Ogre-essive in size and scope, this book tempts critics to wonder: is it really for kids?
Beccia, Carlyn. Monstrous: The Lore, Gore, and Science Behind Your Favorite Monsters. Minneapolis, MN: Carolrhoda Books, 2019. Print.
Genre
nonfiction picture book
Summary
This book stitches together history’s legs, legend’s torso, and pop culture’s offshoot limbs to construct comprehensive perspectives on the world’s favorite monsters. The author electrifies each patchwork ogre with witty writing and subversive graphic collages.
Critique
Flip through Caryln Beccia’s book and the eyes will delight at the sickly, off-tone, and harsh color combinations used throughout the illustrated spreads. Grayish greens, deep reds, mucky browns, dingy whites, screaming orange accents. They are all the colors of eww, gross, and gasp!
The book is also packed with subversive material! Take for instance some radioactive rabbits pooping glowing pellets. Or a guide on what to do if you encounter Bigfoot (which would have been helpful to the tourists aboard the Durango and Silverton Railroad who filmed Bigfoot from their rocking train car recently). Then there are bodily remains used as treasure map guides. Naughty cats caught eating mice. And a couple page spreads orient themselves vertically, forcing readings to turn the book lengthwise to read.
This book misbehaves and enlists its readers as accomplices every step of the way!
Oh and speaking of readers, therein lies the rub. This book is packed with text. The paragraphs are chubby. The sentences are short, but many of the selected words are advanced. Trust me, I’m not faulting Beccia for this style; I often rely on the same tactic when writing nonfiction for kids. When dealing with complex topics, I’d rather be accurate than choose smaller words that misconstrue the meaning. And like me, Beccia makes sure to explain the big words or breaks down the complex concepts.
For instance, in the opening chapter all about Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, she goes into how the story came about, as well as the societal and cultural influences that inspired the author. She then explores some deep rabbit holes devoted to the resulting fallout of this seminal text.
For example, Beccia explores other electric monsters, electric inventions, modern medical applications of electricity. Starting from the dead body tapestry aspect, she traces her way into genetic mutation and the actual true stories of radioactive rabbits with glowing poop and some speed demon mice.
Beccia then investigates some real “mad scientists” before showcasing pop culture’s many iterations of Frankenstein’s monster crafted through the many, many decades since the novel’s publication.
All of which brings us to page 21. Great! Just 140 more to go…if you don’t count the back matter source notes and bibliography.
And that’s the other obvious feature you’ll notice as you flip through this book: it’s literally monstrous. It’s hefty to hold.
So again, we have to wonder: is it really a book for kids?
Personally, were I teaching a high school or college course on monsters, I’d gladly assign this book to the students. They’d get superbly researched, accurate information written in clear, digestible language. They’d come away with a solid overview of monsters (even down to the neurochemical causes of fear!). They wouldn’t have to spend a ton of money. And, they’d have a screaming time with the reading assignments.
But when it comes to younger readers, I would hesitate to offer this book to the child who feels immense satisfaction reaching The End in one sitting. This book is not a one-sitting read.
It’s weighty. It’s intelligent. It’s a tad sinister. If the monster under the bed possessed these same features, you’d sleep with one peeper open. So for me, this book definitely qualifies as a kids’ book. Some, it will scare on sight. They’ll run away balling. It will intimidate others, but not so much they don’t go poking around. And perhaps a rare few will grab bravely hold and stare it straight in its mucky eyes.
Kids need this book (and all books like it) just as they need monsters under the bed to test their mettle.
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