3 out of 4 stars
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What do you do when a sea monster is taking children? This is what Blake and his grandfather have to figure out in The Blue Sea Monster Terrorizing Palm Beach, by Norma Fleagane, James Fleagane, and their six-year-old grandson, Blake James Ward. It is part of the Sneaky the Hairy Mountain Monster series. When a sea monster starts taking children, Blake and his grandfather decide to try and scare the monster away by making a bunch of noise. The next day, they decide to go looking for the kidnapped children in a helicopter. Where did the monster take the children? Do Blake and his grandfather find them?
This is a great book for children ages 4-7. It has a very simple problem and resolution plot so younger children can easily follow the story, but it is still interesting enough that older children would enjoy reading it by themselves or to their younger siblings.
I thought the illustrations were really well done. The actions that are drawn in them follow right along with what is happening in the story, which makes it easier for younger children to follow along. They could also look at the pictures by themselves and remember the story without needing it read to them.
One thing I didn’t like was the dialogue exchange between Blake and his grandfather that ended the story. It felt a bit abrupt. I feel like there should have been another line after the dialogue, maybe about Blake and his grandfather going home.
Unfortunately, I did find three editing errors. Two of them were missing commas that children wouldn’t notice, but one was quotes after a non-dialogue sentence, which some older children might notice.
While I really liked this book, I am only giving it 3 out of 4 stars because of the slightly abrupt ending and the editing mistakes. I highly recommend this book to any kid who likes books with monsters in them.
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The Blue Sea Monster
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