Monday, October 25, 2010

136 - Monsters Eat Whiny Children; Bruce Eric Kaplan



















"Once there were two perfectly delightful children who were going through a TERRIBLE phase, which is to say they whined ALL day and night."
Henry and Eve were warned by their father that monsters eat whiny children, but they didn't believe it, so they continued to whine. So along comes a monster who stole them away to his lair on the bad side of town. 

What happens next is that the monsters all have different ideas about the best meal to make out of Henry and Eve.......a whiny-child salad for dinner? other monster neighbors had other ideas.......whiny - child burgers, cake, Indian food? The monsters finally agree on simple whiny-child cucumber sandwiches on fluffy white bread.
However, before the monsters get a chance to enjoy their agreed upon whiny-child meal, the children find a way to escape, finding their way back home and hopefully learning a valuable lesson. 

A cute cautionary tale with great cartoon style drawings in mostly black and white, peppered with pastels.  The book is written and illustrated by the author who draws cartoons for the New Yorker magazine, and has also written for the television shows Seinfeld and Six Feet Under. The book is intended for ages preschool - grade 3, however,  like Hansel and Gretal, Little Red Riding Hood, and other children's books with a villain in the picture, the story needs to be explained in a way that younger children are not frightened by this tale. RECOMMENDED
4/5 stars - Library Book

22 comments:

  1. Great review - I love the title!

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  2. This sounds perfect for my 5 year old niece! We constantly have to tell her "stop whining and use your words" because it just makes these noises when she is upset about something. I think I'll have to track it down before Christmas :)

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  3. I love that title - it's totally cracking me up! Glad to hear it lived up to its expectations.

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  4. Whiny-child cucumber sandwiches on fluffy white bread sounds cute and I bet the illustration to match is perfect. The front illustration reminds me of Quentin Blake.

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  5. Very cute book indeed and you are right, we most definitely don't want to scare the kids away :)

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  6. I think that would pretty scary for mini-humans, even with the explaining.

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  7. I agree with your take on this. Cute as it is, it needs to be explained to young readers. I like the sound of this one!

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  8. LOL! Sounds fantastic! I'm considering buying it for my whiny children :-)

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  9. Sounds awesome! I can think of whiny kids it would be perfect for!

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  10. You wouldn't think cannabalism and kids would go together in this day and age.

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  11. Even though this is a children's book, this looks like a fun read. Like a lot of people who have commented so far, I love the title too! Great review.

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  12. Monsters eat whiny children - if only this were true.

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  13. This might make a great book for my two teenagers, as they are in a whiny phase right now. I am sure that it wouldn't have the same impact as it would on a 3 year old, but since their father and I love sarcasm, this might just do the trick! Thanks for posting this one. I love it!

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  14. This must be a very cool reading. The cover is fantastic! :-)

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  15. The title of this book is fantastic! It's such a creative story, like a more modern hansel & gretel. I've always enjoyed Kaplan's cartoons & will definitely look this book up the next time I'm out at a bookstore to see the illustrations.

    Great review! Thank you.
    ~ Amy

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  16. Oh my gosh, this book looks fabulous! I wish my kids were younger.

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  17. Hmmmm...I have a whiny child that would be in terrible danger of being eaten by these monsters!! But that same whiny child tends to believe stuff like this and could turn into a whiny child who has terrible nightmares so I'd have to review this first before reading it with him.

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  18. I love it!!!! Wish my boys were little again!

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  19. Sounds like a good one -- and the author has some great credentials

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  20. This looks really cute. I'll keep this in mind for my nephew.

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  21. This sounds like a really fun book! I'm going to have to add it to my to-buy pile for my two older daughters and the grandbebes!

    Julie @ Knitting and Sundries

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