Book Review - There's No Such Thing as Monsters by Michael Yu

There's No Such Thing as Monsters

by Michael Yu

 

Rating ***(3 stars)

There's No Such Thing As Monsters is a Kindle children's book about a mother tucking her young boy into bed, continually contradicting him when his imagination runs wild thinking of monsters. Except the mother is wrong, there are monsters. The monsters are big, furry, and friendly. They just want to be friends.

This book is deserving of the three stars because of the beautiful computer animation. The pages are vibrant, colorful, and detailed. This is rare in self published kindle books for children. However, the writing is not all that great. The book tries to rhyme, but does not come close. The book would have been better served with a simple prose style.

I am also not sold on the plot. It starts out as a mom telling her child that he is wrong for believing in monsters then goes on to show that the mom was in fact wrong. Then the book moves in the direction of the world is such a safe and wonderful place because even the monsters are friendly. Maybe I am over thinking it a bit. . . but I can not see using this as a book to help with nighttime fears.

I purchased this book when it was free on Kindle. I can see L flipping through it when she is being stubborn about reading chapter books. I did really enjoy the pictures and could see the book being enjoyed for that purpose. However, I would not recommend buying it based on the words.

Book Review - Charley and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Charley and the Chocolate Factory

by Roald Dahl

Rating *****(5 Stars)

Right before the holiday I was talking with a coworker about Charley and the Chocolate Factory. Although she loved the original movie she had never seen the newer version. I highly recommended that she view it. One point of my recommendation was that it was suppose to be closer to the book.

Only I had never read the book. It has been on my list of books to read forever. However, it never worked out to read it. Until now.

I was delighted to see three works by Roald Dahl on the 100 BBC Books list. Matilda was one of my favorite books as a child! To make it even better Amazon offered a Kindle deal after Christmas discounting both Charley and the Chocolate Factory and Matilda. I was excited to finally read this book.

Charley and the Chocolate Factory is written for a younger audience. The children are all around the age of nine. I could easily see having L (who is in third grade) read this book (if I can get her to read at all). I also think J will enjoy reading it also, when he wants a break from middle school reading.

I hate to write a book review based upon the movie. However, it is rare that I have actually seen the movie before reading the book. I think this will tend to be the case for most everyone.

The book is different from both movies. It is simpler. This is not surprising when you consider the reading level of a nine year old. This is not to say that the book does not give you more then the movie. For one it gives you a way to picture the children and parents in which ever way you see fit. I also enjoy Willey Wonka in the book. He is not as over the top as Johnny Depp, but his is a bit more eccentric then in the original movie.

If you have not read Charley and the Chocolate Factory you should. Better yet, you should pick up the book and read it with (or to) a child.