This review originally published at, "http://byucbmr.com/reviews/2015/9/9/when-a-monster-is-born">The Children's Book and Play Review

When a monster is born, everything after that has two possibilities. Either it lives far away in the forests or it will live under your bed. Either you might get eaten, or you might take it to school. The monster has different alternatives going from joining the school basketball team, eating the principal, sleeping in an expensive hotel in the faraway-forests, falling in love with the hotel’s kitchen girl, and possibly getting married so that another monster can be born with the same possibilities that its parent had.

When a Monster is Born is a cute book about choices and opportunities that a monster might have. For every decision, it shows another outcome. With the right set of decisions and outcomes, the monster can live a happy life. It would be a good book for parents or teachers to talk to children about how different choices have consequences, although the consequences in this books are more silly than serious. Sensitive children may have a problem with the multiple times that the monster could potentially eat people or eat another monster. ( )

A witty trail of either/or possibilities in a world of funny looking monsters.

AD790L ( )

In my opinion, this is a great book. One of the things I like about this book is the plot. The book switches back and forth between the “good” scenario and the “bad” scenario. “But if it’s an under-your-bed monster, there are two possibilities- either it eats you or… you make friends and take it to school.” The book continues with the two possibilities concept throughout the story, which makes the book very entertaining. I also really like the illustrations in the book. The illustrations have a lot of details and they are very colorful. The monster in the story is bright green with one pink eye and one blue eye. The monster also has two pink horns and pink nails. The way the monster looks adds to the humor of the story. The illustrator also cleverly used a black background for the “bad” scenarios and a white background for the “good” scenarios. For example, there is a black background when the monster eats the principal. Even though the book talks about eating people, it does so in a way that is funny and not scary. The big idea of this book is to entertain children with a funny story about monsters. ( )

"When a monster is born" is a predictable book about many two options and then the consistently result of one option about a monster. The illustration of this book is really cute and I will use it for teaching the decision making.
Age: 4-8

This is a story that has a repetitive theme that is based around a monster being born and the different options that a monster has. Throughout the story you hear the different options and then it gives you the outcome, it basically goes through a monster's whole life. This is a great story because it is very humorous and also shows cause and effect. Great book for grades 2-4. ( )