Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... McMinnville Public Library | Balmes | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
Two little girls--one human and the other a monster--are afraid to go to sleep for fear of what's living under their beds.
What if an entire world of MONSTERS lived underneath your floor? Martina is having trouble sleeping because she is afraid monsters might break through the floor and bring her into the monster world where she'll have to learn how to scare humans. Meanwhile, Anitram, a little girl monster, is also having trouble sleeping. There's a noisy little human jumping on the bed in the upside-down world under her floor! Martina and Anitram have more in common than they realize and when a mysterious hole opens up in the floor between their worlds, they are in for a big surprise! A beautiful and clever tale that makes a perfect bedtime story for anyone who is afraid of (or wants to become friends with) a monster!
Author Notes
Santi Balmes is a writer, singer, and songwriter. He has his own band that plays Spanish pop songs. He loves books and this is his first published title. He wrote this book to explain to his own daughters that they shouldn't fear people or things just because they are different.Lyona is a video clip director and graphic designer. She has a degree in Film Studies and she has directed video clips for several Spanish and Mexican artists. She started publishing her drawings and illustrations on her blog. I Will Fight Monsters for You is her first book.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-Martina is scared of the monsters in the night. The sweet girl is convinced an upside-down city populated by monsters exists beneath her bedroom floor. Every night, she must make sure she remains completely under the safety of her blankets so she doesn't get pulled into the monster's world. When her father assures her, "I will fight MONSTERS for you," she manages to fall asleep. That night, Martina dreams of a furry, pink monster named Anitram, who lives a life that mirrors her own. Anitram is afraid of humans and her father promises to fight her fears for her. As they sleep, a hole magically opens between the two upside-down worlds. Martina and Anitram let their arms slip over the edge of the bed, and they join hands. With this act of friendship, the girl and the little monster overcome their fear of the unknown and discover how much they have in common. The gentle cartoon illustrations feature dark outlines and a soft blue and pink bedtime palette. Martina, in her striped pajamas and pigtails, is a darling character, and Anitram is cute and cuddly. VERDICT Pair this debut picture book with Josh Schneider's equally imaginative Bedtime Monsters (Clarion, 2013).-Linda L. Walkins, Saint Joseph Preparatory High School, Boston, MA (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Spanish writer Balmes's heroine Martina has pigtails and striped pajamas, and she isn't just scared of one monster under her bed-she imagines a whole upside-down world of monsters down there. "She was sure that if she left her arm hanging over the side of the bed, the monster would make a hole in the floor, grab her hand, and maybe pull her into the monster world where she would have to learn how to live upside down." Her father comforts her ("I will fight monsters for you," he promises gallantly), she sleeps, and in her dream-which takes place in the monster world-a monster named Anitram lies in her bed worrying about (what else?) humans under the bed. "Did you know that fear is elastic, like bubble gum?" Anitram's father tells her. "As you grow braver, fear shrinks smaller and smaller until it disappears." Lyona's pink and blue monsters are even cuter than Martina, and the book's sweetly conceived conclusion (not to mention the pair of warmhearted fathers, human and monster) will calm any nervous bed-goer. Ages 4-7. Agency: The K Literary and Film Agency. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Worried about monsters under her bedroom floor, Martina calls for her father, who tells her the braver she is the smaller the monsters become. She falls asleep and dreams about a little monster girl, Anitram, with the same worries, whose father also soothes her fears. This sweet bedtime story, with whimsical art and playful book design, perfectly captures a child's imagination. (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A young girl learns to fight her nighttime fears by conquering a mirror world of monstersand a little pink monster learns to do the same. Martina, ponytailed and blank-faced in striped pink-and-blue pajamas, worries every night that monsters just under the floor might drag her down into their world, "where she would have to learn to live upside down." After a pep talk from her father, Martina falls asleep and dreams of a little pink monster named Anitram who is just as scared of the human world as she is of the monsters'. Anitram's world is far from terrifying. The monsters are little horned fuzzballs with sharp but sparse teeth. Cleverly, text is placed upside down in the monster world, and scenes of Martina in bed are flipped to mirror Anitram in her bed. Blue and pink hues are reversed when the story moves from Martina's world to Anitram's. After Anitram is reassured by her own father, she falls asleep as well, leading to a beautiful moment when the two characters' hands meet through the imagined hole in the floor. Unfortunately, much of the story is presented as a dream of Martina's, which seems unnecessary; it would work just as well, and perhaps even more magically, without that extra layer of distance. Dream or no, Martina's monster story makes for lovely storytelling. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
A little girl and a pink monster each face their fears and learn lessons of bravery and tolerance. Martina worries about a city of monsters in an upside-down world just beneath her bedroom, especially at night. Her father reassures her, and she dreams of a little pink-furred monster, Anitram, with her own worries of an upside-down human world that's just as dangerous. A metaphysical meeting teaches the two that they are more alike than different. On its surface, Balmes' tale functions as a nothing-to-be-afraid-of bedtime story, with recognizable fears embellished by one girl's particular imagination. But the story also works as a deeper metaphor for looking past the other to see common humanity. Lyona's simple line drawings, in a subdued palette of bubblegum pink on grounds of stormy blues, greens, and grays, realize the fears, and the resolution, without making anything too scary. This one will appeal particularly to parents and families with an eye to earnest, affirmative fare.--Barthelmess, Thom Copyright 2010 Booklist