Beast

by Susan Meddaugh

Anna's family plans to destroy a big, furry beast that comes out of the forest, but Anna is not convinced it's dangerous.

Genres: Picture Books

32 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1981

About the author

Susan Meddaugh was born and raised in Montclair, New Jersey. She graduated from Wheaton College, where she studied French literature and fine arts. After working briefly with an advertising agency in New York, she moved to Boston and worked at a publishing company for ten years, first as a designer, then art editor, and finally as art director. While there, she did the illustrations for Good Stones (Houghton Mifflin) by Anne Epstein, and then decided to strike out on her own as a freelance illustrator and creator of children's books. Since that time, Susan has written and illustrated many popular books for children, including Martha Speaks, which was chosen as a New York Times Best Illustrated Book for 1992. In 1998 she was awarded the New England Book Award, given by the New England Booksellers Association to recognize a body of work. Her work also was acknowledged with a New York Times Best Illustrated Award. She lives in Sherborn, Massachusetts. - from HMHBooks.com

Susan Meddaugh, a New England Book Award Winner, adores Halloween and calls it "THE major Holiday" in her household, in part, she says "because it's the only time in the year when you get to be someone else." - from Candlewick.com

Reviews

[Louie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple, yet intelligent fable about a young girl wiser than the adults in her life, who after discovering a large creature, seeks to learn about them, while her family prefers to quickly judge and demonize the creature. I quite enjoyed it.

[JS · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anna's family all see a beast and conjecture on how scary and horrible it must be. Anna, however, wants to learn more.

I like how the beast says, "Mmoomph," when Anna falls on it. And when Anna says, "I'd like to help, but you are so mean and dangerous that you must be destroyed."