Review #1: NO SUCH THING

Bibliography

Koller, Jackie French.  1997.  NO SUCH THING.  Ill. by Betsy Lewin.  Honesdale, PA:  Caroline House Boyds Mills Press.  ISBN 1563974908

Plot Summary

A boy who has just moved into an unfamiliar house is afraid of monsters under his bed.  Beneath the bed, a young monster is afraid of boys above.  Their respective mothers tell them that the things they fear don’t exist.  They then meet each other and make friends when each realizes that the other is harmless.  At the end they prepare to give their mothers a little scare.

Analysis

Koller makes fun of a common childhood fear by drawing a contrast between fearful expectations and silly “reality” that any child can appreciate.  There is also an element of humorous parallel in the interactions between the monster and boy and their respective mothers, and their reactions to each other.  The reader can see the parallels building up to the climactic meeting between the boy and the monster.

Lewin’s art employs loose, scratchy brushstrokes that give the artwork an energetic quality and a sense of movement.  The human characters are broadly cartooned, while the monsters are appropriately ugly yet silly-looking.  It is clear from the way all characters are depicted that this is a humorous and not a dramatic story.  Colors are appropriately muted for a story set mainly in a darkened room at night.  On most pages the art fills the whole page, with text superimposed. 

The manner in which the book ends, with the “kids” preparing to play a joke on their mothers, feels a bit subversive.  It is clear that the broader purpose is to help children with vague fears about monsters in the dark to overcome these fears by learning to laugh at them.

Review Excerpt

“Any child who has been convinced of the presence of a monster at bedtime will feel vindicated by this satisfying story”  KIRKUS REVIEWS

Connections

*Talk to children about imaginary fears, such as monsters, ghosts, etc. and how they are only imaginary.

*Imagine you found an imaginary friend living in your house.  What would your imaginary friend be like?  What sorts of things could you do together?