Blue Monster

Blue Monster swallows the friends who won’t play with him or who challenge him in a series of confrontations. It is only because the friends – rabbits, a wolf and so on – emerge when he yawns that he has the chance to ease his guilt and apologise.

The history of children’s books with a moral goes back a long way, and on the first reading this looks like just the latest exploration of the idea that apologies solve problems. A slower consideration of the text makes for a more carnival reading, a deeper understanding. Author/illustrator Petr Horacek builds at one level a predictable sequence story, but as the monster continues his journey, his lies and the enormity of his actions weigh on him. The young reader is challenged to look at deeper questions – and complex concepts: what is guilt? Why is the monster lying? We are in a world that readers of Jon Klassen will recognise; at once simple and complicated, the humour resides in the bizarre twists and turns: the monster simply eating the other inhabitants of the forest, the use of complicated language around lies and embarrassment.

The artwork is wonderful, with chaotic scribbles adding to the colours of the animals and the sense of movement, and just the right amount of facial expression for a young reader to pore over, matching the text well. When the animals emerge from being swallowed by the monster ‘They all looked a bit cross, which, to be fair, was quite understandable’ – and the downturned mouths and sidelong glances catch the mood perfectly.