Tuutikki Tolonen

I began reading Monster Nanny nearly two months prior to concluding the book. I started reading it to my 9-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter. Halfway through, my daughter dropped out and sat next to us reading whatever book she was interested in - this was a first. My son was interested enough to see it through, but not so interested that he was begging for one more page (or even to necessarily read it every night) which is why it took so long. The story for the premise - a literal monster is introduced to watch after three children and a mystery develops around where it came from and where it calls home - should have been exciting and fast-moving, but instead the story dragged. Based on some of the details (dad always on the road for work, a talking bathrobe) I thought this was a sequel, but I believe that assumption was incorrect after looking into a little.

The ending, literally the last line, is probably the most vanilla and boring endings in a children's book that I can recall and with the book clocking in at about 300 pages, there needed to be more of a reward. I would not recommend this book and I'm not interested in reading something else from Tolonen based on this.… (plus d'informations)

This was an odd story that I didn't really connect with. Halley, Koby and Mimi are three young siblings. Their mother won a vacation to Lapland and part of the prize was to provide a nanny, a monster nanny. The nanny was delivered with one page of instructions. It was a strange, hairy, dusty beast which reminded me a bit of Cousin It from the Adam's Family. It spend a lot of time in the closet, didn't speak, but did not seem dangerous. Mimi, the youngest child is a bit strange. She talks to a blue bathrobe, so it is no surprise that she developed some sort of communication with the Monster. When it was discovered that other children in the neighbourhood also had a Monster Nanny and that their parents had won a trip, they banded together to try and figure out where they came from, what they eat, what the needed to get home.

The monsters had their own language, habits and families. The children worked together to take care of each other and offer some solutions. It was nice that the children figured out that the Monsters needed something and helped them determine what it was. There were black and white illustrations scattered throughout the book that were cute and gave you an idea of what the kids and the monsters looked like. They were not scary looking at all. A cute book, that middle grade students that like monsters might enjoy. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.… (plus d'informations)

Literary Merit: Great
Characterization: Great
Recommended: Yes
Level: Middle grades

In Monster Nanny, the Hellman children-- Halley, Koby, and Mimi-- are left with a monster nanny while their mother is out on vacation. Having a "half-human" as a nanny proves to be unconventional at best; it stays in the hall closet and only comes out to clean and cook. Soon, though, Mimi receives ominous messages from a blue talking bathrobe that there are more than just monsters to be concerned with.

I loved this book. The main characters are well developed, and the descriptions of the fantastical beings are fun and humorous. There are illustrations throughout that are clever and very entertaining. An all-around fun, light, and entertaining read.… (plus d'informations)