105 Ways to Give a Book

Monster In The Backpack

The Monster in the BackpackFinally! A new beginning reader book that is interesting and funny. Lisa Moser might be poised to join the ranks of Cazet and Rylant if she can bring us more books like The Monster in the Backpack.

Annie has a new backpack with pink and blue flowers. It also has a monster. When Annie goes to unzip the backpack, the monster yells, as does Annie. When she takes another peek inside, the monster yells again.
“Do you ever whisper?” asked Annie.

“Do you ever knock?” asked the monster.

“How can I knock on a backpack?”

The monster scratched his head. “You’re right," he
said. “Next time, ring the doorbell.”
Annie questions the small monster about being in her backpack, but decides to continue on to school with him. I guess as monsters go, he’s pretty cute, even if he did eat Annie’s lunch. Except for the carrots, because carrots make him burp. The monster creates problems for Annie all during the day, but in the end, she finds that having a troublesome monster is better than having no monster at all.

The simple, bright illustrations by Noah Z. Jones add to the sense of fun and whimsy of the book. The story is just enough for young readers to enjoy, and the silliness throughout will keep them reading.

4 comments:

MLight said...

Thank you! After homeschooling three children, I would agree that it's difficult to find good beginning readers. It's one of the hurdles as they're learning to read. After listening to me read all sorts of wonderful things out loud for years, the books that are written for their level are mostly boring - for instance, I just finished reading Dragon Rider to my youngest son; most of the easy readers don't keep his attention. My daughter who, at the same age, listened in while we read The Earthsea Trilogy out loud to her older brother, was *very* frustrated with easy readers.
I'll have to look for The Monster in the Backpack - it sounds like my younger son will enjoy it!

Anonymous said...

Hello there!

I'm the illustrator of this book, thank you so much for the fantastic review. I was wondering if you could slightly amend your book description, my name is actually NOAH Z. JONES. I like Norah Jones, she is a terrific songstress and I'm sure this was a simple mixed-up typo.

Check out my portfolio website if you get a chance...

www.noahzjones.com

Thanks so much once again and have a fantastic day!

MotherReader said...

Whoops. I made the correction. Note to self: pay particular attention to the names of authors and illustrators as spell-check will certainly NOT help.

Thanks for stopping by though, and I hope, really hope, you guys work together on a new one.

Magpie said...

Based on your recommendation, I got this book for my three year old, for me to read to her. Her reaction? Again! It's charming - thanks for the pointer.