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Monster & Son
Romp along with parent and child yetis, werewolves, giant lizards, and more as they stir up some monster-sized fun! Readers big and small, young and old, wild and tame, will roar with laughter and take this book by the horns, teeth, and fur...discovering that monsters and humans aren't so different especially in the ways they love each other."
32 pages, ebook
First published March 29, 2016
1 person is currently reading
73 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
January 6, 2019
The cover alone hauled me to a complete stop, and the inside was spectacular.
In isolation the text is just about a parent's day with their child/son, but Joey Chou's illustrations brilliantly elevate the text, deepen the humour and cater to every monster-loving heart.
Each page features a different parent/child (all who happen to be a different sort of mythical/movie trope monster) just enjoying their day together. The love between parent and child is evident on every page, with plenty for adults/older children reading the text to thoroughly enjoy as well.
Fishing in a stream is subverted in a way that had me laughing aloud - and I laughed throughout the book at the cleverness, illustrations and sly humour.
I'm glad my library introduced me to this brilliance, and my own copy will be finding its way to my Keep Shelf as soon as humanly possible (monsters not withstanding).
Recommended for:
Anyone who loves monsters in their media/lives
Anyone who has small human monsters they like to read to/buy books for
Mythical monsters who like to read after a big day destroying cities and keeping it real
Not recommended for:
Any poor creature without humour or imagination
Those who believe illustrated books should be dry, dull and purely educational (admittedly, these likely come under the first "Not recommended for" group...)
In isolation the text is just about a parent's day with their child/son, but Joey Chou's illustrations brilliantly elevate the text, deepen the humour and cater to every monster-loving heart.
Each page features a different parent/child (all who happen to be a different sort of mythical/movie trope monster) just enjoying their day together. The love between parent and child is evident on every page, with plenty for adults/older children reading the text to thoroughly enjoy as well.
Fishing in a stream is subverted in a way that had me laughing aloud - and I laughed throughout the book at the cleverness, illustrations and sly humour.
I'm glad my library introduced me to this brilliance, and my own copy will be finding its way to my Keep Shelf as soon as humanly possible (monsters not withstanding).
Recommended for:
Anyone who loves monsters in their media/lives
Anyone who has small human monsters they like to read to/buy books for
Mythical monsters who like to read after a big day destroying cities and keeping it real
Not recommended for:
Any poor creature without humour or imagination
Those who believe illustrated books should be dry, dull and purely educational (admittedly, these likely come under the first "Not recommended for" group...)
July 26, 2016
Perfect for monster loving kids, Monster & Son recounts a day in the life of various monster dads and their sons. Cute illustrations add to the fun.
January 18, 2019
How could you not want to read a book with a cover like that? It was the thing that sucked me in first. Then the story along with the illustrations were just perfect.
It comes to show you that maybe we’re all alike after-all.
It comes to show you that maybe we’re all alike after-all.
January 25, 2018
Monsters and their sons spend the day doing fun things. Rhyming text and colorful artwork make this a fun book for little ones.
December 12, 2018
I always knew that Godzilla would be a good dad. ;-)
October 6, 2016
At six months pregnant, I spotted this gem in the library and thought it a perfect book for my hubby to read. And he loved it! Each page depicts a different monster dad (vampire, skeleton, sasquatch, King King, etc.) hanging out with his monster son doing normal dad-son things with a monstery twist (such as a couple humans are terrified trapped in a tree while the sasquatches have a "picnic" ripping apart car and tent hahahaha). The illustrations are detailed and funny and add so much to the simple rhyme that is a dad reminiscing on the fun times he had with son before tucking him in for bed. A charming bedtime story that I think any father-son pair will love!
July 4, 2017
Written in rhyme, lavished in humor, and set in monster land where ghoulish friends abound, monster & son enjoy a boundless day of fun together. They transform into a new kind of monster on every page. They become sea monsters swimming in the ocean, skeletons playing bone in the cemetery, alien monsters with their dog, waiting for the spaceship. They have tickle fights, tackle fights, and battle castle knights; they enjoy doing guy things together. Illustrator Joey Chou uses muted, child-like haunting colors in the background, but the monster faces are always playful, laughing or loving. From a wild day of fun clear into quiet bedtime, where the two hang like vampire bats, this a fun book to share with dad.
