Cover Image: The Monster in My Basement

The Monster in My Basement

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Member Reviews

I love that there was a song that went along with the book. Both of my daughters (3 and 6) danced around. Dave was so worried about the monster but everything turned out to be just fine. I really enjoyed this one and find myself humming this song throughout the day!

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Cute rhyming book with fun, colorful illustrations. Some parents will disagree with the message of leaving your home with someone you are scared of, but it leads to a great talking point when read with a teacher, librarian, or school counselor.

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Omg 😍🙌🏻🤗💕 this such an cute story
My nieces were thrilled reading it, and kept singing the song ‘Howard’

Very well done, the illustrations are very cute, the text easy and little so it’s easy to understand 💕

Loved it 📖💕

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Title: The Monster in My Basement
Author: Dave Preston
Illustrator: Heather Lynn Harris
Publication Date: 1 September 2020
Publisher: Independent Publishers Group CrissCross AppleSauce
Rating: 4/5
Advanced Reader Copy provided by CrissCross AppleSauce via Netgalley

This book is about a boy named Dave who finds a monster in his basement. The monster is hungry but Dave can’t find any food that he thinks the monster will like so the monster takes Dave to his house to eat. Dave is scared that the monster, Howard, is going to eat him but he ends up being safe and just eats dinner with Howard and his mom.
The cover of this book is one of my favorite parts, it's very attention-grabbing and I think kids would find it intriguing. I also LOVED that there was a song included in the back of the book with a link to hear it, kids would love singing along.
One thing I noticed that some people won’t like is how Dave left his house even though he was scared of the monster just because he didn’t want to be rude. Obviously, this isn’t a message we want to send to children, to go with someone when you don’t know them and are scared of them, but I think discussing it afterward would be perfectly sufficient.

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This is a cute book with a fun little recurring rhyme that kids will enjoy, though it has some problematic areas. A boy finds a monster in his basement who scares him, yet he willingly leaves his house and goes with the monster, all the while worrying that the monster might eat him. He then goes into the monster's house and lets the monster's mother feed him dinner, even though he's concerned that he might be meant to be their dinner. The idea of a child just going along with anything that complete strangers tell him to do in order be polite is an idea that we thankfully have abandoned in most modern children's stories. While the art is cute and the child is not eaten in the end, it still seems like a book that at the very least deserves a good discussion afterwards.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

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A rhyming story about finding a hungry monster in the basement. I liked the whimsy of it all and the ways the words fit into the illustrations so well.

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This book had a lovely rhyme scheme, charming illustrations, and a wonderful message about not judging others. It's very accessible to small children and would make a great read-aloud.

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Ha! Kids are going to enjoy this tale of a boy meeting the monster in the basement! It has a nice momentum and a good twist. Illustrations were amusing and well done.

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This is a good children's book about a monster who is in a little boy's basement. The monster asks the little boy to go to his home to meet another monster and the boy goes there, not knowing what he is going to find there. However, he is pleased with the final outcome. The book is fun and suspenseful and my daughter and I enjoyed it.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and netgalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

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This book is very cute and sweet! Love the illustrations and lyrical text. Would be a great PK-1 read aloud.

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Maybe I’m being too sensitive, but this book could have been more thought out. The boy is forced to leave with the monster and that alone would make me skip this book. The story was okay otherwise. The illustrations looked nice, but with Kindle being the only download option, it was in black and white.

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This is a cute story about a boy finding a monster in his basement. The illustrations were cute and would be appealing to a toddler or kindergarten aged child. The rhyming of the stanzas was also quite nice, and flowed well. The only thing that bothered me was the little boy in this book goes off with a stranger (the monster), to a strangers home and even though he wonders if he is doing right, he ignores his intuition to return home. I think when this is read to children, it would serve as a good reminder to NEVER go off with a stranger, no matter what he says or promises you.

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Thanks for the opportunity to review this book. I thought this children’s book was pretty standard. Good drawings and fair storyline, but it didn’t stand out in any category to me.

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I loved this cute little book! It reminded me of my little nieces because they believe that there is a monster that lives down in my mother's basement. I know my little boys would love this book also. The illustrations were really great also. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for sending me an e arc of this adorable childrens book for my honest review!

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What a fun book! I loved all the pictures & how fun it was to read for all ages! A great addition to your kiddos book collection or classroom bookshelf!

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