Have You Seen My Monster? by Steve Light

Today's read made is the partner book to the popular Have You Seen My Dragon and originally appeared on the shelves in 2015. Since it's still enjoyed by readers, it's being re-released on September 24. I did not read the either of the books before, and was glad to pick this one up. After all, the idea of searching for a monster at a fair does sound fun...and it supposedly teaches about shapes along the way.

So, off we go to visit the fair!

HAVE YOU SEEN MY MONSTER?

A Book of Shapes

by Steve Light

Candlewick Press

 Picture Book

42 pages

ages 4 to 8

In a follow-up to Steve Light’s highly praised Have You Seen My Dragon?, the county fair is filled with shapes—and somewhere among them a monster is waiting to be found.

A little girl gallivants through a county fair, searching for her furry friend. Readers will surely spot the friendly monster as well as twenty shapes, identified here by their proper names—trapezoids, ellipses, kites, and more—hidden among iconic fair attractions from the fun house to the Ferris wheel. Maybe the monster is judging the pies? Or perhaps he’s at the monster-truck rally? Youngsters will be so mesmerized by Steve Light’s masterful pen-and-ink illustrations, decorated with vivid splashes of color, they won’t even realize they’ve learned how to spot a nonagon while looking for a monster.

GOODREADS

MY TIDBITS

This is a monster search to giggle about and learn about shapes along the way.

Monster and shapes collide in these pages. The search for the monster is already quite a bit of fun, especially since the entire thing is placed in an energetic, fair setting. The black and white line drawings give listeners plenty to search through, not only for the monster but also for surprising details here and there. The entire thing radiates fun. While the search for the monster continues, there's the name of a shape, and this is shown somewhere in the illustration in color. These stick out brightly against the white and black scenes, making them very easy to identify. 

The monster is hairy, not scary, and ever-so-sneaky. It's not very hard to find it, which fits nicely to the intended age group. Some of the hiding spots will draw giggles and smiles, too. It's fun to search each page, while also discovering the fair scenes. The text is kept concise and entertaining, and makes the search that much more enjoyable.

With all this entertainment, there's also the learning aspect. The shapes are clearly named and shown. Plus, listeners can see if they find similar shapes in the rest of the drawing. While the basic shapes are covered, there are also more advanced ones such as a curvilinear triangle. So, this one works for more than just first shape knowledge. 

It's a fun addition for not only classrooms and early-learning situations, but for homeschoolers as well.