This review originally found at The Children's Book and Media Review

The Little Shop of Monsters is the best place to buy a monster. They growl at you when you walk in, but it’s their way of saying hello. There are lots of different monsters, including monsters that like to eat snacks, monsters that smell bad, some that are sticky, and some that are sleepy. Visitors can take a monster home, but there’s something visitors might not know. You don’t choose a monster. A monster chooses you!

R.L. Stine, the creator of the Goosebumps series, and Marc Brown, the creator of the Arthur series, teamed up to create this picture book that is a mixture between scary and cute. The illustrations, created with colored pencils, watercolor, spray paint, and gouache, depict monsters that are strange looking but still cute. The words are more menacing in both content and appearance, but not so much that most children would be too frightened by them. Still, adults might want to be aware that the book does talk about monsters eating friends, hiding under beds, and other monsterlike activities if their child is afraid of monsters. ( )

00015380

Enjoy this picture book and meet an array of pet monsters at the pet shop and decide which one you would like to take home.

I liked this book for many reasons. The style of writing is very engaging. For example, there are many rhyming words such as "Pinky" and "Stinky" to describe the monsters (Page 8). Also the illustrations are very detailed. All of the monsters drawn in the book have unique features, such as spikes, multiple legs, big eyes, and long hair. Each monster is a different color. This book does not include a main idea. Its purpose is for entertainment only. ( )

Two children visit the Little Shop of Monsters, the very best store in which to obtain a monstrous companion, in this entertaining picture-book, which blends the humorous, the gross and the spooky to great effect. Viewing a wide assortment of creatures, from Stinky and Smelly, two of the most odorous residents of the shop, to Yucky and Mucky, twins who are so gooey and slimy that they stick together, the children only learn at the end of their tour that they don't get to choose a monster, a monster will choose them. Fortunately they escape just in time... or do they?

From the pen of R.L. Stine, the prolific writer of the best-selling middle-grade Goosebumps horror series, and the pencils and paint-cans of Marc Brown, creator of the popular Arthur series, comes this monstrous picture-book adventure. Children who enjoy a bit of a scare - but not too much! - will appreciate The Little Shop of Monsters, and will find the creatures profiled within its pages simultaneously appealing and repugnant. Although not specifically Halloween-themed, I first saw this title on a Halloween display, and think it would make an excellent selection for that season. Of course, for monster-loving kids it would make a good selection at any time. ( )