Monster Motel
Author: Douglas Florian
Illustrator: Douglas Florian
Publisher: Voyager Books 1997
ISBN:978-0152013868
Reading Ages: 5 to 10 Years
Illustrator: Douglas Florian
Publisher: Voyager Books 1997
ISBN:978-0152013868
Reading Ages: 5 to 10 Years
Genre: Children's Poetry, Halloween, Humor
I Gave This Book 5 Roars! 🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁
Poetic Elements: Repetition, rhyme, and the use of anthropomorphism is used frequently in this collection of poems. There is also the use of onomatopoeias, where the words make the sounds of things.
Humor
is the main topic throughout the anthology of 13 poems about monsters staying in a hotel.
"An excellent choice for youngsters who beg for something scary."
~~ Booklist
Appeal: The author is also the illustrator. He
uses illustrations done in a blend of watercolor, ink, and pen. I like the illustrations and they really make
the monsters feel vivid and captivating for the reader’s imagination.
"In the introductory
poem, a bellhop greets readers: "Welcome to the Monster Motel,/ Where
mostly monstrous monsters dwell." Each of the remaining 13 poems describes
a different resident. Florian's creatures are, however, gentle and bizarre
rather than scary. Some of the more interesting ones are those that might exist
almost anywhere. "The Gazzygoo," for instance, lives inside the
cracks of a sidewalk. Others, such as "The Fabled Feerz" and
"The Brilly," are bigger and bolder. The language and the images are
creative and rhythmic, and the subject matter will certainly appeal to
children. The poems themselves, though, are not as consistently vivid or
successful as the illustrations. Florian's seemingly simple watercolors grow
more intriguing with each new book. His emphatic use of line, his imaginative
use of color, and his ability to convey mood and expression are
all superbly demonstrated here."
~~ Lauralyn Persson,
School Library Journal
Layout: The poems went with each monster on the page. The author added a watercolor picture of himself as a monster on the book jacket. I thought that was really cute!
Connections:
Spotlight Poem - The first lines of "The Brilly."
"The Brilly is a silly beast;
It has no sense, to say the least.
It wears its shoes upon its hands
And ties its feet with rubber bands."
Sharing- I think this would be a great book to introduce boys to poetry. It would also be a good choice to share during Halloween.
Activity- Allowing students to create their own monsters would be a fun activity. You could use simple colors, markers, and paper, or try it with playdough, purple and green slime, and googly eyes. There are a lot of options.
More books by Douglas Florian:
Shabbat Shalom!
Poetrees
Insectlopedia
Shabbat Shalom!
Poetrees
Insectlopedia
No comments:
Post a Comment