Midnight Monsters

By Helen Fiel
Expected publication: August 13, 2018

Why we chose this book:
T loves spooky things, so spooky (not truly scary) books are always on my radar. When I saw this, I thought it would be right up his alley. Laurence King Publishing provided a review copy.

Mom's Review

Midnight Monsters is a work of paper-cutting genius. Each layered pop-up casts shadows of different settings, such as a forest, a castle, or a seascape. The audience is then invited to find the monsters hidden in the shadows when the page is illuminated. Text and a silhouette example introduce the hiding creatures. There is an overarching narrative in which the audience is invited to travel from one setting to the next.

This is the perfect balance of spooky and fun. T loves spooky things, but does not actually like being scared.  This book walks that line perfectly. The monsters are not particularly fearsome or friendly, but are described matter of factly, staying true to their origins myths/literature. Diverse cultures serve as Fiel's sources (African, European, North American...).  T has his favorite pages and likes to take turns with me shining the light or finding the monsters. We have both been having a lot of fun experimenting with the angle and distance of light to change the images on the wall, so I guess this is also a practical lesson on the path of light!

I cannot imagine a book that fits T more to a T than this: it is pop-up, it is spooky, it is monsters, it is interactive, it has mythological creatures. These are all of his current favorite book characteristics. And I cannot be more impressed with the artistry and the variety of monsters. When I can learns something new from T's books, I count that as a real win.

Son's Review
(age 3 1/2)

Mom: Were you scared?

Son: I wasn't too scared.

Mom: What did you like?

Son: At the first I was a little scared, but then I realized monsters and ghosts aren't real.

Mom: That's right. They can just be fun, right?  What was fun in this book?

Son: Right...Yes. We knew what the different monsters did.

Mom: We learned some new monsters. I kind of liked the dingonek. Did you have a favorite monster?

Son: My favorite is all the ones.
(T refuses to pick favorites lately. He always wants to pick everything.)

Mom: What if you could only pick one?

Son: I would pick...I would pick...I would pick *points* [the knocker].

Mom: Wasn't it fun doing the seek and find? What did you like about it?

Son: Yeah. There are monsterrrrrrrrs!

Mom: What did you think of the game? Why?

Son: It's a great game. Because I love MONSTERS!

Mom: Was it easy to find them or hard?

Son: Easy. Because they were shadows, and I can make a monster out of my fingers.
(We've been making shadow images for the past couple of months, ever since we saw a shadow puppet show. T likes experimenting with all the different shapes we can make with our fingers.)

T's plan for our next read:
"So I'm gonna be the job of fighting the monsters and mommy's gonna be the job of shining the light."