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Choose Your Own Adventure: Young Readers #12
The Creature from Miller's Pond
One summer day, you and your best friend Hal are fishing at Miller's Pond. Suddenly a large green creature with bulging eye pops out of the water. You run, but it follows you home!
54 pages, Unknown Binding
First published September 1, 1983
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 28, 2024
While The Creature from Miller's Pond resembles an earlier Bantam Skylark Choose Your Own Adventure—Gorga, the Space Monster—Susan Saunders does enough to keep her book distinct from Edward Packard's, and ultimately creates the better story. Summer is beginning, so you and your friend Hal go fishing at Miller's Pond. You're just getting settled in when your line snags underwater. It could be a rock or log, but you can't believe your eyes when a scaly green monster in a hard shell breaks the surface. Waving its webbed appendages, the Creature trudges forward, its bulbous black eyes on you. What will you do?
Hang around too long and the Creature pulls you underwater to its cavernous lair. You're lucky to be alive, but now the Creature is nowhere in sight. The only light emanates from a glowing salamander, but can you use it to find an exit? How you proceed means the difference between escape and indefinite imprisonment; you may not be alone in the Creature's lair. If you immediately flee when it first surfaces, speeding away with Hal on your bikes, the monster gives chase. You could pedal for Main Street, where a few options present themselves. Do you lead the Creature to the firehouse so the chief can capture it? You may wind up feeling sorry for your amphibious pursuer, trapped in a net. If you bike to the movie theater instead, potential catastrophe turns into a serendipitous occurrence that has you glad you met the Creature. A bit of monstrous amusement in the appropriate arena can earn you a tidy profit and a happy ending.
If drawing the monster toward Main Street seems like a bad idea, you can ride home instead. It's closer, and you can lock the Creature outside if you're fast. You might lure it into the garage using canned tuna as bait, where you can close the door on it and call a professional. An aquarium may be best equipped to house and study the Creature, but don't get too comfortable once the vehicle drives off with the Creature inside. Who said it was the only member of its species? Maybe you'll call an animal shelter instead, but inevitably you have second thoughts. Does the Creature deserve to be locked up? You could send the shelter man away and contact your cousin Maggie, a marine biology graduate student. She'll treat your amphibious new pal with compassion. Alternatively, you have the option more than once of taking the Creature back to Miller's Pond, or hiding it in your house like a secret pet. Your mother would be aghast, but you're growing fond of the creepy webbed weirdo, and are reluctant to say goodbye. No story ending allows you to keep the Creature, but if you attempt to return it to Miller's Pond, your connection persists afterward through rumors of sightings that could only be your monster. Perhaps returning it to Lake Minnewonka is better, where the Creature will have more room to hide from prying eyes, but losing your friend still won't be easy. You've become close in the short time you've known each other.
A few of Susan Saunders's gamebooks are better—You Are Invisible and Blizzard at Black Swan Inn among them—but The Creature from Miller's Pond is entertaining, and a couple of endings are mildly emotional. Bonding with a benevolent monster is a formative experience, and you won't want to part ways before you have to. I'm not usually a fan of Ted Enik's illustrations, but this book features some of his most appealing work. I'd rate The Creature from Miller's Pond at least one and a half stars; a few endings that are abrupt or implausible lead to my hesitation to go for the full two, but I did like it. I'm sure I'll reread this story many times.
Hang around too long and the Creature pulls you underwater to its cavernous lair. You're lucky to be alive, but now the Creature is nowhere in sight. The only light emanates from a glowing salamander, but can you use it to find an exit? How you proceed means the difference between escape and indefinite imprisonment; you may not be alone in the Creature's lair. If you immediately flee when it first surfaces, speeding away with Hal on your bikes, the monster gives chase. You could pedal for Main Street, where a few options present themselves. Do you lead the Creature to the firehouse so the chief can capture it? You may wind up feeling sorry for your amphibious pursuer, trapped in a net. If you bike to the movie theater instead, potential catastrophe turns into a serendipitous occurrence that has you glad you met the Creature. A bit of monstrous amusement in the appropriate arena can earn you a tidy profit and a happy ending.
