Review - Travel Guide for Monsters

Travel Guide for Monsters
by Lori Degman
illustrated by Dave Szalay
Date: 2020
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: library

Taking your monster on a road trip this summer? Or letting your favorite beast tag along on a family beach vacation? Wherever you and your monster are traveling, Travel Guide for Monsters is full of essential tips to help you both enjoy the sights from coast to coast--and avoid monster-related mishaps.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This is a travel guide for taking your monster on a road trip across the United States. Told in fairly impeccable rhyme, the trip starts out on the west coast and makes a few stops along the way, ending at Niagara Falls.

The monsters seem to be enjoying their trip. The illustrations are colourful and fun. There are a couple of questionable word choices (including "nauseous" when it should've been "nauseated"; unfortunately, the rhyme scheme demanded it).

Fans of books about friendly monsters will probably enjoy this one. It bumps along with its jaunty rhymes and takes readers on a nice trip.

Premise: 3/5
Meter: 5/5
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3.29 out of 5

Review - Norbert's Big Dream

Norbert's Big Dream
by Lori Degman
illustrated by Marco Bucci
Date: 2016
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: library

Norbert is a pig with a dream. It doesn't matter if the other farm animals snicker behind his back, Norbert has always dreamed of swimming the English Channel. He's been preparing and training and finally he's ready for the big swim! But where exactly is the English Channel?! Will Norbert have to give up on his dreams or will his friends come to the rescue after all? A sweet, funny story about dreaming big.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This is an okay story about a pig with a dream. Norbert isn't like the other pigs on the farm. While they're eating slop and rolling in mud, he's training for his big dream: to swim the English Channel. But when he's finally ready, he realizes he doesn't know where the English Channel is! He thinks his dream is over... but then his friends come through with a kind gesture.

The whole thing is about following your dreams and having the support of friends. The message is fine. The writing is fairly strong. And the illustrations are pretty cute. If there's one thing I didn't really like, though, it was the depiction of the English Channel. Of course, Norbert has no clue where it is, so he just imagines it as little more than a water-filled ditch. But this perception is never corrected, which might be confusing for some readers.

That aside, however, this is an entertaining little story.

Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 4/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3.33 out of 5