40. The Story of Growl

The Story of Growl. Judy Horacek. 2008. 32 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: This is Growl. Growl is a little monster. She lives in a castle at the end of Eucalyptus Drive.

Premise/plot: The Story of Growl is....you guessed it...the story of Growl. Growl, our delightful monster-heroine, has a great life. She's as happy as can be. As is evidenced by her singing, skipping, hopping, and above all her GROWLING. But her neighbors, well, they don't love living next door to a monster. Especially a monster that growls. Can Growl become friendly with her neighbors?! Or will she be silenced....forever?!

My thoughts: Oh. How. I. Loved. This. Book. Growl is a monster, a purple monster, a monster who loves, loves, loves to growl. Oh. And she loves, loves, loves to sing about herself and her love of growling. Could a book be more perfect for me? Here is what the jacket flap says,

"What's wrong with a little growling--or a little singing--anyway? Plenty, if you ask Growl's neighbors. But sometimes, you don't know how important something is until you don't have it anymore.
A story of neighbors, compromise, monsters, and singing, that will having them shouting growling, "read it again!"

And this is how the book begins,

"This is Growl. Growl is a little monster. She lives alone in a castle at the end of Eucalyptus Drive. Growl likes to hop...and skip...and jump...and run around her garden. But most of all she likes to...GROWL."

That's just a small glimpse of what this monster is like. I loved this book so much. I could (but I won't) quote *everything* because I loved everything just that much. The text. The illustrations. Perfect. Perfect. Perfect.



Definitely recommend this one if you have little monsters of your own.

 

 

© 2021 Becky Laney of Young Readers

Bobo and the New Neighbor

Page, Gail. 2008. Bobo and the New Neighbor.

For anyone who loves dogs or muffins...have I got a book for you! I loved Bobo and the New Neighbor by Gail Page. I believe that this is a follow up to the book How To Be A Good Dog. (But as my luck would have it, I haven't read the original. If it is anything like this one, I'm sure it's a great book. Note to self: find a copy and enjoy!!) Bobo loves many things, we're told, and one of the things he loves is meeting new people. So it's to his great delight when a new neighbor moves in. His owner, Mrs. Birdhead, doesn't lose much time in inviting that neighbor, a Mrs. Wrinklerump, over for tea. I won't go into all the details, but this one is funny and enjoyable and just satisfying in a grinning ear-to-ear kind of way.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers