School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 3-Jeremy Draws a Monster (Holt, 2009) was a big hit with kids due to the picture-perfect scenario of a child confronting fears of solitude in a creative way. In this sequel, the tone is crisp and mysterious. The neighborhood kids outside are staring at the gliding paper airplane headed for Jeremy's window. The boy is alone drawing when it lands on his floor. "But what is this?/It was a note." Unfolded, it reads: "Draw a compass and a telescope and look out your window north by northwest." Jeremy hears the phone ring. "I'm coming back and I'm bored!" The monster is back! Rather than panicking, he thinks fast and invites the kids up. He hands each of them a fancy pen and tells them what to draw. Readers will certainly chuckle at the similarities between the children and the monsters they create. The pictures are uniquely drawn with such fine lines that one might think that a computer did some fancy feathering, but closer examination reveals the drawings to be entirely human in their imperfection and in their vast range of values, almost swirling from effervescent to dense crosshatching. McCarty's pen, ink, and watercolor artwork is delicate and spare, and allows youngster the space to wonder and gather evidence, bringing a joyful conclusion to Jeremy's desperate dilemma. The pacing is superb and invites viewers to linger over each page. This is an engaging celebration of artistic imagination and friendship.-Sara Lissa Paulson, American Sign Language and English Lower School PS 347, New York City (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
One day when Jeremy is drawing alone in his apartment, the blue, spiky monster that he created in Jeremy Draws a Monster calls him from a telephone booth: "I'm coming back.... And I'm bored!" Thinking quickly, Jeremy arms his young neighbors with fancy pens and they craft a menagerie of additional monsters. McCarty's story is Hitchcockian in its suspense, as the monster, wearing a pink hat and carrying a brown suitcase, makes his way to Jeremy's door. Once again, the monster proves that he knows exactly how to shift Jeremy's quiet life into unexpected territory. Ages 3-6. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
