Where’s My Monster?

The opening spread finds 16 white eyeballs featured against a very dark blue background, and none of the eyeballs are in pairs, their groupings ranging from one to five eyeballs. When an intrigued reader/viewer turns to the next spread, the four eyes’ speech bubble says, “I’m HUNGRY!” “But for what?” asks the reader/viewer, hoping another page turn will provide an answer. It does not. Instead the spread raises yet more questions as three eyes says, “Don’t worry. We will get a nice meal very soon”, and four eyes alerts everyone that “I hear something!” A nice meal of what? And who or what is creating the sound?

Another turning of the page leads to a wordless spread that provides some answers and raises new questions. All of the eyes belong to a monster quintet who are exposed when a little boy opens the door, letting in light, to what one assumes is his bedroom outfitted with a bunk bed. Given the contents of the monsters’ previous brief conversations, is the boy about to become their meal?

The answer is “No” and “Yes” - no, they are not going to eat him, but, yes, after scaring him with a very loud BOO!!!, they are going “eat” his fear. As the frightened boy runs from the room, one monster observes, “Delicious. I LOVE the taste of FEAR.”

The boy’s screaming dash causes four children in the adjacent room to ask, “What’s wrong?” Upon hearing the boy respond, “MMMONSTERS!!!”, three of the children join him in a screeching departure while the monsters feed on their fear. With their food source now largely absent, the monsters agree that they are still hungry. Once again, they hear footsteps and conclude, “Lunch will be served shortly.” As the little girl, the only child who hadn’t fled, walks into the dark room while holding a candle, the monsters shout BOO!!! . When their shout doesn’t elicit the expected fear response, the monsters become afraid and hide under the bed and in the closet. The five-eyed monster, however, finds “the LIGHT!!! comforting and warm” and adds, “I don’t feel hungry anymore”, a sentiment quickly echoed by the other four monsters. After introductions, the monster family, consisting of Mamma, Papa, and their three children, Aurora, Calvin and Bryce, join the little girl, who has now identified herself as Lucy, at the beach where they are joined by the four children who previously fled the house and are now apparently no longer afraid of the monsters.

The first half of the story works extremely well, with Popova’s illustrations most effectively driving the plotline. When readers finally get to see the bodies attached to all of the eyes, they belong to what can only be described as “cute” monsters and not the stuff of nightmares. Earlier in the story, after the four children had run out of the house, the little girl, later identified as Lucy, delivered the following “soliloquy”:

Why are those kids afraid?

If you bring a light into a dark room, it lights up the room. Bring darkness into a lit room and it does nothing.

I will use my LIGHT.

This wording is pretty “heavy” for the intended audience, and, while young readers will observe Lucy, three spreads later, carrying a light, specifically a lit candle, into the monster occupied bedroom, the adult reader will recognize that the word “light” is actually a metaphor for the character quality that Lucy exhibits in confronting the monsters. Where’s My Monster? ultimately has a happy ending, but how it arrived at that point may be confusing to the book’s young audience. The monsters no longer feed on children’s fear, but it may not be clear to child listeners what has replaced the monsters’ former food source.

While I earlier commented positively on Popova’s illustrations of the monsters, she is much less successful in her renderings of the children. Though each of the monsters delightfully exudes character, Lucy, the principal continuing human in the story, essentially has the same expression on her face throughout. As well, Lucy’s eyes look like they were from the “big-eyed” illustration movement of the early 1960s.

Back matter includes a darkness/light; hate/love quote from Martin Luther King Jr. plus directions to the author’s website for more quotes on light and dark. There’s an eight item “CAN YOU FIND THESE ITEMS IN THE STORY?” quiz and an invitation to count all the eyeballs in the story. Unfortunately, for children to check their eyeball answers, they must go to the author’s website. Finally, a page titled “WHERE’S MY MONSTER? QUESTIONS” offers a half dozen adult/child conversation starters related to the book’s contents. I do wonder how a preschool/early elementary school child would respond to: “In your opinion, what is Lucy’s superpower? “ or “What FEARS are you still facing? What LIGHT can you shine on them so they don’t have power over you?”

The existential question, “Where’s my monster?”, is one that we can (and should) ask throughout our lives, and its introduction in a picture book is perhaps a good place to begin. Unfortunately, after a very strong, engaging start, Where’s My Monster? stumbled somewhat in arriving at its conclusion.