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4th out of 24 books
—
39 voters
Monsters Eat Whiny Children
Dad has warned Henry and Eve: If you whine too much, monsters will eat you. Henry and Eve don’t listen, of course. The only problem is, when the monster comes, he can’t find the right recipe for whiny children—and neither can his monster friends! A whiny child salad doesn’t work because there’s paprika in the dressing. A whiny child cake won’t do because the flour spills a...more
Hardcover, 40 pages
Published
August 31st 2010
by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
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Dear Mr. Kaplan,
I just want to take a moment and thank you for doing more for getting my kids to stop whining than any parenting book or so called expert could ever even try to come close to accomplishing.
You see, my kids have been going through a terrible phase, which is to say they have been whining night and day since they learned how to talk. Then one day we saw your book sitting on the "new" shelf at the library, got a chuckle from the title and brought it home with us. The book was read-a-...more
I just want to take a moment and thank you for doing more for getting my kids to stop whining than any parenting book or so called expert could ever even try to come close to accomplishing.
You see, my kids have been going through a terrible phase, which is to say they have been whining night and day since they learned how to talk. Then one day we saw your book sitting on the "new" shelf at the library, got a chuckle from the title and brought it home with us. The book was read-a-...more
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Wow! I have never been more disappointed, disgusted, and dismayed in a children’s book. My three D’s! Monsters Eat Whiny Children failed on every level for me.
Pages almost void of color. Harsh characters with hollow, creepy eyes. Words filled with ugliness. Everyone whines. I get that. But with children whining about snacks and toys and adults whining over “big bottoms” and chores—these pages overflow with negative energy! I was left with such a “Yuck” feeling.
I understand what the book was try...more
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Kaplan’s story about “two perfectly delightful children who happen to be going through a terrible phase where they whine all day and night” may produce more giggles from the adult readers than the children themselves. Kaplan’s experience as a writer on Six Feet Under explains the dark humor and his experience as a cartoonist for the New Yorker explains the line drawing illustrations.
Simple black and white illustrations with occasional splashes of pastel water colors match the text as Henry and...more
Simple black and white illustrations with occasional splashes of pastel water colors match the text as Henry and...more
I saw this book sitting on a table at my library and gasped. I had to have it! (with one of my children particularly in mind)
My kids LOVE this book. It's absolutely one of their favorites. After 6 weeks of almost daily reading, it's finally having to go back to the library tomorrow and they're super bummed. Of all the many books we get at the library, this is one I'll actually have to buy for them. Even the bits inside the cover makes them bust up laughing.
For my kids, I will give this 5 stars b...more
My kids LOVE this book. It's absolutely one of their favorites. After 6 weeks of almost daily reading, it's finally having to go back to the library tomorrow and they're super bummed. Of all the many books we get at the library, this is one I'll actually have to buy for them. Even the bits inside the cover makes them bust up laughing.
For my kids, I will give this 5 stars b...more
this is the best book that i have ever read in the elevator at my job.
and i happened to be wedged into it at the time with a couple of nanny-powered strollers in which children were indeed being whiny. part of me wanted to turn this into an impromptu storytime/cautionary tale session, but those nannies have surprisingly well-muscled arms and i am not even getting involved in an elevator brawl. not on the clock, anyway.
the tomato recommended this to me ages ago, and i put it on my "send greg or c...more
and i happened to be wedged into it at the time with a couple of nanny-powered strollers in which children were indeed being whiny. part of me wanted to turn this into an impromptu storytime/cautionary tale session, but those nannies have surprisingly well-muscled arms and i am not even getting involved in an elevator brawl. not on the clock, anyway.
the tomato recommended this to me ages ago, and i put it on my "send greg or c...more
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"Once there were two perfectly delightful children who were going through a TERRIBLE phase, which is to say they whined ALL day and night."
so begins Monsters Eat Whiny Children
Henry and Eve were warned by their father that monsters eat whiny children, but they didn't believe it, so they continued to whine. So along comes a monster who stole them away to his lair on the bad side of town.
What happens next is that the monsters all have different ideas about the best meal to make out of Henry a...more
Written by Bruce Eric Kaplan (2010) New York: Simon & Schuster. Illustrations for the book are rendered in ink and watercolor. Great book which has a play on something happening in the lives of many kids and families - whiny children! The kids dad said if they didn't stop whining a monster would come and take them away. And that is what happened! However, the monthers had a whining problem too and could not decide together how to eat the children - whiny-child salad, whiny-child burgers, whi...more
I thought the title was hilarious, which is why I initially picked it up. The story is about two whiny children named Henry and Eve, whose father warned them to stop or monsters would come and get them, and one day a monster did come. The funny part came when the monster and his wife/neighbors are arguing about how to prepare the children, i.e. in a salad, burger, cake, vindaloo (Portuguese-influenced Indian curry), and cucumber sandwiches. But the children escape so they end up eating plain old...more
I saw this and immediately ordered it from Amazon.