If drawing the monster toward Main Street seems like a bad idea, you can ride home instead. It's closer, and you can lock the Creature outside if you're fast. You might lure it into the garage using canned tuna as bait, where you can close the door on it and call a professional. An aquarium may be best equipped to house and study the Creature, but don't get too comfortable once the vehicle drives off with the Creature inside. Who said it was the only member of its species? Maybe you'll call an animal shelter instead, but inevitably you have second thoughts. Does the Creature deserve to be locked up? You could send the shelter man away and contact your cousin Maggie, a marine biology graduate student. She'll treat your amphibious new pal with compassion. Alternatively, you have the option more than once of taking the Creature back to Miller's Pond, or hiding it in your house like a secret pet. Your mother would be aghast, but you're growing fond of the creepy webbed weirdo, and are reluctant to say goodbye. No story ending allows you to keep the Creature, but if you attempt to return it to Miller's Pond, your connection persists afterward through rumors of sightings that could only be your monster. Perhaps returning it to Lake Minnewonka is better, where the Creature will have more room to hide from prying eyes, but losing your friend still won't be easy. You've become close in the short time you've known each other.
A few of Susan Saunders's gamebooks are better—You Are Invisible and Blizzard at Black Swan Inn among them—but The Creature from Miller's Pond is entertaining, and a couple of endings are mildly emotional. Bonding with a benevolent monster is a formative experience, and you won't want to part ways before you have to. I'm not usually a fan of Ted Enik's illustrations, but this book features some of his most appealing work. I'd rate The Creature from Miller's Pond at least one and a half stars; a few endings that are abrupt or implausible lead to my hesitation to go for the full two, but I did like it. I'm sure I'll reread this story many times.
October 30, 2020
Livre pour enfant avec des images assez intéressantes que m'a fille d'un an et demi est restée sur mes genoux à les regarder pendant que je lui lisais. C'est un livre assez simple et comique, avec plein de fins possibles, toutes assez différentes les unes des autres, et comiques. Rien de super originale, mais une façon amusante de passer une demi-heure.
September 6, 2018
esta bueno para hacer tu propia aventura
November 15, 2021
Enjoyable, and rather sweet c:
Read
August 24, 2023this one's a little silly.
I found it on my bookshelf and decided to read it
I found it on my bookshelf and decided to read it
April 20, 2020
2nd grade
Fantasy Fiction
This a good book meant for a young age group, but it still doesn't take away from the creativity of Susan Saunders. She did a great job with this book, the ability to choose a path for the main character and make it your own is such a brilliant idea! It was very fun and interactive.
Fantasy Fiction
This a good book meant for a young age group, but it still doesn't take away from the creativity of Susan Saunders. She did a great job with this book, the ability to choose a path for the main character and make it your own is such a brilliant idea! It was very fun and interactive.
January 25, 2018
Nota: Ésta reseña pretende analizar las serie de aventuras contenida en el presente volumen mediante dos visiones: la del más pequeño y la del adulto, para así poder servir de ayuda en una futura recomendación de lectura y compra futura. Por lo cual, puede contener ciertos Spoilers
Tras un invierno inusual, con cambios drásticos de temperatura y sequía (quizá se deba a esto), dos amigos que habitualmente van a pescar al lago Miller, ven de repente cómo surge un monstruo verde-dorado de la laguna...y parece que los persigue!
Hablar del monstruo de la laguna es hablar de un Packard clásico narrativamente (porqué Susan Saunders es un seudónimo, lo mismo que hiciera en números avanzados del original “Elije tu propia aventura”). Respecto a su colega y co creador R.A Montgomerry, Packard sigue apostando por la diversión como esencia de desarrollo y sus finales fatales (si bien aquí, todo hay que decirlo, sólo contiene uno).
El foco principal gira en la acción pura y dura y la toma de decisiones instantáneas, mientras el monstruo te acecha. Pero no todo tornará en cuan malo o peligroso es; no siempre hay que zafarse de él. También encontraremos el lado amable y misericordioso de los niños y la inocencia del monstruo, con resoluciones en las que lo devuelves a su hábitat, “entablas una amistad y protección hasta que su madre lo viene a buscar, o llamas a agentes estatales y te das cuentas que lo único que van a hacerle es daño, por lo cual resuelves liberarlo”.
Así que para los ojos del lector pequeño, resultarán unas aventuras emocionantes y seguramente querrán tener su propio monstruo en casa, y los lectores adultos apreciarán el mensaje de denuncia de fondo que hay en la historia (entre E.T y Frankenstein; pero a menor nivel, todo hay que decirlo. Sus pocas páginas no dan para tanto desarrollo pero la esencia está), además de notar una deriva menos tétrica y aleatoria en las resoluciones de cada aventura, en el último en referencia a los asiduos de las lecturas de Edward Packard.
