I Want To Be In A Scary Story is the latest collaboration between Sean Taylor and Jean Jullien (Hoot Owl: Master of Disguise).
When a little monster asks the narrator to be in a scary story, we suppose that she wants to be the scary one. But no, the cute little craggy-toothed creature is transported from a blank page to a dark forest, and then to a spooky house, which is not what she had in mind. “A funny story might be more fun,” suggests the narrator (that’s you) from the safety of a plain, white, non-scary page.
The huge charm of this Walker book is that the story is a dialogue between the narrator and the little monster.
The speakers are indicated by contrasting fonts, and if the child is willing and able, they can have a lot of fun playing the part of the monster! For the littler ones, have fun doing two voices as you follow Little Monster into the deep dark woods.
And that’s exactly what happens!
Little Monster and the narrator plan her (or his) story adventure on plain white pages. “You’re going to sneak up on them!” and “Are you ready?” make for really exciting page turns. When the page is turned and Little Monster is transported into the story, she’s creeping about Jean Jullien’s halloweeny scenes, all spookily rendered in bold and blobby hues.
But what happens when Little Monster disappears?
Will you too venture into the deep dark story woods to find her?
I Want To Be In A Scary Story’s ending hits just the right note, and suggests that little monster has overcome her fears. Sean Taylor’s creepy cute adventure won’t fail to appeal to young book lovers, and makes for a deliciously collaborative story time experience.
Leave a Reply