February 26, 2019
This is such a clever book, with the text describing typical father/son activities but the art showing all sorts of monsters! So "went fishing in a stream" shows a pair of aquatic creatures underwater (inner-tubers drifting by above) trying to catch fish with a net. The art is graphic and vibrant and fun, and the rhyming text is clear and effective and easy to read. What a great book for a dad at Father's Day or any time of year!
January 17, 2020
Message learned: Turns out that every monster in from a creature feature has a dad.
It was cute, but not with much substance. There were more details in the illustrations, which were enjoyable and covered a plethora of monsters. I was really hoping for something that followed a single monster's relationship with his son rather than a page for each separate monster pair.
It was cute, but not with much substance. There were more details in the illustrations, which were enjoyable and covered a plethora of monsters. I was really hoping for something that followed a single monster's relationship with his son rather than a page for each separate monster pair.
Read
May 17, 2020What a great gift this would be! I was expecting a Halloween-y book, but it is not. This is a fun story about fathers and sons - albeit monsters - spending time and having fun together. Highly recommended for your bedtime story bookshelf.
November 10, 2017
I absolutely love this picture book. My kids are well beyond needing the quiet bedtime book but I will love this one. The poem is so sweet and a great bedtime story. The pictures are all monsters and their sons doing fun activities together. I absolutely love this book.
June 12, 2017
Simple text and great for the young reader. The art is unique and the colors are interesting.
October 15, 2017
Adorable
January 26, 2018
Really sweet. Adorable illustrations and a short, rhyming text, so it would make a great story time read, especially for a Father's Day/Family Day program.
April 20, 2018
Delightful illustrations are a highlight of this book, which will tickle any fan of classic monster movies. This one was a lot of fun.
May 23, 2018
This is a very cute daddy & son book, featuring monsters. The baby monsters are all adorable in the illustrations, which is quite a feat.
Kids enjoyed this book and voted to give it 5 stars.
Kids enjoyed this book and voted to give it 5 stars.
November 10, 2018
Nice bedtime read.
January 10, 2019
A really cute monster story that could also work as a cute father/son story. I liked it a lot.
March 16, 2019
Super cute and creative illustrations showing a diversity of monsters plus aww all of showing they do care for their little eons with gentle-warm prose.
June 5, 2019
Cute monsters, cute story, cute read-aloud before bedtime.
December 14, 2020
This is one of my favorites, especially for story time!
August 7, 2023
This was very cute! I especially liked all the little animals in the art, particularly when they were pets.
July 19, 2024
This is a great book!! Each page has a different set of dad and son monster. Really a cute book, one of our favorites!!!!
August 20, 2025
Such a sweet bedtime story! So much adventure and love…and the tiny humans are hilarious.
March 23, 2017
My son loved it. The illustrations are charming and fun.
March 1, 2017
"You woke me with a monstrous roar, my brave and fearless son, and led the way that filled our day with rough and rowdy fun."
Starting with this simple, rhyming text, this book describes a great father/son day spent playing together. Minimal text per page, short book, with great pictures (look for the funny situations). Great for a monster-themed preschool story time.
Starting with this simple, rhyming text, this book describes a great father/son day spent playing together. Minimal text per page, short book, with great pictures (look for the funny situations). Great for a monster-themed preschool story time.
July 14, 2016
I was pretty disappointed with Monster and Son and it's hard to pin down an exact reason. The illustrations, while cute, were muted and didn't jump off the page like I expected. (I mean, come on. MONSTERS, y'all. They should be compelling enough on their own.) There was one monster that I had so much trouble identifying that I finally asked several co-workers to help me figure out what he was supposed to be. Several "I have no clue" responses and one industrious reference librarian later, we came up with The Gillman from 1954's Creature from the Black Lagoon. If four librarians struggled with this reference, I'm sure a four year old would too, but fine. Maybe I'm missing the point. Maybe I should focus on the story. Except that the story really isn't a story. It's a love letter from a dad monster to his son. Sweet, right? It fell flat for me, though. I don't know if it was my dissatisfaction with the illustrations (partially) or that it just didn't have any oomph. I found it confusing that the narrative was talking about one father and son, but the pictures showed a different monster on each page. If you're going to do that, couldn't you include some female monsters too? Oh well. I'm probably over-analyzing this whole thing, so I'm going to leave this poor picture book alone now. I'll recommend it to kids who like monsters, but the whole thing was just MEH for me.
