Monsters vs Robots

Rawr! and also Beep.



Harrell, R. (2013) Monster On The Hill. Marietta, GA: Top Shelf Productions

In an alternate version of England in the 1800s, every town that’s worth visiting has its own monster.  These monsters routinely attack the town, in a show to scare the inhabitants and drive up tourism.  The town of Stoker-On-Avon has a problem.  Its monster hasn’t attacked in years, and loud sighs of depression can be heard from its lair outside of town.  So a disgraced doctor and a newsboy become tasked with the job of “fixing” the town monster.
        He really is one of the most pathetic monsters I’ve ever seen.  Rob Harrell does a great job of creating this depressed, skill-less monster that you can’t help but root for.  The strange fantasy version of England is quite funny, being very British in its way they handle the fantasy elements.  The humor may be a bit over the head of younger children, so I would recommend this book for middle schoolers and up.

Hatke, B. (2015)Little Robot. New York, NY: First Second
                A little girl spends her days exploring a junkyard and the wild beyond.  One day she finds a small robot that has washed up from a nearby river.  She begins to teach it about its surroundings.  They form a friendship as they both learn to appreciate the world and each other.  Meanwhile, a much larger robot, from the facility the robot was supposed to be delivered to, has been given a mission to find and retrieve the little robot.
                The storytelling method of this graphic novel is very interesting.  Words are almost absent within it.  There are no captions, and very little dialogue.  The story is all told with the pictures in the panels, accompanied by the occasional sound effect.  This being the case, it would be an easy book for someone still learning to read, or learn English.  

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