En resumen, un libro atrapante, de buen ritmo y satisfactorio en sus resoluciones para los más peques,(con mensaje de fondo critico- social apreciable por los mayores y quizá inconscientemente en los pequeños), que desearán tener y encontrar a su particular monstruo amable. 100% recomendable para atrapar a los más peques en sus inicios lectores.
Tras un invierno inusual, con cambios drásticos de temperatura y sequía (quizá se deba a esto), dos amigos que habitualmente van a pescar al lago Miller, ven de repente cómo surge un monstruo verde-dorado de la laguna...y parece que los persigue!
Hablar del monstruo de la laguna es hablar de un Packard clásico narrativamente (porqué Susan Saunders es un seudónimo, lo mismo que hiciera en números avanzados del original “Elije tu propia aventura”). Respecto a su colega y co creador R.A Montgomerry, Packard sigue apostando por la diversión como esencia de desarrollo y sus finales fatales (si bien aquí, todo hay que decirlo, sólo contiene uno).
El foco principal gira en la acción pura y dura y la toma de decisiones instantáneas, mientras el monstruo te acecha. Pero no todo tornará en cuan malo o peligroso es; no siempre hay que zafarse de él. También encontraremos el lado amable y misericordioso de los niños y la inocencia del monstruo, con resoluciones en las que lo devuelves a su hábitat, “entablas una amistad y protección hasta que su madre lo viene a buscar, o llamas a agentes estatales y te das cuentas que lo único que van a hacerle es daño, por lo cual resuelves liberarlo”.
Así que para los ojos del lector pequeño, resultarán unas aventuras emocionantes y seguramente querrán tener su propio monstruo en casa, y los lectores adultos apreciarán el mensaje de denuncia de fondo que hay en la historia (entre E.T y Frankenstein; pero a menor nivel, todo hay que decirlo. Sus pocas páginas no dan para tanto desarrollo pero la esencia está), además de notar una deriva menos tétrica y aleatoria en las resoluciones de cada aventura, en el último en referencia a los asiduos de las lecturas de Edward Packard.
En resumen, un libro atrapante, de buen ritmo y satisfactorio en sus resoluciones para los más peques,(con mensaje de fondo critico- social apreciable por los mayores y quizá inconscientemente en los pequeños), que desearán tener y encontrar a su particular monstruo amable. 100% recomendable para atrapar a los más peques en sus inicios lectores.
May 5, 2013
Another "Choose Your Own Adventure" book I read that was written for a much younger age group. However it does not take away from the pure joy you can get from forgetting your age, sitting down, relaxing and reading the stories. As an adult it is pure brain candy, and I feel everyone needs to read some of it from time to time.
May 27, 2015
En este tipo del ibros de elije tu propia aventura tienes que tomar vos las deciciones me parece que eso a hace al libro mucho mas interesante que otros.
April 10, 2017
Elige tu propia aventura Globo Azul, eran unos libros que estaban dirigidos a niños relativamente pequeños. Mas cortos, sencillos y con mas ilustraciones que la serie "Elije tu propia aventura" normal. Creo que ya he comentado algún otro, pero para mi este es un poco especial.
Es lo que es... pero esta muy bien realizado. Releyendolo hoy en día, es menos aleatorio que otros libros de la serie, la historia es coherente independientemente de las opciones que elijas, y suele ser bastante específico sobre las consecuencias de las acciones.
Y a los chavales seguro que les encanta la idea de encontrar un monstruo en un lago, e incluso quedarselo como mascota. Otro dato curioso es que esta vez la historia la protagoniza una chica. No era lo habitual en estas series y se agradece la variedad. Parece normal que se convirtiese en uno de los que mas recuerdo.
No creo que interese a nadie que no lo leyese de pequeño, pero para niños/niñas de 6-8 años es realmente recomendable. El mejor que he leido en esta linea "Globo azul".
Es lo que es... pero esta muy bien realizado. Releyendolo hoy en día, es menos aleatorio que otros libros de la serie, la historia es coherente independientemente de las opciones que elijas, y suele ser bastante específico sobre las consecuencias de las acciones.
Y a los chavales seguro que les encanta la idea de encontrar un monstruo en un lago, e incluso quedarselo como mascota. Otro dato curioso es que esta vez la historia la protagoniza una chica. No era lo habitual en estas series y se agradece la variedad. Parece normal que se convirtiese en uno de los que mas recuerdo.
No creo que interese a nadie que no lo leyese de pequeño, pero para niños/niñas de 6-8 años es realmente recomendable. El mejor que he leido en esta linea "Globo azul".
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews