The Pruwahaha Monster

July 15, 2016
This Belgian picture-book debut introduces a boy who loves to swing, his father, and a monster.Readers first see the white duo bundled in hats and long scarves. Then the father disappears, and the focus shifts to the swinging child and the (initially offstage) titular monster: it smells "of sprouts and old slippers," and it likes to eat children. The limited palette for the woodland images and backgrounds features mint green, orange, black, white, and tan. Each spread is carefully coordinated, and pattern trumps perspective. The narrative and image placement are sometimes disjointed or confusing, as when two separate domiciles are mentioned in the text but only one is depicted. A little further on, the text on a double-page spread is merely a repetitive list--a search-and-find. The monster enters as a shadow, his long, wavy arms grasping at the swinging child. The boy keeps laughing as the creature repeatedly howls a longer version of the titular nonsense word--a humorous sound to produce--to no avail. In a perplexing penultimate scene, the monster returns home, embarrassed at having failed to frighten the child. (Showing an actual creature is inconsistent with prior treatment and the gag). Father and son leave, anticlimactically, casting scarf shadows that resemble outstretched arms. While there are clever visuals and excellent cartoon-villain laughter, this book fails to deliver a satisfying story. (Picture book. 4-6)

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October 1, 2016

PreS-Gr 2-This unique and quirky import from Belgium tells the story of a happy-go-lucky boy and the mysterious monster who cannot succeed in scaring him. A town's local monster oversleeps and wakes up famished for a favorite treat of all monsters-little children! It finds a joyful boy playing on the swings with his father, but cannot make him bat even an eye with its horrible howl of "pruwahaha!" Determining that it is an "old relic," the monster returns to its cottage, unsatisfied and embarrassed, and "no one knows" whether it woke up again. Mulders has a way with descriptive language, with such details as the monster's "spit smelling of cauliflower and sweaty socks," as well as a clear storyteller's voice and suspenseful pacing. Graphic design duo Maes and Braekers create beautifully detailed patterns of trees and leaves that look like old-fashioned textiles. Their palette consists of dull greens and salmon, and the deliberately spare composition of most pages is effective and visually pleasing. The smiling child and romping forest creatures are drawn adorably and simply. The monster is never fully depicted, only as willowy shadows and silhouettes, the same shadows cast on the last page by the father and his scarf. This allusion, as well as the unknown fate of the monster, puts the tale slightly on the confusing side of mysterious. VERDICT This quiet, pleasantly odd, and dark selection with its detailed illustrations will appeal to fans of Jon Klassen and Carson Ellis.-Clara Hendricks, Cambridge Public Library, MA

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2016
Preschool-G Mulders scripts an original story of fearlessness in his first book for children. A five-year-old boy goes out during the autumn to swing, unaware of a nearby monster that only eats little children. As the child happily swings away, the monster slowly creeps up to him. All the while, the monster thought, as quietly as only monsters can think, I'm going to gobble up that child. Waiting for an appropriate moment to scare the boy, the monster howls, Prruwwwahhahahaha! The boy's composed response stuns the monster. What follows is an unexpected twist. Mulders' whimsical tale of a boy who outwits a monster is ideal for reading aloudexaggerated terms and repetition-rich sentences build up to dramatic moments lightly sprinkled with onomatopoeia. Maes and Braekers provide a fitting balance to Mulders' narrative in scenes full of a combination of neutral-toned green and cream backgrounds and fine-lined illustrations that are aptly punctuated with prominent autumn-orange hues. A great pick for fall story times.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)