The Wanting Monster

by Martine Murray, Anna Read

From award-winning author Martine Murray (dubbed Australia’s Kate DiCamillo) and painter Anna Read comes a timeless and timely tale about the monstrousness of envy, and every creature’s—even a monster’s—need for love

It starts with a whisper in your ear. A prickly feeling that something isn’t quite right. And it builds until a sneaky, possessive thought wriggles into your mind, and an insidious want burrows into your heart. Before you know it, you’re discontent, convinced that you’re owed more than what you’ve got. This is the work of the Wanting Monster.

One day, the Wanting Monster arrives in a small village, but no one notices him, despite his antics. Feeling snubbed, he starts sowing discontent and envy of one’s neighbor. So infectious is the wanting and greed awakened by the Wanting Monster that even the stars are plucked, one by one, from the sky. Covetousness and distrust reign. Will the village people ever return to their senses? Will they ever learn that it’s the monster of wanting that’s been poisoning their minds? The Wanting Monster almost triumphs . . . fortunately, he is finally seen for what he is, and this recognition unleashes the purifying force of collective lamentation and a coming together to reroot and rebuild.

Genres: Picture Books, Philosophy, Childrens, Fiction

52 pages, Hardcover

About the author

Martine Murray, a native and a current resident of Melbourne, Australia, is an accomplished author with a variety of other talents and interests. She has studied film making at Prahan College, painting at the Victorian College of the Arts, and movement and dance at Melbourne University. She began writing as a method of keeping track of all of her activities. She explains, “I was writing in journals a lot while I was in art school. I also used to write on my canvasses or write on etchings and make tiny stories that weren't really stories, they were more like sketches of moments.”

Soon enough, Martine had authored and illustrated the gentle, funny, and gloriously playful books such as The Slightly True Story of Cedar B. Hartley (Who Planned to Live an Unusual Life). In the story of twelve-year old Cedar B. Hartley, the young heroine befriends the son of a circus family and coordinates a local circus to raise money for the community's dog operation. The book has won a number of awards, including NYPL 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing, Book Sense 76 Children's Pick, it was shortlisted for Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the year Award, shortlisted for New South Wales Premier's Literary Award, and won the Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Books.

Martine Murray is currently enrolled in Professional Writing at RMIT and plans further study in screen writing and short story.

Reviews

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Could I send this book to these people in my country who are trying to grab all the marbles? It's useless, you know. It's not satisfying. This is a lovely story for children, for all of us, of the consequences of trying to gather everything you want into a pile for yourself. It's not pretty. It's kind of where we are now, folks.

[Carolyn Coote · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book I used with grade 4-6. I wouldn’t be surprised if it wins an award soon.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story warning us about wanting way more than we really need.
The monster illustrations could be a little bit scary for little kids, so be aware.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Wanting Monster (2025) is a picture book fable by Australians Martine Murray and Anna Read, who gorgeously illustrates the tale with a nod to children's monster author Maurice Sendak (for instance, Where the Wild Things Are). The story is really for all ages, or geared to adults who could guide kids through the ideas the book embraces.

The Wanting Monster wants to destroy the world through greed, conspicuous consumption, materialism. He wants you wanting things, owning them, having as much (or more!) as the next guy, which ultimately destroys the environment. The monster gets a man who likes a river to hoard it all for himself in a pool. So everyone wants a pool for himself and the water dries up. The monster convinces a woman who likes flowers to take as many as she possibly can from the fields; others envy this process and thus, "where have all the flowers gone?" And then where are all the insects and birds? Envy. Greed. A guy wants a star for himself, everyone has to have one, but then: NO stars.

Wins for me the Anti-Ayn-Rand-Selfishness Award, as it points out that competitive materialism--whoever has the most toys wins, fueled by naked greed and anti=empathy, will not serve us well in the long or any other run. But maybe Christmas is not the best time to read this book to kids, who will not be sympathetic. Or in a time when the first trillionaire will walk the planet? Or when the most powerful country on the planet privileges corporate profits and upticking sales portfolios over the health of Earth and its inhabitants? Slow growth or rapacious "progress," you choose. Yeah, maybe it is a good time to read it. An entertaining children's fable about the destructive material and psychological effects of capitalism! Woke book? I hope so. The ending is surprising, as killing the monster--one option that might occur to many readers--is not the chosen path. A maybe not so surprising shift (for a picture book) to empathy and love.

[Deepa Ranganathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A rare book that is perhaps less for a child and more for an adult. What makes it stand out is how the story reads like an old folktale. It's not all happy, even though things get resolved in the end, and so perhaps it's best introduce this to a child who is ready to understand sorrow, bumps, tears and the hard facts of life. I loved the storytelling arc, and how we all can find something relatable to the very idea of a wanting monster--that constant nagging want that we all nourish inside ourselves, act upon it, get influenced by what others have, and how that is simply a distraction from a content, fulfilled life.

[Zedsdead · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Wanting Monster whispers envy and greed into people's ears. As they begin to take, and horde, and consume far beyond their need, the rivers dry up. The bees and flowers and trees disappear. The stars are gone from the sky.

It's not until people finally see the Wanting Monster and recognize what he is and what he wants that they begin working together and sharing. And at last the land starts to heal.

Beautiful 12in illustrations deliver an important grade school appropriate lesson about the dangers of coveting and mass consumption. About the importance of community and sustainability.

The "most toys wins" mindset means that everyone loses.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty good story. My child was very struck on the idea of how someone could reach up and grab a star. Which spiraled into a whole conversation about what stars are made of. I really like the premise though.

[Jazz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I often feel like the wanting monster. A very comforting story for when you feel like your faults make you unloveable.

[Coro · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has an amazing message and I love the illustrations

[Tristan Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved its message. I agree with another comment I read about how it’s more of a book for an adult than for a kid.

[Dale Barlow · Rating 3 out of 5]

(E) per Sunday NY Times Book Review children's recommendation "Timely Children's Books about Greed"...; 11.12.2025: a troublemaking monster makes his way into every facet of a village’s life; reportedly “exploring the eternal themes of envy, community and our relationship to the natural world”; while this author is reportedly dubbed as Australia’s Kate DiCamillo, I did not find this one as enchanting as the NY Times reviewer did; the art work was solid as so I gave it another star than what I had originally planned on; 2025 hardcover via Madison County Public Library, Richmond, 52 pgs.

[The Book Squirrel · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little monster whispers in people's ears, encouraging them to do selfish and mean things out of jealousy.
Not really a "story-time" read, but perhaps one to use in therapy with a child (ages 6+) who acts out of meaness and jealousy themselves.