by Lori

What comes to mind when you hear the word monster? I usually think of a scary, evil creature that is trying to do someone harm. As the picture books we’re going to look at today show us, monsters can come in many forms. However, they also show us that monsters can be defeated, even the imaginary ones, which are sometimes the scariest. These books would be great to read with fearful little ones who need a safe place to talk about what’s scaring them, as well as those who like a little suspense in their stories.

Gotcha! A Funny Fairy Tale Hide-and-Seek
Written and illustrated by: Clotilde Perrin
Translated by Daniel Hahn
Translated from French
Published by Gecko Press

From the moment this monster-sized book came into my house, my girls have been enamored by it. Gotcha! follows a young child on the run from three monsters, each hairy and stinky and creepy. The child takes refuge in three fairy tale houses which are crammed with not-to-miss details and plenty of flaps. We always enjoy trying to remember which cabinet, nook, or cranny the child is hidden in. After the third house the child hides in a bookshelf stacked with fairy tales and horror stories. It is after this adventure that the child decides to stand up and face the monsters, using a little bit of fairy tale magic to vanquish them all. 

While fun to read aloud in a slightly spooky voice, Gotcha!, a story coming to us from France, is one my girls frequently flip through alone because it’s just as entertaining to enjoy alone. As a teacher I appreciate the vocabulary and language used to describe the monsters, “one whiff of their pestilential stench and even flies drop dead”. Now that’s smelly! 

Monster Scared
Written by Betina Birkjær
Illustrated by Zarah Juul
Translated by Katrine Øgaard Jensen & Orien Longo
Translated from Danish
Published by Transit Children’s Editions

Childlike drawings of sharp-toothed monsters adorn the opening endpapers of Monster Scared, setting the scene for this delightfully suspenseful tale about a child who believes there is a monster living in the attic. The protagonist is convinced every noise from above means the monster is plotting, building a trap. At night the child imagines the monster growing larger, feeding on the darkness. During the day the child makes a racket hoping to scare the monster, and is encouraged by a mother who is always accepting of the child’s ideas and is a source of comfort. When the mother invites the child to go up into the attic to see what’s really up there, the child is confronted with a scene very different from what was expected. Closing endpapers, with bright, playful looking monsters, show how much the child’s perspective has changed.

Any child who fears the dark, or is spooked by noises, will relate to the narrator who is convinced there is something lurking in the dark hidy corners, as well as the attempts to drown out the offending noises. The ending will provide reassurance that fears are often imagined and can be easily overcome by confronting them.

The Pruwahaha Monster
Written by Jean-Paul Mulders
Illustrated by Jacques Maes & Lise Braekers
Translated by Kids Can Press
Translated from Dutch
Published by Kids Can Press

The Pruwahaha Monster, coming to us from Belgium, is a fall family favorite. A little boy and his father, snuggly wrapped in scarves, head off to the swings near their home. However, they are unaware of the child-eating monster who lives close by with breath that smells of “sprouts and old slippers”. The monster follows the child’s scent through the woods right up to the swinging youngster who doesn’t seem to notice anything is amiss. The monster tries again and again to scare the child who swings back and forth, to no avail. Embarrassed by its failure, the monster slinks away.

The last illustration shows the scarf-wrapped pair walking away from the swings as their monster-shaped shadows (with each end of the scarf acting like a clawed hand) trail behind. This story provides just the right amount of suspense for young children, who love being in on the secret twist at the end. The autumnal-hued illustrations provide a few clues to the ending as the story progresses, giving youngsters something to look for on re-reads. 

Meet Lori

Lori is lucky enough to live with two young children who love picture books almost as much as she does. She spends a lot of time sharing her love of reading with a new batch of 5 and 6 year old students each year. The same children get to help her take care of some odd class pets – trout, and composting worms! When she’s not reading, she enjoys gardening, cooking (and eating), and traveling. In 2021 she and her children started touring the world using picture books. They have hit 67+ countries already, with many more to come.