Author: Michael Yu
Age: 2-8 years

How to Catch a Monster is a cute tale about a little boy who hates to get ready for bed. One night, his mom has a brilliant idea to introduce him to the monster, but only after he was done with his nighttime ablutions.

How to Catch a Monster by Michael Yu inner page
How to Catch a Monster by Michael Yu inner page

First off, some cons about this book: This book has nothing to do with catching monsters. Playing with monsters, yes. Catching them, no.

I think it’s strange that the mom has the son brush his teeth and get ready for bed and then she offers him a snack. Well, technically the snack was for the monster, but what kid wouldn’t eat chocolate chip cookies if he had access to them? Also, his language seems advanced for a four year old. A last gripe I have is that I don’t like the text formatting of the book. There is a huge blank text area on the side of the page but the text is all bunched together; spacing could have been better edited.

I really liked the graphics. They were vivid with saturated colors and they went along well with the story. The monster was cute and well behaved. The little boy remembered that he had to be polite if he wanted the monster to play with him. All in all I would recommend this story.

Kids will like How to Catch a Monster because of the silly times the boy has with his monster, and they will like the twist ending. Adults will like this book because it encourages good nighttime behavior and polite manners.