Cerberus Canis Monstruosus

by Rachel Beth Cunning

Cerberus wants to be a dog. He wants to catch balls and for people to pet and love him just like they love dogs. He has one big problem though... well, four big problems. Unlike a normal dog, he has three heads and the tail of a snake. People think he's a monster! People don’t want to throw balls to a monster or pet a monster or love a monster. People fear monsters. People want to kill monsters. Still, Cerberus is determined to find a home where he can be accepted for who he is. Surely, he can find someone who wants to throw a ball to him! Surely, someone will see Cerberus as Cerberus, not as a monster… right? Cerberus Canis Monstruosus is written for students in their second year of Latin. It contains 159 total words. Of those words, 14 are proper nouns like Cerberus, Vulcan, and Galanthis. In addition, 12 words are glossed that might be unfamiliar to students or are used infrequently. An additional 20 words were cognates like animāl and dēfendere that were used infrequently in the novella. With proper names, glossed words, and clear cognates removed, students need a working vocabulary of 113 words to read this novella. For more information about the novella, head to:

109 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[Addie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This simple Latin reader was easy to understand. The author, Cunning, chose to forego the typical grammar layout so that 1st or 2nd year readers could follow the story line easier, but it also slightly confused me. But only because I'm already used to the sentence structure of Latin writing. However, the story was cute: about Cerberus, who was cute and loving and wanted to be a normal dog! She took a typical monster and made him lovable, and it's a great Latin story that contains other gods and monsters in it too.
I also love that Cunning not only included a dictionary at the end of her book, but also included an index for each individual verb in every form as a separate entry! That way the reader can look up each word as a separate word, making it easier to find and easier to understand. What a great resource for anyone beginning to read Latin!

[Hayden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and touching story about everyone's favorite goodest Underworld boy. Touches on animals sacred to some of the Olympian gods, and uses varied and complex language structures in comprehensible ways.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was cute. There was a good plot and enough happening for it to keep from being boring, even when parts got a bit repetitive

[Kelly Macfarlane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple story, well told, with repetitive vocab and structure (and a very mean mean hydra!). Good addition to Free Voluntary Reading Library

[Tyler Minn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was nice and calming to read, and it was a funny and clear plot. It clearly showed the characters and what was going on, and overall was a fun child-like plot to read. The beginning chapters explain the struggle of Cerberus, and the later chapters show how he continues to solve the problem, disregarding the antagonist. The clarity of the book made it so that every part of the book was understood, and while it was difficult, being able to comprehend the book made it easy and fun to read. This Latin book is a great student higher intermediate book, and I greatly enjoyed it.

[Kookie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story itself is good and a bit sad... It shows how the roman gods can be mean. I would've given this a four stars but the GRAPHICS, SERIOUSLY? Yes, the artist did spend more than 5 minutes on each drawings, but...it's not a children books. It coul've been better but it's bo the worst.