It's a picture book. Sparsley illustrated and really funny. I imagine it could be a bit frightening for really young kids, but my kids (3 & 5) weren't scared by it. (Though they are somewhat wary of whining now, thank you Mr. Kaplan).
There are two kids in the story who whine. Their father tells them if they don't stop, monsters will eat them. They don't stop and, what do you know, a monster shows up and decides to take them to his place to e...more
It's a picture book. Sparsley illustrated and really funny. I imagine it could be a bit frightening for really young kids, but my kids (3 & 5) weren't scared by it. (Though they are somewhat wary of whining now, thank you Mr. Kaplan).
There are two kids in the story who whine. Their father tells them if they don't stop, monsters will eat them. They don't stop and, what do you know, a monster shows up and decides to take them to his place to e...more
We're all familiar with the premise of bad little children being snatched by monsters who then dither about how to cook the children, thus allowing time for the children to escape. Kaplan's genius is that he ties it all to whining. It's whiny children who are snatched and whiny monsters who argue about their preparation. And they are some good whines, let me tell you. Not only do the children have the traditional "No Grilled Cheese!", but the Monster chimes in with "Why does everything have to b...more
After a day of incessant whining, Henry and Eve's dad tells that monsters eat whiny children. Of course, they didn't listen and of course, the monsters came to get Henry and Eve. As the monsters argue about how to cook Henry and Eve for a delicious meal, Henry and Eve learn to get along and escape right from under their nose.
I don't know, maybe I, myself am in a 'whiny' mood, since I didn't find this particular book humorous or appealing. The illustrations were sparse and oddly placed in between...more
I don't know, maybe I, myself am in a 'whiny' mood, since I didn't find this particular book humorous or appealing. The illustrations were sparse and oddly placed in between...more
I don't usually add picture books to my goodreads, but if I really love them I do. So there it is. Oh, and Eva thought it was funny too. I've read some negative goodreads reviews, one about how the author says the word "hate". I'm not in that camp. A few others about how kids wouldn't really "get it", but Eva got it. And I definitely didn't read it to get her to stop whining, which I read in a few reviews and thought was... cruel? She didn't actually think she'd get eaten by monsters- she just t...more
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Henry and Eve are two very whiny children. Their father was a very patient man who occasionally told them that monsters eat whiny children. Of course they didn't believe him...until they were kidnapped by a monster. When the monster got the two children to his home, he and is monster wife decided to have a whiny child salad. But then the neighbor came over and wanted whiny child hamburgers. But they couldn't get the grill to work. So then it was a cake, but no one knew or wanted to bake. Then th...more
A silly story which somewhat reminded me of Hansel and Gretel from the beginning, but that quickly changed midway during the story as the premise of the story was simply to teach kids to not be whiny and to listen to their parent or else the monsters would take and eat them away. It was simply a silly story which supposedly was funny, had I read it aloud to my boys and girls club instead of my much younger audience of 3-6 year olds. When I told it to my last Sunday Family Storytime, both moms an...more
Let me start by saying-- I love the title and premise of this book. What parent hasnt , at some point, needed a monster to straighten up the whiny child. However the biggest turn off for me is that it uses the word "hate" several times. In our household and school thats a bad word. To me "hate" should not be used in childrens books, especially ones geared towards a younger age.Granted, the negative tone was not toward a person, but still. The drawing is crude and just down right creepy to me. BU...more
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Funny book, but I think the humor would be over preschoolers' heads. Indeed, I think this might be slightly scary to them if they don't catch the humor. But a good reader (such as my sister) would probably read it so well that the young 'uns would get the humor. Even so, for me I would keep this more at school-age. And maybe also recommend it as a read-alone or lap-read for at least ages 5 and up. Unless you are a parent who really wants to teach a child how annoying whiny is.
For me, the story...more
For me, the story...more
This book was odd. I found it VERY funny, and read it to my tiny monsters who have been whiny lately (and bear a striking resemblance to Henry and Eve in the book). They did not get as much of the humor in it, and my younger one shook and told me she didn't want eaten by monsters. I told her to whine less. It's an odd combination of funny and scary, and I'm not sure how well my kids grasped the point. I'm going to try to drive it home over the next few days, because if they don't chill, I will b...more
Oh the age old cilantro debate. How can you not like cilantro? And do you really have to be "in the mood" for Indian food? Anytime, anywhere I say. Okay, maybe not breakfast.
If I was a kid and read this, I would be like, wtf self indulgent children's book author.
This is the second 2010 kid's book I've read today that misses it's intended audience by a long shot, the first was It's a Book but that was a lot funnier.
If I was a kid and read this, I would be like, wtf self indulgent children's book author.
