I Need My Monster Hardcover – Picture Book, April 1, 2009

Ethan's monster, Gabe, has gone fishing. Now how is Ethan to fall asleep without a monster under his bed? He sneaks out of bed and calls out for a monster. Several come but they do not meet Ethan's requirements. Oh, dear, what is Ethan to do?I enjoyed this book. It was funny and imaginative. The illustrations are fantastic. I loved the monsters who showed up. Ethan was picky as the monsters said but he wanted the familiar. He wanted Gabe and he did not care who knew.Your toddlers will love this. They will have fun deciding which monster is best for them.

Fun read

When I was a nanny, the kids that I cared for loved this story. Now I picked it up for my 4 year old son and gave it to him on Halloween. There's a great Storyline Online reading of it on YouTube that I like to pair the book up with for a special story time.My son now has discovered the other books in this little series, so it looks like I'll be picking up those monster books for him too. They're really cute books and I'm glad he likes this book so much. He likes to read it every day ☺

It has been all my children's favori8te series we read them so much i have to replace them ever so often.

My 5 year old grandson liked this book. We laughed as we read it together.

I love this book! I read it to my son who was always afraid of monsters. Now him and his “monster” are friends. He’s no longer dragging his younger sister wherever goes for protection or sacrifice.

Absolutely LOVE this book! Found it on Epic and my granddaughter loved it so much I surprised her with the hard copy. Her face the day it showed up was priceless! She is obsessed with it and giggles through it every single time. I’ve lost count of how many times she has read it to me in just the last couple weeks. Its a cute, clever and creative twist on monsters under the bed and super fun reading - being able to be/read the voices of the different personalities of each monster. We love both books and can’t wait for the 3rd to be released in July! Awesome illustrations too that enhance the storyline.

Read this book with my 2-year old, and I'm not sure if I should have.... I did not review all of the illustrations before doing so and when I got to the scary-monster page, it was too late. Most of the monsters are funny, weird or just a little gross (wonderful and unique illustrations). But "Gabe" the monster has scary red eyes and he's a bit much for a toddler! The scare-factor of this book is TOTALLY subjective.... I made it less-scary but saying "look at the silly monster friend" when we got to that page, then I quickly turned it. I think we can read the book, skipping that page until she gets a little older and I can gauge her fearlessness (or fearfulness).Some children who are accustomed to watching the shows and movies that have monsters will find this book to be clever and interesting. Children who are a little scared of the dark may find relief some relief with this book. Totally petrified kids should NOT be read this book at night, or maybe ever.I also found the part with the female monster (with painted nails and bow)to be gender-typical: the boy rejects her because she is a girl, stating that boys need BOY monsters only and girls need girl monsters. BUT WHATEVER, it's ONE line in ONE book..most people still dress their boys strictly in blue, green and brown with trucks and robots plastered everywhere and their girls wear putrid pink and purple glitterfied princess garb 24/7.We will keep this and just skip the scary page for now, because I am a sucker for good illustrations! I love it when you can stare at a page in a children's book for 2 minutes and still be intrigued.

My daughter adores this book.She makes us read it every night. Multiple times sometimes.It’s a really great read for kids

My daughter loves it

A mi hijo de 3 años y medio le FASCINA este cuento. (Cierto es que siempre le han gustado los monstruos, vampiros, lobos, esqueletos etc...) Lo pide a todas horas pero solo lo leemos al acostarnos. Es una historia divertida de un niño que necesita un monstruo bajo su cama para poder dormir- ya que el miedo que le tiene hace que se quede en la cama y pueda conciliar el sueño. Su monstruo se va a pescar un dia y no puede dormir sin el, asi que prueba a otros monstruos pero ninguno le asusta como el suyo. Una historia que valida el temor de los niños a la oscuridad, la noche, estar solos en su cuarto etc pero le da un vuelco y enseña como realmente no hay nada que temer. Mi hijo lo encuentra escalofriante, emocionante y divertido a la vez. Las imagenes son muy bonitas y creativas y a mi hijo le encantan.El cuento es para edades mas avanzadas, yo diria que 6-7+ años , pero eso no ha sido un problema para mi hijo y disfruta de mi lectura, cambiando voces y haciendo los ruidos propios de los monstuos de la historia. Hablamos mucho de los dibujos, los detalles de las imagenes, las sombras las colas con pinchos, las lenguas laaaargas y las garras con zarpas y lo hacemos divertido eliminando cualquier interpretacion oscura que se le pueda dar a la historia. Al fin y al cabo es una historia de monstruos y sugiero que los padres tengan precaución al leerselo a sus niños ya que la interpretación del contexto variará mucho dependiendo de la sensibilidad del niño.Leí en los comentarios que a ciertas personas les pareció el cuento algo machista porque el niño descarta un monstruo al darse cuenta que es una chica por llevar un lazo. Porque "los monstruos chicos son para niños y los monstruos chicas son para niñas". Esto es cierto pero yo lo veo como una oportunidad para dialogar con mi pequeño sobre este tema. Hablamos sobre como el niño está perdiendo oportunidades de hacer amistades por solo querer un monstruo chico ... si le cambiaramos el lazo por una gorra de baseball? Dejaria el monstruo de ser igual de divertido, o malefico, cambiaria su manera de hablar y de rasgar con sus uñas, de babear? No. Hay que ver a las personas/monstruos por quien son y no como visten o por su sexo o color. Eso son los gustos de Ethan (el protagonista) y nosotros tenemos los nuestros, y si pudieramos hablar con el , lediriamos que no estamos de acuerdo. Me fascina como estos dialogos hacen que pensar a mi pequeño y que se de cuenta que en la variedad está el gusto. Los niños pueden aprender sobre el rechazo, la aceptación y la definición de exigente que varia según cada uno. Tambien es cierto que hay un monstruo coqueto con nombre masculino"Ralph" que habla con voz aguda, uñas pintadas, pelo peinado y le gusta ir bien arreglado...conotaciones poco tradicionales y me parece fantastico.El libro está escrito en ingles.En resumen, a nosotros nos divierte muchisimo y ya hemos pasado muchas horas entre sus paginas .... y nos quedan muchas más!!

Entertainingly told, this story captivates my young and older students. Wonderful illustrations accompany a rich vocabulary to explore the limit of childhood.

A real gem of a book.Playing on the age-old tale of the monster under the bed, "I Need My Monster" subverts the classic story of fear, and shows the monster in a different light - needed by the one they are supposed to scare, offering comfort, security and a feeling of rightfulness.The monster in the story goes on holiday, leaving the child in need of a replacement as he is unable to get to sleep without the comforting sounds of his monster's breathing, amongst other things. Other monsters come along, and are immediately rejected by the boy. The different characters of the monsters offer the reader a fantastic opportunity to really get into character, putting on voices - making this a book that begs to be read at bedtime.The drawings are amazing, bringing to mind the details seen in the Pixar movies, and as such offering another piece of comfort to any child to whom this is being read - the cartoon "scariness" is evocative of 'Monsters Inc.' and as such keeps the fear factor down.One to read again and again over the years - and not just for the enjoyment of the children!