149
people found this helpful, as of 2023
ranked #210,670 most helpful
out of 571,544,897 reviews
★★☆☆☆
Not for my kids! Monster's too extreme; No Responsibility Included; Dad is strangely a by-stander
I am very frustrated with this book. It is well-intended and might be good for a few children, but it is not what I wanted it to be and not appropriate for my 4 year old twins.
This book is written for kids with extreme problems acting out. Kids whose only need right now is to deal with the shame they experience after they've calmed down.
The message of the book is that Mom still sees the boy inside the monster and loves that boy even while the monster is acting out. To make this point, they make the boy/monster's behavior extreme and continuous for a whole day. I realize some kids go through day's like that, but it's the minority. It is certainly far beyond the 30-60 minute tantrums I get from my kids. The behavior in the book feels like it would give my kids additional, more destructive ideas about how to act out when they are mad and trying to upset other people.
Yes, it is important to reduce the shame that kids feel about making mistakes. But teaching them they are still loved is only the first lesson for kids that act out like this. I was looking for a book that includes more than this. This book includes very little story telling about what to do after the monster is gone. No examples of being responsible for behavior, or cleaning up messes, or taking care of people that "the monster" might have hurt or upset. At the end of the story, the authors just have the boy interact with people he wronged as though nothing ever happened.
Maybe some kids are so out-of-control that they need a book like this that is just focused on being loved and getting past the shame. I think the description of this book should be clearer about that target audience. Most kids are much smaller monsters than this, and most parents will be looking for a book that demonstrates taking responsibility after a tantrum is through.
One final note -- As a single father, I am saddened by the complete focus on the MOTHER loving the boy. Dad is in the beginning and end of the story, but he is NEVER mentioned as seeing the boy, or loving the boy, or supporting the boy. It would've been so easy to include Dads as loving parents, too. Instead we get a weird, passive, by-stander for Dad.
