Review by Booklist Review
This follow-up to Monster Needs a Costume (2013) finds the big, blue Sendakesque figure excited as heck about a different holiday. It's Christmas Eve, and he and his buddy, a little boy, need a tree, stat after, of course, waiting to see Santa at the store, going sledding, making snow monsters, and getting into a snowball fight. By the time the fun is done, the trees are sold out. Czajak's 'Twas the Night before Christmas -cadenced rhymes then turn somber: We slunk back home without a tree, / exhausted and defeated. / I said to him, It's not that bad, / a tree is overrated.' The cute finale brings to mind Charlie Brown, as Monster gathers up houseplants to cobble together a pretty darn impressive placeholder. As before, Czajak and Grieb make Monster's perpetual overexcitement palpable and identifiable.--Kraus, Daniel Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The small boy and big blue monster from Monster Needs a Costume and Monster Needs His Sleep return in a holiday adventure that has them racing around town. Setting out to procure a Christmas tree, they're distracted by a chance to see Santa Claus; cutting in line, Monster leaps onto Santa's lap and tells him, "I want a snowboard and a glove, a baseball and a bike./ But if you only bring one gift, a puppy's what I'd like!" From there, the two go sledding, build snow monsters, have a snowball fight, and fashion an ad hoc Christmas tree after discovering that all the evergreens have been sold. Grieb's exaggerated cartoons are right in step with Monster's ample energy, and while there are a couple off notes in Czajak's rhymes, it's still a lively Christmas outing. Ages 2-6. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-On the day before Christmas, Monster suddenly realizes that he needs a tree or he might not get the present he wants from Santa. So the Wild Thing wannabe (blue fur, purple Justin Bieber bangs, yellow horns and claws) and his human boy go downtown in search of the perfect tree. Along the way, Monster is distracted by a visit to a department-store Santa, a hill for sledding, snow-monster building, and a snowball fight. There are no trees left in the lot when Boy and Monster finally make it there. Monster comes up with the surprisingly impressive solution of creating a tree out of all the potted plants in the house, and in the end, Santa comes through with the desired puppy. Colorful illustrations reflect Grieb's background as a storyboard artist for Disney; the rhyming text is pedestrian at best. And why, when the rest of the house is completely decked out for the holiday, is there no tree already? An additional purchase.-Mara Alpert, Los Angeles Public Library (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A little boy narrates the story of how he and the monster who lives at his house spend the day before Christmas together getting ready for the holiday. The duo live in a snow-covered, suburban house, apparently without any parents around to question the presence of a huge, blue monster with a shock of purple hair. Monster wants to visit Santa with his gift list and then buy a Christmas tree so Santa can place their presents under the tree later that night. After visiting Santa, the two pals spend so much time playing in the snow that all the Christmas trees at the tree lot are already sold by the time of their arrival. They solve their problem by gathering all the house plants at home and forming them into their own sort of Christmas tree, and Santa leaves a requested puppy under the tree for Monster. The illustrations have a dark, nightmarish quality, and Monster seems to be a close relative of Sendak's Wild Things, with daggerlike claws and sharp teethalbeit ones that are set in a goofy permanent grin. The rhyming text is serviceable but not without misstep.Save this for kids who will love Monster's scary demeanorthere should be many. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
