{Synopsis} – Enter an enchanted land of mythical creatures where manticores reign and ogres roar-a land of mystery and fright. A unique twist on traditional rhymes of everyone's youth, “Monster Goose Nursery Rhymes” presents a more sinister approach to these childhood classics, and yet the sing-song nature of the poems renders them playful and jovial at the same time. Little Witch Muffet is not frightened by a silly, little spider; she simply adds him to her stew!
Rotten zombies, giants, dwarves, and goblins mingle with werewolves, centaurs, and fauns. Follow along the skeleton stepping stones, scale up a palisade, claw at the window of a tasty child and bake him into a pumpkin shell. Monsters cook up delicious elvish pie, too! Every kid who has an eensy weensy bit of sense wants a pet with feathers white as snow, who flies like an eagle and bleats like a goat-a hippogriff, of course!
Six forest sprites with four times as many pixies escape from a loaf of bread atop the elaborate table of the fey queen; her feast has flown away! If you enjoy mischief and have a penchant for the morbidly hilarious, the Herzs' rhymes will satisfy your mythological curiosities.
Larson's illustrations give new life to these ancient figures, and her artistic style employs the bold lines and colorful movement of an action-packed comic book. The author also includes a “bestiary” with information about the book's legendary creatures, which hail from Scotland, Germany, Italy, Persia, Haiti, and Scandinavia.
{My thoughts} – Forget everything you know about the classic nursery rhymes and then read this book. This book puts a spin on the classic rhymes replacing characters with monsters and mythical creatures. I enjoyed reading it because it was slightly on the entertaining side and it flowed freely. The pictures within the pages match the words of the book perfectly.
The one thing I didn’t like is how close the rhymes were to the original ones. When I was reading it, it had become apparent that the rhymes had slight variations from the originals and I know that often happens in retellings. I only wish that the author had diverted more from the original rhymes and wrote more his own words and thoughts on the pages. I do realize that he had received help writing it from his children and they did well with their imput, but like I said I wish it would have been slightly more different then what it had been.
Aside from that, the book was wonderful. I think that children will easily enjoy it and that it could possibly become a bedtime favorite for many.
Final Conclusion: 4 Star Rating.
