Mónica López

Dismayed that the world of ogres seems to be coming to an end, because all of his peers have become interested in being fashionable and clean, the ogre narrator of this rhyming picture-book from Argentina confides in his diary that he has a plan to set things right. Opening a school for ogres, he teaches truly nasty subjects, from creating clothing from foul-smelling rags to cooking traditional dishes such as "Marinated Children and Pig's Feet..."

Originally published in Spanish as Diario de un ogro, this is the fourth and final fairy-tale diary I have read from co-authors Valeria Dávila and Mónica López and illustrator Laura Aguerrebehere, following upon their Diary of a Fairy, Diary of a Witch and Diary of a Monster, all translated by David Warriner for the Montreal-based CrackBoom! Books. Like these other three, the text of Diary of an Ogre left a bit to be desired, with an awkward sometimes rhyming/sometimes not rhyming structure that is rather distracting. I put this down to issues of translation, much as I did with previous entries in the series. It's rather unfortunate that these books have such textual issues, as their story ideas, content and artwork will all be appealing to picture-book audiences who appreciate fractured fairy-tale fare. Here you have the added interest of grossness, with all of the burping, farting and foul-smelling activities - something sure to appeal to youngsters who enjoy the scatological humor of works like Walter the Farting Dog, or Everyone Poops. Although aware that the text is flawed, I would still recommend this one to picture-book readers who enjoy these sorts of tales.… (meer)

A three-headed monster writes in his diary in this (mostly) rhyming picture-book from Argentina, confiding all of the details of his anatomy, his eating habits, and his life beside the Black Lake. Concluding that monsters are really big kids at heart, the narrator seeks his mother, in her swampy home, and enjoys being put to bed... with a good story of course!

Originally published in Spanish as Diario de un monstruo, this title is one of four such fairy-tale diaries from co-authors Valeria Dávila and Mónica López and illustrator Laura Aguerrebehere - the other three are Diary of a Fairy, Diary of a Witch and Diary of an Ogre - to be translated into English by David Warriner for the Montreal-based publisher, CrackBoom! Books. Like the two others I have read so far from this collection (the fairy diary, and the witch one), I found the text here somewhat awkward, with a rhyming structure that didn't always work. I suspect that this issue must be owing to the difficulties of translation, although not having access to the originals, I couldn't say this with any certainty. In any case, I liked the idea of these books, and I appreciated the content of each story, even if the text itself was flawed. The artwork from Aguerrebehere here is appealing (as in the other books), with plenty of fun little monstrous details. My favorite scene was probably the anatomical drawing of the monster, complete with labels, although the final painting, showing him being put to bed, was also quite cute. Recommended to picture-book readers who enjoy tales of monsters and other fantastic creatures, as well as to those seeking children's books from Argentina.… (meer)