This is the second 2010 kid's book I've read today that misses it's intended audience by a long shot, the first was It's a Book but that was a lot funnier.
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My 5 year old was not impressed, it is the only book he has ever given only one star to. It was over his head and the illustrations were rather disappointing. I agree with almost all of the reviews on this page...
SPOILER
And of course since the kids don't actually get eaten by monsters because the monsters take so long to make up their mind, its really not much of a warning... not that I suggest having them get cooked, but it was far too easy for the kids to escape...
SPOILER
And of course since the kids don't actually get eaten by monsters because the monsters take so long to make up their mind, its really not much of a warning... not that I suggest having them get cooked, but it was far too easy for the kids to escape...
This book has promise, but the illustrations are so entirely unappealing, that it ruined it for me. The story reminds me of The Missing Piece, in that the author is trying to teach/show more than the actual plot. I DO so wish he had collaborated with another illustrator, though! Favorite part: "Perhaps a whiny-child vindaloo" They all tried to figure out if they were in the mood for Indian food. Sometimes it's so hard to figure out if you're in the mood for Indian food." Too true.
A huge disappointment, the title caught my eye. This book feels like it was written for adults and frustrated parents, not children. The illustrations do little to make it kid appealing.
Once I read the blurb about the author on the endpapers, it made sense. Bruce Eric Kaplan draws cartoons for the New Yorker and has written for television series such as Seinfeld and Six Feet Under. Bruce Eric Kaplan writes for adults not children.
Once I read the blurb about the author on the endpapers, it made sense. Bruce Eric Kaplan draws cartoons for the New Yorker and has written for television series such as Seinfeld and Six Feet Under. Bruce Eric Kaplan writes for adults not children.
May 09, 2011
Chinasa Izeogu
added it
This was a very cute book. I especially liked how the monsters were indecisive about how they wanted to prepare the kids for their meal. Would whiny kids be better as a salad, a whiny-child burger, or a cucumber sandwich? Will the children really get eaten or will they escape? You'll have to read it to find out. There's even a recipe for cucumber sandwiches at the end.
This would be a great book for patient pre-k or kindergarten children as a read alond.
This would be a great book for patient pre-k or kindergarten children as a read alond.
This book had great potential. The cover and the title caught my eye, but the author just didn't deliver. I had high hopes that this book would convince young children to stop whining, but once the monsters took the children, all they did was whine too. The idea of this book would be appropriate for young children, but I can't image any child really being interested in the story line. They'd never sit still long enough to get through the whole book.
Bruce Kaplan draws cartoons for the New Yorker, so that was fun for me as I enjoy his minimalist style and find his drawing entertaining. I'm not sure, however, if children would necessarily say the same thing. The story line was a bit "blah" for me...although I enjoyed the ending and always appreciate a children's book that includes a recipe (in this case cucumber sandwiches). This is the author's first book for children....
Great idea and beginning of the story, but the writing falls flat. In the end you don't care if the monsters ever get anything to eat and it's unclear as to how the children have learned their lesson. The illustrations are effectively simple. Students would check this book out because of the title, but it isn't destined to be a classic. Laura Numeroff's 10 Step Guide to Living With Your Monster is much, much better.
Oh, this made me laugh. It's like one of those stories that you tell, off the cuff, to disbelieving children because you're feeling a bit churlish and out-of-sorts but then you wind up enjoying the story too much and it becomes fun.
And for all you whiny children out there - monsters WILL try to eat you. You'd better hope you're lucky enough to wind up in the clutches of indecisive monsters, such as the one in this story.
And for all you whiny children out there - monsters WILL try to eat you. You'd better hope you're lucky enough to wind up in the clutches of indecisive monsters, such as the one in this story.
This book was too rambling and long. The cover implied to me that it would be short, sweet, and to the point. Also I didn't find it all that funny. My son was interested but not scared, since the kids got away and since he knows monsters are pretend. The pictures were pretty sloppy and boring, and I didn't like them at all, although I guess it's good the kids didn't look too realistic as they were about to be eaten.
I was quite excited to read this book, but to be honest, I thought it was rather boring. I couldn't quite figure out where the storyline was going, and none of the characters were particularly engaging.
However, my children (7, 7, 4, and 2) really liked it and wanted to give it four stars. We compromised on three. After the initial reading they asked for the book several times.
However, my children (7, 7, 4, and 2) really liked it and wanted to give it four stars. We compromised on three. After the initial reading they asked for the book several times.
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Bruce Eric Kaplan, known as BEK, is an American cartoonist whose single-panel cartoons frequently appear in The New Yorker. His cartoons are known for their signature simplistic style and often dark humor. Kaplan is also a screenwriter and has worked on Six Feet Under and on Seinfeld (funnily enough, one of his most well-known episodes is one where Elaine becomes increasingly frustrated over what...more
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