Monster Chefs (Hardback) - Common

by Brian Anderson

The horribly horrible monster king summoned his four equally horrible chefs.

"I am tired of eating only eyeballs and ketchup," roared the king.
"Find me something new to eat or you will find yourselves on my menu!"

Trembling with fear, they each set off in a different direction to look for something truly scrumptious. But what, besides eyeballs and ketchup, could a monster king possibly want to eat? A rabbit? A fish? A snake? What one finally brings back may change dinnertime in the kingdom forever.

A Neal Porter Book

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Monsters, Food, Humor, Halloween, Cooking

Unknown Binding

First published March 18, 2014

About the author

Brian Anderson is the creator of the upcoming graphic novels and animated series “Sophie”, based on his syndicated comic, “Dog eat Doug”.

He is also the author of The Conjurers trilogy (Rise of the Shadow, Hunt for the Lost, and Fight of the Fallen) as well as the picture books Nighty Night, Sleepy Sleeps; The Prince’s New Pet; and Monster Chefs. He lives in North Carolina with his family, which includes a herd of rescued dogs and cats.

Visit www.brianandersonwriter.com for free books.

Reviews

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yeah, yeah, I'm a jerk for not loving a book co-written by a five-year-old. Heard it all before.

The thing is, this starts out really well: "The king happened to be a horribly horrible monster, which made him an excellent king" Wonderful beginning!
The ending involved eyeballs so is obviously also delightful.
It's the middle that tripped my things up.
I understand why there is repetition but I would have liked different answers from the different delectables encountered and I got bored and barely even looked at those parts. This is a kid's book and I couldn't be bothered to read the middle because it bored me? Dude, that's really bad.

Personally, I would have liked the illustrations to have been darker. Not scarier but darker. There's so much white space, light colors and, to me, a horribly horrible monster king would have more gray, more shadows, more...dark all around. I also bemoaned the lack of detail; I imagined what this would have looked like had it been a Mercer Mayer book: way more fun and interesting.
It's like grown-ups are scared of pictures of monsters scaring the little children. That is what pictures of monsters ARE FOR. I swear, if the current generation grows up to be unimaginative and boring? Oh, I don't know what I'll do. Move to some other place where kids are allowed to be safely scared witless, I guess.

Back to the book. It's a fun idea that tumbles into an ok story with ok pictures. Everyone who likes to feed their children happy funtime, scary-lite stories will love it.

[stevie jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The monster king is tired of eating the same old boring foods, so he has his chefs go out on a quest to find something interesting and tasty for him to eat.

[KC · Rating 2 out of 5]

A funny tale of monsters, eyeballs, ketchup and cupcakes!

[Amy Fournier · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Actual rating 3.5 stars

What a fun book this one was!! I was a little worried about the whole monster thing because my daughter gets scared easily, but she really loved this one. The Monster King is not very nice and he orders this chefs to go find him something new to eat or he will eat them. I liked seeing the different things that they brought back and what The King thought about them.

Each chef goes a different direction to find something for The King. They are all on the verge of giving up when they stumble upon something. Though, when they bring it back, it is not acceptable to The King. When they think the last chef is not going to return, he finally does. He has something that will change the kingdom. It also changes The King.

The King is more than pleased with what the last chef brought back and he actually dances around. My daughter found this hilarious. She also knew that it wasn't very nice of The King to want to eat the other monster chefs because they didn't bring him back food that he wanted. This one was cute, but a little on the gruesome side for girly girls like my daughter. This book also contains a really fun recipe in the back for Eyeball Cupcakes. My daughter keeps begging to make them.

*An advanced copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive any compensation.

[Sara Grochowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

When the horribly horrible monster king grows tired of only eating eyeballs and ketchup, his four chefs set off to find something new to please his palate - or be eaten themselves. One by one, the chefs return home, each having been foiled by a clever rabbit, fish, or snake. As three of the chefs smother themselves in ketchup, the fourth chef returns to the kingdom with an innovative (and sweet!) surprise that saves the day! A monstrous tale filled with creativity and cupcakes, MONSTER CHEFS is sure to make monsters of all ages smile.

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

The monster king is tired of eating eyeballs and ketchup so challenges his four chefs to find him something else to eat. Each sets out in a different direction to seek new food. Three find something but the "food" tricks them so they come home and prepare to be eaten. The fourth brings back a new chef who bakes an amazing new food for the king. From then on, the monsters enjoy eyeball cupcakes and live a bit happier life.
The illustrations are fun but the story falls a bit flat.
Love that the recipe for eyeball cupcakes is included at the end.

[Janeen · Rating 5 out of 5]

We enjoy this off beat story, from the ketchup endorsement, to the monsters heading in the four cardinal directions, to the repetition "As far as a monster can see..." which the kids love to say with me each time. And equally, the kids love the vegan cupcake recipe at the back of the book, which I think is kind of bland, but we've made a dozen times and is fun to decorate.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was kind of bizarre. There are monster chefs who cook for a monster king, but he doesn't want to eat eyeballs and ketchup anymore, so he tells them to find something else or he will eat them. I thought it was disgusting, but my daughter thought it was funny.

[Haaley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This fun book was creative and exciting. The monsters were very different and unique and the story was silly.
I personally liked it a lot.

[Taralee Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter (age 5) checks this out of the library any time she sees it! Super cute book!

[Kelsey Doll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ooh this one was fun. Lots of fun voices to do during a storytime.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book through the GoodReads First Reads giveaways.

