Gruesome Guide to World Monsters

Make room in your suitcase for this monstrously entertaining guide to fantastic creatures around the world — and how to elude them.I did not make any of this up.Do you know why you should have baby teeth handy when visiting the Midwest? Or why you should bring a cucumber with you when swimming in Japan? How good are you at solving Russian riddles? From Boston to Bejing, from Moscow to Mali, any place you visit has its own terrifying tales of very real creatures. Complete with handy "gruesomeness ratings," this guide offers all the important facts on some sixty-three folkloric monsters and how (if possible!) to survive an encounter with them. Meticulously researched by Judy Sierra and illustrated in grotesque detail by Henrik Drescher, here is the ultimate resource for any world traveler, armchair or otherwise, hoping to make it home alive.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6–Drescher's crudely drawn, luridly colored, mixed-media Monsters from the Id-style portraits, which provide perfect jumping-off points for susceptible young imaginations, are matched with Sierra's brief introductions to dozens of ugly customers from world folklore. Along with the few that will provoke shivers of recognition, such as the Australian Bunyip, she offers wonderfully provocative warnings against creatures as diverse as the giant skunk Aniwye, the blood-sucking bat Mansusopsop, and Bloody Mary, an evil specter who lives on the other side of mirrors, especially the mirrors of elementary-school bathrooms. Though the author does not provide specific source notes, she does give each entry a general area of origin, as well as a skull-and-crossbones Gruesomeness Rating and a Survival Tip, if any. This crowd pleaser is a perfect lead-in to Daniel Cohen's spine-chilling tales, or more broadly focused reference titles, such as Rosemary Ellen Guiley's Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters (Facts On File, 2004).–John Peters, New York Public Library Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Gr. 5-8. In this exquisitely presented parody of a field guide (similar in approach to Dragonology, without the novelty elements), Sierra's controlled text provides a counterweight to artwork that's like graffiti scribbled on the walls of Bedlam. But don't assume Sierra's role is exclusively moderating. In delivering the vital stats of more than 60 monsters, she reveals a deliciously macabre side (one Brazilian beastie "massages his victim's body until it is as soft as a ripe avocado . . . [and] sucks out all his organs"), while layering doses of deadpan humor among the chilling details ("Survival hints" for facing the French grim reaper? "Not applicable."). Some readers may wish for maps locating the monsters' native lands, as well as notes about specific cultural sources. Still, this will delight junior-high readers and older devotees of Terry Jones' Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book (1994) and Edward Gorey's The Gashlycrumb Tinies (1997), who will exult in the Bosch-like envisioning, and then mull over Sierra's endnote about the cautionary purposes served by monster stories. For readers looking for a milder scare, suggest Linda Ashman's The Essential Worldwide Monster Guide (2003). Jennifer MattsonCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Judy Sierra is a scholar of folklore and mythology as well as the author of many award-winning books for children, including the NEW YORK TIMES bestseller WILD ABOUT BOOKS. Of THE GRUESOME GUIDE TO WORLD MONSTERS, she says, "I wrote this book for people who, like me, find Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster rather disappointing. I had so much fun researching this book, as I discovered little-known accounts of monsters more frightening than I ever imagined."Henrik Drescher has written and illustrated many wonderful books for children and adults, including PAT THE BEASTIE and THE BOY WHO ATE AROUND. His illustrations are frequently seen in ROLLING STONE, NEWSDAY, and THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW. He lives in Hong Kong.

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