Some people love this book, some people hate it. I'm a hater.
But no matter what you think about the theme, you need to know about this line: "But one day the monster never came out of his cave and the stone rabbit sat alone." My four-year-old daughter politely waited until I finished reading the story before asking me why the monster didn't come out of his cave anymore, and we have been talking about death for about a week now. My big complaint is that the author doesn't make it clear in the story that the main character dies (I'm still not sure I think this is appropriate in a story for preschoolers), he simply has the monster stop coming out of the cave. So I had to fill in the blank for her, and I'm not sure she is happy with my explanation. Four years old is a very literal age, and the book doesn't say what happened to the monster, and she doesn't see why I know the monster is dead when the book doesn't say so. I really think if the author is going to introduce such mind-altering themes (we have talked about death when she finds a dead ladybug outside, but this is the first time she realizes that every person she knows is going to die someday, so I would call that a heavy theme), he should at least have the courage to make it clear in the text. "One day the monster never came out of his cave" may be fine for a book for teenagers or adults (which I would argue this book really is), but it is just confusing to little children.
My daughter does not like this book and does not want me to read it to her again. She doesn't even want it in her bedroom. Her opinion might change over time, I suppose, but to be honest I agree with her assessment. I'm not the kind of parent who wants every children's book to be unambiguously cheery, but this one goes to the opposite extreme: unambiguously maudlin. If Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Match Girl is one of your favourite stories, you might like this one. If you think The Little Match Girl would be inappropriate as a picture book for preschoolers, stay away from The Big Ugly Monster and the Little Stone Rabbit.
But no matter what you think about the theme, you need to know about this line: "But one day the monster never came out of his cave and the stone rabbit sat alone." My four-year-old daughter politely waited until I finished reading the story before asking me why the monster didn't come out of his cave anymore, and we have been talking about death for about a week now. My big complaint is that the author doesn't make it clear in the story that the main character dies (I'm still not sure I think this is appropriate in a story for preschoolers), he simply has the monster stop coming out of the cave. So I had to fill in the blank for her, and I'm not sure she is happy with my explanation. Four years old is a very literal age, and the book doesn't say what happened to the monster, and she doesn't see why I know the monster is dead when the book doesn't say so. I really think if the author is going to introduce such mind-altering themes (we have talked about death when she finds a dead ladybug outside, but this is the first time she realizes that every person she knows is going to die someday, so I would call that a heavy theme), he should at least have the courage to make it clear in the text. "One day the monster never came out of his cave" may be fine for a book for teenagers or adults (which I would argue this book really is), but it is just confusing to little children.
My daughter does not like this book and does not want me to read it to her again. She doesn't even want it in her bedroom. Her opinion might change over time, I suppose, but to be honest I agree with her assessment. I'm not the kind of parent who wants every children's book to be unambiguously cheery, but this one goes to the opposite extreme: unambiguously maudlin. If Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Match Girl is one of your favourite stories, you might like this one. If you think The Little Match Girl would be inappropriate as a picture book for preschoolers, stay away from The Big Ugly Monster and the Little Stone Rabbit.