My three year old son could not wait for me to read this book to him. I told him we would read it after lunch and he kept asking me every five minutes to read it to him as he was really attracted to the cover. When we finally sat down to read the story, my son was still and captivated through the whole reading. That is quite an accomplishment. The illustrations are wonderful, full of color and entertaining. The story is cute and kept the attention of my three year old. He has already requested a few encore readings. I would definitely recommend this book to any child between the ages of 3 and 7.

[Jennifer Strong · Rating 3 out of 5]

When the monster king wants his chefs to serve him something other than eyeballs and ketchup they set out to fulfill his wish. Unfortunately, three return empty handed. Their fate lies in the last chefs hands... Did he find something new and delicious for the king to eat?

This book is probably best for kids six years old and up. Younger children might not quite understand that it's okay for monsters to eat eyeballs, but an older child would find it silly. I like the sketched illustrations and the ending was pretty cute! It even included a recipe, which I think kids would enjoy making after reading the story.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

The monster king has grown tired of the same old food and sends his 4 chefs to seek out a new dish. The chefs head in all different directions and encounter seemingly perfect dishes that all warn if you eat them, you will become them. It is the 4th chef though who brings back a pastry chef who helps the monsters discover cupcakes!

Reads like a modern day fairytale making this a fresh read aloud for PreK-2+, especially because the monsters are less scary, more odd, and at times reminiscent of the Monsters Inc. crowd.

[Go · Rating 5 out of 5]

My kids had me read this several times and at the end of the book there is a recipe for Eyeball Cupcakes which inspired my kids to cook. It was so funny to them that the monsters only ever ate eyeballs and ketchup. The Monster King summoned his four chefs and threatened them to find him something new to eat or they would end up on the menu. When three of them were unlucky I was surprised by their blind loyalty to their King. They willingly resigned themselves to return home to be prepped, served, and eaten; in fact three of them even doused themselves in ketchup. Ridiculous Monstrosity!

[Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Age: Toddler-Kindergarten
Food: Cupcakes

I feel like this book had a lot of potential but fell short on the somewhat boring illustrations and the developing (or stagnant) plot. It appears as though Anderson was trying to imitate Axe Cop (both books are co-created with child and son) but Anderson was too controlling of his child's imagination.

I do like that the monsters only eat eyeballs and ketchup. No words were truer said by a child.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another cute story that my kids enjoy. Not surprisingly, my son seems most interested in it. And he’s particularly excited about the recipe in the back for “Eyeball Cupcakes” — no, I haven’t made them. Maybe around Halloween? We’ll see. The illustrations are cute, too — especially when we consider that these monsters eat eyeballs and ketchup! It’s not one of my absolute favorites, but my kids like it enough for me to call it a keeper! :)

[Asho · Rating 3 out of 5]

My four-year-old picked this book out and then ended up being a little nervous about it. He seemed amused when we read it together, but then asked a bunch of questions about monsters, and what they eat, and whether they are real, and do they eat people, etc. He asked to bring it home from the library but then we only read it again once more. My 1-year-old didn't understand it at all, of course! :-)

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eyeballs and ketchup are on the menu ..... AGAIN! Well, the king has had enough and sends his chefs out to find a new delicacy but the chefs find out that not all edible things want to be eaten. What to do, cause if they don't bring back something yummy THEY'RE gonna be dinner. Really cute twist at the end. Kids loved this one.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a delightful read for young children, which, while fun, also left me with the sentiment "gross" at the end, haha. It is fun, and great for all children because of its gender neutrality, repetition, and wonderful pictures. The recipe at the end of the book makes the story come alive! It is one that I look forward to sharing with my own children someday.

[Christen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has a "traditional storytelling" feel to me and I could see acting this out for a school age storytime. The monster king is tired of eating ketchup covered eyeballs and sends his four chefs to the four ends of the earth to find him something new a tasty to eat. Three are tricked by their animal entrees, but the last monster brings a surprise that changes monster diets everywhere.

[Steph · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was strange. The idea is okay, maybe even super cute, but the illustrations look like they are sketched and were never completely finished. I liked the beginning and end but was bored during the middle of the story.

And the font was not appealing. If they could have fixed a few things this could have been awesome!

[Rebecca Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this would be a great selection for an older reader (1st or 2cnd grade). The bright colors and rich, complex illustration were AWESOME. The story itself might be a little much for sensitive readers with the threat of being eaten being a major theme and, of course, eating eyeballs. A great book for a monster story time to be paired with the eyeball cupcake recipe in back!

[Jenn C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Monster Chefs was a cute read, perfect for the 5-8 crowd and excellent for a group read-aloud. The monsters were fuzzy and cute - no scariness here. Plenty of humour, but also the repetition that preschoolers love.

[Kelsey Sant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Monster Chefs is as an excellent book to read around Halloween. The thing that makes this book great is the adorable and creative drawings of the monsters. This would be an excellent book to have children do an art project off of where they draw their own monster and his/her favorite food. The plotline is basic, but fun. Great for younger students!

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was slightly worried that it was going to get scary when they started talking about eating the monsters. The girls loved the ending. Don't know if I want to add it to the shelf but I would check it out in the library again

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. It did have a difficult time keeping my attention even being a kids book. Again, just one of those books that I thought the storyline was "a dime a dozen", but the illustrations were adorable.

[Marcie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree that this has the tradional literature feel and the language does make for an easy read aloud. Might make a fun read, especially if you feel like making cupcakes. May try it with kids thia week.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

great art and clever story for monster lovers in pre-k/k. Plus a recipe at the end!

[Nancy Jo Lambert · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun book that will really be appealing to those silly younger boys who love all things monster.