Monster Friends by Kaeti Vandorn

Summary from Goodreads:

Two friends: one big, one little. One old, one young. One grumpy, one cheerful. Both: MONSTERS! From the author of Crabapple Trouble comes a sweet and fun-filled chapter-book graphic novel, with a charming cast of adorable monsters.

Reggie's plan is to spend the whole summer brooding over his latest adventure gone wrong. But his friendly and curious neighbor, Emily, won't let him sit alone and unhappy in his house forever! Despite their differences, these two monsters make the perfect pair of explorers. And with a map to make, a beach party to plan, and a sea monster to find, Reggie will have to learn to talk about his feelings and let new friends in!

With bright, gorgeous art by Kaeti Vandorn, Monster Friends features the cutest, fuzziest monsters you've ever seen.

Review:


As I said on Gooreads, I read this because of how adorable the cover was. The book was just as, if not more adorable. If you want something cute and fluffy to read about little monsters who go on adventures, pick this up. It will take about an hour to read the whole thing.

There was something both completely fresh and new about the fluffy monsters of this book, and something entirely familiar. It had the old school vibes of something classic like Frog and Toad. The two unlikely friends were meant to learn and grow with each other in a similar way to the classic pair: Frog and Toad. Yet, the seemingly random, and uniquely friendly monster characteristics were unlike anything I’ve really seen before in past kids books.

One character has these super skinny long legs that pop out as needed. The other looks like a giant floppy bunny/dog hybrid. There’s a giant tiger bus that carries monster kids around the forest (and reminds me of something from My Neighbor Totoro. And there’s also mythological monsters like sea serpents (who turn out to be not so mythological…)

The pages are bright, colorful, and whimsical. The facial expressions on the characters are easy to understand. There aren’t a lot of words, which makes this a good book for younger readers or even readers new to the graphic novel format. The story was mostly about friendship and coming to terms with a few things about themselves. Overall, it’s just a sweet, fluffy story. The plot wasn’t anything remarkable. But the cute pictures and sweet character traits will stick with you after you finish it. I give it an 8/10.