grows to a crazy size so that his mother is forced to notice the giant dragon that now wears the house around his body as he runs after a bread truck. This story could be interpreted to show parents to pay attention to what children have to say before a problem could get out of control. It also could show that kids usually go unnoticed with problems they bring to their busy parents; the mother never noticed a smaller issue that her son was dealing with until it was staring her in the face and running around with her house on it’s back. The story is really more geared (in my opinion) towards parents, for them to take the time to realize what is going on in their kids life. The dragon (monster) in the story was just the issue the little boy wanted his mom to notice.
Tomie dePaola (1998) The Knight and the Dragon. New York: The Putman Berkley Group, Inc.
This story about a young knight and dragon that are both training to fight and kill one another. The two rivals had never met one another before, but just knew the other was bad; so they trained for the fight, make armor, practicing swinging a sword and a tail, until the big day. When the fight came both the knight and the dragon were so prepare that they kept missing each other and after they beat each other up, a young girl (who I think might be a princess) came by and gave the boys a book on how to barbeque. And then they became good friends and started (what looks like) a thriving business.
One of the messages I was able to get from the small text and many pictures in this book is that you should give everyone a chance, even those people that seem to be unlikely friends and with the help of those people you can even do amazing things with those people. Also another thought I drew from the text was how interesting that the author used a little girl to bring the dragon and the young knight together to be friends; it could seem that this young woman is a peacemaker. The boys worked hard on the battle day and the young girl comes to solve the boys’ issue by showing them they have something in common, and that seemed like a very motherly quality. It is a small moment in the book but it is still something I keep thinking about that she was the one; the two rivals didn’t come to the conclusion on their own but it took this young girl to show them the way.
Julia Donaldson (2004) The Gruffalo’s Child. Great Britain: Macmillan Children’s Books
This picture book is about a young Gruffalo that hears stories from her Dad about the Big Bad Mouse that her father has seen only once. The young Gruffalo decides she wants to go out to the woods and find the big bad mouse that guards the woods. Along the way she finds all kinds of animals that live in the woods; a snake, an owl, a fox and then she finally comes up to a mouse! She decides to eat the mouse because he doesn’t look that scary, when she goes over to eat the mouse the mouse asks her to wait because the Big Bad Mouse does exists and he would like to show her. The mouse climbs up into a tree and his shadow frightens the Gruffalo away, where she returns home a little less brave.
I thought it was interesting that in this story the Gruffalo is a little girl and you would never know it by her picture if it weren’t for the little trig doll that identifies the monster as a little girl. If the monster were a boy I wonder if the pictures would have had anything to show that it was a little boy, also would a little boy have gotten a scared of the mouse’s shadow. It is just something to think about because the text kept saying that the Gruffalo was a little girl and the picture showed it because of the little twig doll she carried around, and I think that it was wrong how they made it the little girl that wanted to prove how brave she was to go find the Big Bad Mouse and she also ended up just being afraid of a shadow. The picture of what the Gruffalo looked like could have been more neutral by not having the monster carry around a doll everywhere to constantly remind you she was a girl; I know that it is mentioned in the text but I feel like it was further stressed because of the pictures.
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