The Monsterator

Join Master Edgar Dreadbury as he discovers the Monsterator, a machine that changes people into monsters in this spooky Halloween adventure from Keith Graves. When he entered a dusty costume store,one that he hadn't seen beforeHe got what he'd bargained for . . . and more.Enter the Monsterator if you dare.Put a coin in the slot . . . but beware! A Neal Porter Book

From School Library Journal

K-Gr 2—In this fiendishly fun novelty book, Master Edgar Dreadbury is suitably bored by typical Halloween attire and chooses to bypass his usual costume store for The Monster Shop, which he had not previously noticed. There, he finds a contraption called the "MONSTERATOR," and with a nonchalant "Oh, why not," the child drops his dime into the old fashioned-looking machine and is suddenly transformed into a monster. With his fearsome roar, sharp fangs, pointy horns, and reptilian feet, Edgar joyfully scares everyone in his path. "He horrified the tall./He terrified the small./Edgar Dreadbury frightened them all." It's all well and good on Halloween night, but when Edgar grows tired of being a monster, he discovers that the shop has disappeared and he is destined to remain one forever. The simple plot is heightened by a humorous rhyming text (including many monsterly sound effects) and large, kid-friendly, digitally enhanced acrylic illustrations that are more funny than creepy. But the true pleasure and surprise of this book are the final pages that serve as a flip toy, allowing youngsters to "monsterate" Edgar themselves by selecting from several layers of monstrous heads, faces, bodies, and feet. Sturdy pages will survive dozens of flips and give kids lots of incentive to create their own Halloween costume mash-ups. Purchase multiples for lots of horrific holiday fun!—Teri Markson, Los Angeles Public Library

Booklist

“Kids will likely have a ball monsterating Edgar themselves.”

The Horn Book

“A five-creature partitioned flipbook creatively extends the humorous tale so readers can "monsterate" Edgar themselves”

School Library Journal

“In this fiendishly fun novelty book, Master Edgar Dreadbury is suitably bored by typical Halloween attire and chooses to bypass his usual costume store the The Monster Shop . . . The true pleasure and surprise of this book are the final pages that serve as a flip toy, allowing youngsters to "monsterate" Edgar themselves.”

Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW

“*Graves dares here to explore a child's dark side, and the result is a refreshingly original yet wondrously creepy tale . . . A true monstrous success.”

Publishers Weekly

“Despite the gray fog that hovers over everything, Graves's acrylic paintings are funnier than they are scary, full of guaranteed child-pleasers like Edgar chowing down on spaghetti and meatballs out of a dog dish.”

About the Author

Keith Graves is the author and illustrator of many hilarious picture books for children, including Chicken Big, Frank Was a Monster Who Wanted to Dance, and The Monsterator, the latter from Roaring Brook Press. Keith lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife, Nancy, and twins, Max and Emma.

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