School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-6-This medley of monster-mayhem poems is full of funny sounds and furies and reads aloud with lots of bounce. The volume is decorated with cartoon beasts of all kinds-dinosaurs, cyclopses, giant pigs, overgrown alligators-cavorting with and grimacing at pop-eyed (and sometimes just as monstrous) people. Reminiscent of the Dahl/Blake partnership that created Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes (Knopf, 1983), the poems include an array of disgusting bodily functions that kids will find hilarious. Like the verses of Spike Milligan, there's a nasty wit at work, too, much of which may escape the sensibilities of young readers. Also, they may be puzzled by the Briticisms and occasionally sophisticated wordplay. Some of the verses don't quite scan, but that's redeemed by their sheer vitality and the fun of their typographic variety. There's violence galore, but that's what monsters do, after all, and mostly the kids win out.-Marjorie Lewis, Heathcote School, Scarsdale, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
With a dash of Monty Python and a whiff of Jack Prelutsky, McNaughton's ( Who's That Banging on the Ceiling? ) deliciously outrageous poems are filled with wacky cartoon characters, nimble puns and clever spoofs. Three blue ghosts perform a ``phantomine''; ``in the sandbox, making trouble'' are ``seven witches, hubble, bubble. / (Sandwitches!).'' An ``Ode to the Invisible Man'' is featured on an otherwise blank page, while an ``Abominable Verse'' about a yeti (which ``rhymes so neatly with spaghetti'') is illustrated by a view of the preposterous beast guzzling wine and gobbling pasta. Both poems and art are wickedly comic rather than horribly offensive, though there is plenty of noise (``slobber, chomp, slurp, gulp!'') and an abundance of gross mischievousness. Frankenstein's monster is chopped to bits to the refrain ``May he rest in pieces,'' and a thug eats a cockroach sandwich (``Hate the taste / But love the crunch!''). From the Dracula endpapers to the romp through Jekyll and Hyde Park, McNaughton's saucy good fun contains enough comic-strip verve and zany comedy to liven up even the ``biggest monster party / That there's ever monster been!'' Ages 4-up. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
The sometimes grisly humor of this collection of poems will appeal to lovers of monsters, ogres, and other scary things. From a query about a cross-eyed Cyclops to the Doom Merchant sitting wrapped in a wet blanket, the poems cover a range of wacky situations in a number of styles. Pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations complete the comical mood of the book. Ind. From HORN BOOK 1994, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
McNaughton's grimacing, pop-eyed cartoon figures are the perfect accompaniment for his uninhibited rhymes and free verse. Even though it can descend into indelicacy or tedium (""Widdly, waddly, kink-a-joo/Sing the monster SONG!/Diddly, doddly, stinkypoo/Bang the monster GONG!"") the clever title poem (""When I am feeling lonely,/For Igor I will send./We'll go to my laboratory/And we will make a friend!"") is more characteristic; some of the wordplay here recalls Jack Prelutsky's. Most selections feature monsters or ghoulish events (""A Cyclops Can Never Be Friends With Another"": ""They never see eye to eye""), while unpleasant surprises await visitors to ""Jekyll and Hyde Park."" But some contemporary concerns are addressed: ""Georgie Porgie's been so bad -- /Kissed the gifts and make them mad,"" and ""a caged bird isn't singing out of joy."" Page layouts, as varied as the poetry, add visual interest to a robust collection whose humor, while occasionally gross, is sure to appeal to the target audience. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Gr. 2-4, younger and older for reading aloud. Full of puns, parodies, and gross insults, McNaughton's nonsense verse and comic illustrations wallow in slime and slobber and monstrous distortion. He takes all our delicious, shivery fears and reinvents them. His play is nowhere more fantastic than when he's taking our most banal phrases literally. "Make a friend" takes place in a laboratory. The same kind of mischief erupts in word and watercolor picture with "wet blanket" and "cold feet" and "I've lost my head" and "May he rest in pieces." Much of the pleasure is in the sound of words and their rhyme, whether it's a chant to send to your worst enemy or a celebration of the ooze-zombie from the slime-pits of grunge. For those who understand the references to things like Jekyll and Hyde, there's extra fun; but it doesn't take long to see the joke about the cross-eyed Cyclops or the yeti that rhymes so neatly with spaghetti. A must for Halloween, but this is a collection that kids will laugh over and repeat all year long, especially if they like their "human beans on toast." ~--Hazel Rochman