Beautiful! So cute and funny, I'll be buying this for everyone. ( )

When Henry and Eve, two whiny children who are warned by their father that monsters might eat them, are kidnapped by just such a creature, they find themselves almost made into any number of dishes, from whiny-child salad to whiny-child cake. Fortunately for them, the monster's wife, neighbors, and aunt-in-law all intervene to express their preferences, and the ensuing chaos offers the siblings the opportunity to escape...

A cartoonist who has published his work in such adult periodicals as The New Yorker, and a writer who has contributed to television series such as Seinfeld, Bruce Eric Kaplan made his children's book debut with Monsters Eat Whiny Children. An amusing examination of one of those old parental chestnuts - if you do something bad, X (in this case, monsters) will get you - the story here is matter-of-factly absurd, and quite entertaining. The cartoon-style artwork is well suited to the tale, and accentuates the humor throughout. This is definitely one I would recommend to those looking for sharp, rather than sweet picture-books. Think Jon Klassen's I Want My Hat Back, or Sylviane Donnio's I'd Really Like to Eat a Child. For my part, I will be tracking down some of Kaplan's subsequent picture-books. ( )

Ok, I get that some picture-books are more for the parents than for kids. And some kids are little monsters and would get a kick out of being scared that bigger monsters would come and eat them just because they whine. And that parents can get so fed up that they threaten kids with those hungry monsters.

But mainly I guess what I'm supposed to get is that some people have a sense of humor that is very very different than mine. I don't understand the jokes in this (or maybe I do and I don't think they're funny). I don't understand why the map in the endpapers does not relate to the story. I don't like any of the characters or the pictures or the message or... anything. If you trust my taste you will avoid this book. ( )

Nice book about what it looks and sounds like to be whiny, which could be great for students who do not pick up on or understand what it is to be whiny. For other students, I don't think I'd use this book because they take everything extremely literal and may actually think there are monsters out there eating whiny children! It would take much prepping (which they do need) to gain the understanding of books like this and how they are fun and not literal. ( )

51 months - love the title and the potential for this book but was not impressed by the writing, story line or illustrations. The only thing redeeming about it was substituting the girl's name for O's (my Son's name is the same as in the book) so it could be about them. Unfortunately it didn't reduce the whininess factor in my house. ( )