Publisher's Weekly Review
A young monster, appropriately named Monster, needs a mask for Halloween. He tries on a girl mask and frightens the fangs out of his older sister. ``Too scary,'' he decides. A boy mask causes his mother to drop her vacuum cleaner mid-sweep. Dog and cat masks have similar effects on Monster's father and baby sibling. Then, looking into a mirror at his own face, Monster says, ``Just right.'' His father then takes the monster children trick-or-treating, while Mom waves from house. This is a clever to-thine-ownself-be-true twist, made even more agreeable because of Munsinger's good-natured pictures. Readers may wish, though, that the artist had taken a bit more license with the action when Monster scares his familythose scenes are pretty sedate. Still, this is a small, winning book. (2-5) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
Ages 2-4. Monster, a friendly faced, overalled, middle child who happens to be a green creature, is the likable hero of these two picture books. In the first, he deliberates over his Halloween costume. After trying on a girl mask, a boy mask, a dog mask, and a cat mask all thoroughly innocuous and deciding that each is too scary, he looks in the mirror and decides that his own face is just right. In the second book, he can't sleep. His patient parents use their arsenal of bedtime send-offs, from warm milk to stories to kisses, but nothing works until Monster decides that it's bedtime for Spider, his black, cuddly, many-armed, stuffed animal. Repeating the bedtime ritual for Spider, Monster finally falls asleep. While the latter book has the stronger story, the former is a possible choice for two-year-old story time at Halloween. The full-color illustrations are pleasant enough, but simplicity and child appeal are the books' strengths. For those who have requests for monster stories from the viewers of ``Sesame Street'' who have not yet heard that monsters are scary, these books may fill the demand. CP.