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Reviewed by Jennifer Reinoehl for Readers' Favorite
James’s Book of UnScary Monsters is a wonderful book by Michael Pekala to help children work through their fear of monsters. James decides to explore his house at night. Although he knows that there is a logical explanation for most of the bumps in the night, he soon discovers a variety of monsters—from vampires to ghosts to the headless horseman. Each time he starts to fear one, though, he controls his imagination by changing something about the monster and turning it into something “unscary.” Each monster will have you guessing how James is going to change it.
In our society, some children are more sensitive than others to scary creatures. Since it is impossible to protect sensitive children from everything, books like James’s Book of UnScary Monsters are important for addressing their fears. Michael Pekala’s rhyming couplets maintain the meter and do not feel forced. Some of the trickier rhymes were handled quite well. The pictures are amazing and created by hand—giving children the chance to see real art. Pekala even adds a page at the end that explains how he made the artwork by painting on upholstery. Teachers could use this book to extend into an art lesson. This book would also be good for teachers to use as a book with a Halloween theme that will appeal to all children without scaring them. As an adult, the bogeyman grossed me out, but children of the middle and lower elementary age groups will love it! On the other hand, I think every parent’s favorite will be the zombie (or should I say mombie) as it was mine.
