Perfect Picture Book Friday - The Monster Returns

Oh, boy, do we have fun in store today!

But you know the rules - Perfect Picture Book first, other stuff after :)  So let's start with the book!  Today's choice is by one of my favorite author/illustrators.  Don't be surprised if some of his other books show up on PPBFs in the future :)

The Monster Returns
Written and Illustrated By: Peter McCarty
Henry Holt & Co., January 2012, Fiction
Suitable For: ages 3-7

Themes/Topics: art, friendship, imagination, surprises

Opening:  "One beautiful day, Jeremy was up in his room.  Jeremy didn't like to be disturbed when he was drawing."

Brief Synopsis:  (From the jacket copy) "Jeremy thought he'd seen the last of his monster when he sent him away with a one-way bus ticket.  But suddenly the phone rings... The monster has returned!"

Links To Resources: Mad Monster Activity, Monster Songs and Poems, have kids draw their own monsters or make them out of whatever craft materials you have to hand!

Why I Like This Book:  This is a sequel to Jeremy Draws A Monster (also excellent!)  Jeremy is perhaps a little too inclined to spend time on his own drawing, and this book shows both that it's okay to spend time alone being creative and that it's nice to have friends to do things with.  Jeremy is imaginative and resourceful in dealing with the monster.  The end is a fun surprise where the monster's intent turns out to be different than the reader might have expected, with the message that everyone needs friends - even monsters :)  The art is simple and engaging with plenty of white space to draw your eye to the monster :)

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

Before we get to the fun part (announcing the winner of the Valentines Day Writing Contest!) just a little business about Perfect Picture Books.

A few stats:

- This is PPBs 14th week.
- 37 Bloggers are participating, of which 25 have contributed at least 4 books and 5 besides me have contributed every week since the beginning.  (Also 1 has contributed 12, and 2 have done 11, so we have some very dedicated PPB bloggers! :))
- There are 245 books on the list before today's go up.
- They fall across 145 categories/subjects/themes.
- With possibly one exception, every single one posted has resources!

So thank you all for your fantastic work.  We are building a great resource here for parents, teachers, home schoolers, writers, and gift-givers!  That said, I think we have enough of a list going now that we should all be talking this up to everyone we know who might find the resource useful - it's only really great if people are actually  benefitting from it.  So I encourage you all to spread the word in whatever capacity you can.  Tracy (known to many of you as A2ZMommy) is writing a review about it for her local news site today!  You can read it HERE.

Since some bloggers are new to PPBFs, and some people may need a refresher, I'd just like to take a second to remind you all of a few key things:
1.  Please check the list on the Perfect Picture Book tab before you choose a book to post.  I try hard to keep it updated.  If I'm behind, it's usually only by the previous week's list, so check that too.  We are trying to avoid multiple postings of the same book.

2.  When you add your link to the list, please add the post-specific link (not the general link to your blog.)  It doesn't matter that much for the actual day of posting, but for anyone who comes along afterwards, your link then links to whatever the next post you did was - not the PPB.  And for me going along updating, I then have to search for the post and get the right link for the archive page.

3.  Please only post favorite books WITH RESOURCES!  The resources are what set our list apart from many others.  The resources can be links online or things you make up, but there must be something that people can use to expand their use of the book.  Books without resources will NOT be added to the master list.

4.  Please follow the PPB format (available at the bottom of the Perfect Picture Book tab) as closely as possible.  This allows for consistency across blogs, making it easy for people using the list to find the information they want.

5.  Please make sure to post themes, age appropriateness, and fiction or non-fiction clearly.  It's a lot of work updating the list, and if I have not read the book, I can't guess where it's supposed to fit or how to archive it.

Thank you so much for your attention to these details.  I'm sure it seems nit-picky, but it's really about making the list as useful as possible and preserving my sanity in trying to keep it up-to-date :)

NOW.  AT LAST.  THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!!!

Who won the Valentine Contest?

Oh, wait.  I think I hear my doorbell.  I'll be right back....

JK :)

Once again, I'd like to thank everyone for their terrific entries.  Many of us readers are writers.  We know how hard it is to put your work out there.  And we appreciate your bravery.  All the entries were worthy and fun to read, and I wish you could all win!

But I don't have that many prizes.... unless you want raccoon nest material?  I think there's some of that in the garage...

It was a closely contested race - the most competitive of any of the contests so far.  But eventually, someone pulled ahead and stayed there.  So, without further ado, the voters have spoken, and the winner of our Valentine Contest is:

PENNY!!!!! with Frankenstein Valentine!!!!!

Congratulations, Penny!  This is the second time you have won a contest here.  You may have a future as a writer :)  You get your pick of Ann Whitford Paul's book, or a picture book ms critique from me.  Let me know via email what your choice is!

2nd Place goes to Erik for Love Has No Point.  He gets a copy of Spilling Ink (if he doesn't already have it :))

3rd Place goes to Vivian for Whom Do I Love?  She gets our admiration for being 3rd out of 30 entries :)

Thanks again to everyone for making the contest such a success!

Now have a great weekend, and PPB bloggers, please remember to add you post-specific link to the list below, which I will hopefully remember to attach this week! :)  OH!  And remember our awesome interview which will take place on Sunday with Donna Farrell, website and blog designer for children's authors and illustrators!