Monsties #1: The Lost Bunny (Zanni Louise & Kyla May, HGCP)

The first in a new series, Monsties: The Lost Bunny will no doubt be literary candy for its target readership of 5–8-year-olds. The story is a frothy concoction of zany, bright fun, about five besties who happen to be ‘monsties’ living on the edge of Scaryland—except none of them are scary enough to be real monsters. In this plot, one of the monsties, Mig, is upset to find her beloved pet bunny missing—and she can’t sleep without him. The five monsties set off to track down the bunny and wind up in some kooky places throughout Scaryland. The ‘loudness’ of the book’s cartoonish internal pages (with the text as coloured, bolded and capitalised words) is, at times, a little over the top and distracts from the flow of the story, resulting in a jarring read. While some children will relish the art breaking up the words on the page, more confident readers may be turned off, making this series best suited to younger or developing readers. The prose is whimsical and charming, and Zanni Louise and Kyla May have crafted a story brimming with imagination and heartfelt themes of fitting in and navigating the tribulations of friendship (plus a little mystery). Children will lap this series up and eagerly await further exciting volumes focusing on Mig and the other monsties.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Brenton Cullen is a freelance writer and reviewer with over 10 years’ experience working in bookshops. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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Category: Reviews