ISBN: 9780761300953
Pages: 24
Age Level: Middle Childhood 7-12
Genre: Picture Storybook / Poetry
Rating: 3 stars
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Kid's are always having friendly competitions - who is the tallest, the smartest, the prettiest, the fastest - and monsters are no different. So when a group of the worst of them get together for an evening out, it's not surprising that they decide to have a contest to see which of them is the scariest looking.
Told in verse the Monsters' Test is more appropriate for upper primary and intermediate children. The rhyme is catchy although not always easy to keep the rhythm up. Each monster gets a chance to try and outdo everyone else with lots of heckling from the audience.
In keeping with the monster theme the background images are dark and full of suspense. However the foreground images of the monsters have quite a lot of colour, and the creatures facial expressions and antics make this a book to laugh at and enjoy rather than be scared of. It shows kids that, just like them, other 'creatures' have fun, make fun of each other, love competition and can be scared of the silliest things!!!What a great book about Halloween. I like it although I have to say the sometimes un-rhythmic verse has let it down ... hence only 3 stars. It would be a great poem for senior students poetry competitions. I must admit that it is currently catalogued in our system as 821:Poetry, but I'm thinking it will get more use in our Sophisticated Picture Book section so I'll be changing it before the spine label goes on this week.
I got my copy of The Monsters' Test from the Taradale Primary School library where I work.
You can find a copy at Napier Libraries.
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