Read
May 6, 2016Really like this book.
The illustrations are fun and in darker monstrous tones, and the rhyming is excellent. In fact, it's just the sort of book I like to read to little ones. The wording isn't dumbed down but is accessible. There are words like: galloped, rough and rowdy, awesome, behold, and fearsome. Words they probably have heard, but now in context and in a rhyme.
The story is simple. It is basically a recollection of activities a father and son have enjoyed.
You woke me with a monstrous roar,
my brave and fearless son,
and led the way that filled our day
with rough and rowdy fun.
Dad and son are pictured as various sorts of monsters. Skeletons playing ball in a field with their skeleton dog, and vampires getting read for bed.
SUMMARY
Great Read-Aloud.
This book is entertaining and has some additional uses. You can use it as a get-ready-for-bed book. You could also use it as an aid to defang monster fear. It's hard to be afraid of monsters when you are one. For very little children there are things to point out. For example the difference in the bone structure of people and dogs; colors, buildings....
**review copy
~I don't give star ratings to ARCs. It seems better that way.
July 5, 2016
Originally published on my blog,
Nine Pages
.
Each page features of a different monster and its offspring doing the things that monsters do but twisting the action to make it seem benign and akin to a daily activity that a father might do with his son: like tucking the little one into bed, playing ball, or piggybacking him while approaching a city. Upset humans pout as they are caught in the tempest of the monsters’ fun, but seem unhurt. I would actually have preferred following a single monster family rather than visiting a new one each page—but because I personally like following a character, not because its a structural flaw or in picture books, and because the text indicates no switch between characters as its written in a first person narration (the father) to a second person (you, the son). This story is saccharine too (and I think that’s going to be the word of the post), but it relies less on pet names to make it so; the rhymes and story seem less forced than in Grandpa Loves You.
Each page features of a different monster and its offspring doing the things that monsters do but twisting the action to make it seem benign and akin to a daily activity that a father might do with his son: like tucking the little one into bed, playing ball, or piggybacking him while approaching a city. Upset humans pout as they are caught in the tempest of the monsters’ fun, but seem unhurt. I would actually have preferred following a single monster family rather than visiting a new one each page—but because I personally like following a character, not because its a structural flaw or in picture books, and because the text indicates no switch between characters as its written in a first person narration (the father) to a second person (you, the son). This story is saccharine too (and I think that’s going to be the word of the post), but it relies less on pet names to make it so; the rhymes and story seem less forced than in Grandpa Loves You.
June 19, 2016
The son awakes the father, which is brave indeed, since they are dinosaurs. Father Loch Ness tosses a beach ball to his son, their waves capsizing boats around them. A ghost, werewolf, yeti, dragon, and a four-eyed monster—fathers, all—spend the day with their sons. Even Frankenstein Junior enjoys the day with dad, getting into tickle fights and laughing the day away. Father Yeti and his son build a secret hideout, and the dragon pair complete trading hilarious jokes as a prince tries to save his princess. Now it is time to settle down for the night. The moon rises. Stars shine. Monster sons put on their pajamas. Monster fathers tuck their sons into bed.
Monster & Son delights in the love between monsters and their sons. Just like human fathers and sons spend time together, so do monsters. To humans, monsters are a terrifying lot, full of brutish habits and ear-splitting roars, causing panic among us. Why, monsters are simply . . .
Originally Published at Kid Lit Reviews; To Read the Fulll Review and View Interior Art, Go To:
http://bit.ly/MonsterAndSon
Monster & Son delights in the love between monsters and their sons. Just like human fathers and sons spend time together, so do monsters. To humans, monsters are a terrifying lot, full of brutish habits and ear-splitting roars, causing panic among us. Why, monsters are simply . . .
Originally Published at Kid Lit Reviews; To Read the Fulll Review and View Interior Art, Go To:
http://bit.ly/MonsterAndSon
Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews