School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Children will love this book. Set to the familiar tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It," this rendition has a downloadable CD, performed by Adrian Emberley, on the publisher's website. The exceptionally bright, digitally created monsters are set against a black background, which makes them almost 3-D in appearance. Each verse appears in an easy-to-read font and in a variety of colors that show up clearly on the dark page. The Emberleys have a knack for creating wonderfully creepy creatures. Though wacky, some with four eyes, pointy teeth, and sharp claws, they are not too scary for even the youngest child. Kids will be only too willing to pretend to be monsters and follow along to "snort and growl," "twitch your tail," and "wriggle your warts," as instructed, in order to prove their monsterness. The last page states, "Now, do it again...," and that will be no problem.-Maryann H. Owen, Racine Public Library, WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
This father-daughter team builds on the winning formula of 2009's There Was an Old Monster with a silly spin on another familiar song. In digital illustrations, flamboyant angular monsters-composed of patterned geometric shapes with tentacles, teeth, and horns galore-follow the directives of the lyrics, which open with, "If you're a monster and you know it, snort and growl." The wild-eyed creatures, whose neon hues pop from the black backgrounds, subsequently smack their claws, stomp their paws, twitch their tails, wiggle their warts, and roar-and you can bet kids will be doing the same. A final, foldout spread shows the cast doing all of these things simultaneously. Between the spreads devoted to each verse are closeups of the monsters engaged in each activity, which both creates extra time for audience growling, wiggling, and roaring, and helps stretch the song to 32 pages. Like the previous book, readers can download the song, performed by Adrian Emberley (Rebecca's daughter and Ed's granddaughter), from Scholastic's Web site. This playful read-aloud is sure to energize story time. Ages 3-5. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
