October is the month of Halloween so lets talk monsters! Check out this great series of monsterous stories! The Monsterrific Tales series by David Lubar is a fun series with a ghoulish spin! The books are meant for younger kids and they are a good length for that. I like that Mr. Lubar mixes monsters with a message. Here is the publisher’s description of the series;
“Washington Irving Elementary School has a bit of a monster problem. Sebastian and his friends take turns experiencing life as a vampire, a werewolf, a witch, and ghost. Even one of his teachers and a school bully get “monsterized.” Who will be next? Read all six books in this series of scary and funny Monsterrific Tales!“
Check out my review of book 4 in the series “The Wavering Werewolf” HERE.
I don’t normally like monster books, but this series is actually pretty cool. The books aren’t really about the horror aspect, but dealing with being a monster (and maybe turning back). The stories have a monster theme to them, but they have a lot of humor and are just a fun read.
Here are the latest spooktacular books in the series!
The Gloomy Ghost (Monsterrific Tales #5)
By David Lubar
144 pages – ages 8+
Published by Starscape on July 8, 2014
Series: Monsterrific Tales
Hardcover: 144 pages
Publisher: Starscape; Reprint edition (July 8, 2014)
Summary – [From Amazon]
“First it was Sebastian, then Angie. Now it’s little brother Rory’s turn to be “monsterized!” One minute he’s a normal kid hanging out in his backyard. The next, he finds himself walking through stuff: the back porch, walls, even people! What’s a ghostly kid to do? Rory decides to find some other spirits and ask them how to get “un-ghosted.” So he heads up to the local haunted house to give it a try. What Rory doesn’t know is that if he doesn’t get the answer soon, he’ll only have a ghost of a chance of ever being a kid again…”
What I Thought – This is a fun story. I loved the description of the haunted house – just enough spookiness for the age range. The ghosts in the haunted house were cool characters. I like how Rory solves his problem by using his ghostly powers to get his brother’s attention. Rory is a pretty cute, very smart kindergarten-aged boy. You really end up caring for him and hope that he makes it back to the living. Mr. Lubar has written a great addition to his series! I recommend it to reluctant readers because of its short length, and the fact that the topic draws in lots of kids! It’s a great read for a rainy, or should I say gloomy, day! ;)
I give this book four out of five bookworms!
The Bully Bug (Monsterrific Tales #6)
By David Lubar
144 pages – ages 8+
Published by Starscape on September 2, 2014
Summary – [From Amazon]
“Lud Mellon gets bitten by a bevy of bugs in his basement and the next thing he knows, he’s crawling up walls, drooling on his food, and rolling around in garbage. Turning into a giant insect seems fun at first, almost like having superpowers. But when his dad calls in the exterminators, Lud has to figure out how to stop his transformation before he gets squashed like a bug.”
What I thought – This is a wonderful book with a neat perspective. In the other books, Lud and the Mellon family are always considered the bullies (by the other main characters), so this was an interesting take on the monster story, mostly because of the fact that Lud needs the help of one of the kids he accidentally bullied. Apparently, Lud doesn’t mean to be a bully (doesn’t realize he is bullying, but knows he says some somewhat mean things, like “watch where you walk” when a kid runs into him), he just doesn’t like to talk to many people for long amounts of time, and his outward actions look/sound like bullying (laughing because a character looks so scared, etc.). I like how he ends up making a friend or two in the book, but also comes out of his shell (pun not intended). This is a great series that I think a lot of kids could get into!
I give this book five out of five bookworms!
Want to learn more?!? Visit David Lubar’s author website by clicking HERE.
