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Summary
Summary
Make room in your suitcase for this monstrously entertaining guide to fantastic creatures around the world -- and how to elude them.
I did not make any of this up.
Do you know why you should have baby teeth handy when visiting the Midwest? Or why you should bring a cucumber with you when swimming in Japan? How good are you at solving Russian riddles? From Boston to Bejing, from Moscow to Mali, any place you visit has its own terrifying tales of very real creatures. Complete with handy "gruesomeness ratings," this guide offers all the important facts on some sixty-three folkloric monsters and how (if possible!) to survive an encounter with them. Meticulously researched by Judy Sierra and illustrated in grotesque detail by Henrik Drescher, here is the ultimate resource for any world traveler, armchair or otherwise, hoping to make it home alive.
Author Notes
Judy Sierra is a scholar of folklore and mythology as well as the author of many award-winning books for children, including the NEW YORK TIMES bestseller WILD ABOUT BOOKS. Of THE GRUESOME GUIDE TO WORLD MONSTERS, she says, "I wrote this book for people who, like me, find Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster rather disappointing. I had so much fun researching this book, as I discovered little-known accounts of monsters more frightening than I ever imagined."
Henrik Drescher has written and illustrated many wonderful books for children and adults, including PAT THE BEASTIE and THE BOY WHO ATE AROUND. His illustrations are frequently seen in ROLLING STONE, NEWSDAY, and THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW. He lives in Hong Kong.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-Drescher's crudely drawn, luridly colored, mixed-media "Monsters from the Id"-style portraits, which provide perfect jumping-off points for susceptible young imaginations, are matched with Sierra's brief introductions to dozens of ugly customers from world folklore. Along with the few that will provoke shivers of recognition, such as the Australian Bunyip, she offers wonderfully provocative warnings against creatures as diverse as the giant skunk Aniwye, the blood-sucking bat Mansusopsop, and Bloody Mary, "an evil specter who lives on the other side of mirrors, especially the mirrors of elementary-school bathrooms." Though the author does not provide specific source notes, she does give each entry a general area of origin, as well as a skull-and-crossbones "Gruesomeness Rating" and a "Survival Tip," if any. This crowd pleaser is a perfect lead-in to Daniel Cohen's spine-chilling tales, or more broadly focused reference titles, such as Rosemary Ellen Guiley's Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters (Facts On File, 2004).-John Peters, New York Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this globe-trotting bestiary, Sierra (Wild About Books) recounts native monster legends and Drescher (Pat the Beastie) sets the horrific mood with slithery ink sketches. Each monster receives a Gruesomeness Rating (one skull-and-crossbones symbol equals "frightening," five mean "fatal"), along with a description and tongue-in-cheek Survival Tip. The author offers folksy strategies for avoiding a forest cave-dwelling kidnapper called the Dziwozony ("If you are small and cute, don't venture alone into a Polish forest") and the clutching Burr Woman of the American Great Plains ("Before helping any nice older ladies, ask to see their fingernails"). Readers learn that the giant half-bird Chiruwi of Malawi will challenge them to wrestle, and that Malaysia's tiny Polong and cricket-like Pelesit secretly burrow under the skin: "People with polong sickness talk endlessly about cats." The mortally dangerous monsters come with fewer instructions, naturally. La cobra grande strikes terror into Amazon travelers ("Sorry, no survivors to query") and the prey-inhaling Nundu allegedly prowls Southern and Eastern Africa ("Survival Tip: Good luck!"). Drescher's grotesque mixed-media illustrations look like doodles after nightmares, and suggest terrified glimpses of these 60-odd ghouls. Given its international scope, this book could use a map and sources for the myths, but as it is, every page provides imaginative fodder for chilling tales. Ages 6-up. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Drescher's bizarre mixed-media illustrations are the perfect accompaniment to a text that celebrates the diversity of the world's folkloric monsters. Sierra gives sage advice to armchair travelers as they explore this quirky introduction to many myths and legends. The ratings for each monster from ""frightening"" to ""fatal"" and the precautions suggested will keep readers on the edge of their seats. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
If one were to believe that monsters are real, this would be a great nonfiction reference tool. However, others will view it as a fantastic tongue-in-cheek treasure with encyclopedia-like entries. Sierra dispenses several survival tips for the basic monster encounter; for instance, she advises travelers to Russia to study riddle books in order to answer Poludnitsa's queries (and survive). Other tips provide advice about eating habits, where to sleep and what to do--"swim only in the hotel pool" to avoid Wanagemeswak. She gives no such advice for the La Cobra Grande as the reader is advised that there are "no survivors to query." Each entry provides a location, gruesomeness rating, description and survival tip. A fun read offering Drescher the chance to go wild with his trademark weirdness and just-scary-enough mixed-media illustrations of more than 60 gruesome creatures. Outrageous fun, but sure to inform as well. (afterword) (Picture book. 6-10) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Gr. 5-8. In this exquisitely presented parody of a field guide (similar in approach to Dragonology0 , without the novelty elements), Sierra's controlled text provides a counterweight to artwork that's like graffiti scribbled on the walls of Bedlam. But don't assume Sierra's role is exclusively moderating. In delivering the vital stats of more than 60 monsters, she reveals a deliciously macabre side (one Brazilian beastie "massages his victim's body until it is as soft as a ripe avocado . . . and sucks out all his organs"), while layering doses of deadpan humor among the chilling details ("Survival hints" for facing the French grim reaper? "Not applicable."). Some readers may wish for maps locating the monsters' native lands, as well as notes about specific cultural sources. Still, this will delight junior-high readers and older devotees of Terry Jones' Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book 0 (1994) and Edward Gorey's The Gashlycrumb Tinies0 (1997) , 0 who will exult in the Bosch-like envisioning, and then mull over Sierra's endnote about the cautionary purposes served by monster stories. For readers looking for a milder scare, suggest Linda Ashman's\b \b0 The Essential0 Worldwide Monster Guide 0 (2003). --Jennifer Mattson Copyright 2005 Booklist
