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Fabulous Monsters
The poisonous basilisk, the bellowing bunyip, the three-headed chimera, swamp-dwelling Grendel and the quick-tempered Isikukumanderu are the five "Fabulous Monsters" from around the world who would kill you as soon as look at you - and eat you most likely! Meet them if you dare.
- GenresNonfictionChildrens
29 pages, Hardcover
First published October 4, 1999
About the author
Marcia Williams
75 books51 followersMarcia Williams began to develop her distinctive comic-book style at an early age: "When I was about ten and wrote home to my family from boarding school," she says, "I never wrote normal letters. I tried to tell my family about what I was doing in a way that was more fun. Also, my parents didn't let me read comic books, so I decided to create my own."
This former nursery school teacher blends her storytelling skills and humorous illustrations with well-known figures and stories from literature. Her unique style has produced such vivid works and action-packed books as GOD AND HIS CREATIONS: TALES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT. "Working on the Old Testament was a joy," Marcia Williams says. "The tales are so rich, it is always possible to find something new within them. Yet, at the same time, they have all the comfort of the familiar." The artist also found pleasure in creating CHARLES DICKENS AND FRIENDS, which presents five retellings of classic Dickens tales. Of her inspiration for this book, she tells of a teacher she once had "who was extremely fierce and angry . . . except when she read the stories of Charles Dickens aloud. Through her, all his characters lived, and I was transported to their Victorian world. I hope that readers will also enter the wonderful world of Charles Dickens through this book."
With BRAVO, MR. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE! and TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE Marcia Williams introduces young readers to the world of William Shakespeare's plays. Another classic she has made much more accessible to children--and more appreciated by them--is THE ILIAD AND THE ODYSSEY. "My mother read me classics, but until I got older I never found them interesting," she says. "If I could make these stories more accessible, I realized, kids wouldn't have to wait until they were grown-up to appreciate them."
Marcia Williams traveled extensively as a child and was educated in Sussex, England, and Switzerland. During her varied career she has worked as an interior designer and has assisted cartoon artist and designer Gerald Scarfe in making papier-mâché and cloth sculptures.
This former nursery school teacher blends her storytelling skills and humorous illustrations with well-known figures and stories from literature. Her unique style has produced such vivid works and action-packed books as GOD AND HIS CREATIONS: TALES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT. "Working on the Old Testament was a joy," Marcia Williams says. "The tales are so rich, it is always possible to find something new within them. Yet, at the same time, they have all the comfort of the familiar." The artist also found pleasure in creating CHARLES DICKENS AND FRIENDS, which presents five retellings of classic Dickens tales. Of her inspiration for this book, she tells of a teacher she once had "who was extremely fierce and angry . . . except when she read the stories of Charles Dickens aloud. Through her, all his characters lived, and I was transported to their Victorian world. I hope that readers will also enter the wonderful world of Charles Dickens through this book."
With BRAVO, MR. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE! and TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE Marcia Williams introduces young readers to the world of William Shakespeare's plays. Another classic she has made much more accessible to children--and more appreciated by them--is THE ILIAD AND THE ODYSSEY. "My mother read me classics, but until I got older I never found them interesting," she says. "If I could make these stories more accessible, I realized, kids wouldn't have to wait until they were grown-up to appreciate them."
Marcia Williams traveled extensively as a child and was educated in Sussex, England, and Switzerland. During her varied career she has worked as an interior designer and has assisted cartoon artist and designer Gerald Scarfe in making papier-mâché and cloth sculptures.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 23, 2021
This is a collection of comic-style stories about mythical monsters. It is humourous and informative. A good gateway book to introduce children to mythology.
April 7, 2012
This is an interesting collection of short stories about monsters of the ancient world, presented in a graphic novel kind of format. Five different monsters are highlighted and in each, a story is woven that shows how terrible the monster was, and in some cases, how it was created and/or defeated. The illustrations are cartoonish and quite humorous, which is good for children because some of these stories are downright violent and could be scary. And the dialogue (depicted by speech balloons) between the people has a light banter to it. Overall, it's an entertaining book of stories and we read it all in one night. It was a fun reminder of some of the stories we knew and an entertaining introduction to the ones we didn't. We enjoyed reading this book together.
April 6, 2015
A really fun book which would be great as an gift for any mythical-creature-loving child. The illustrations are bright and amusing and the commentary of the characters within the comic strips is very funny.
December 9, 2008
What's not to love about 'bellowing Bunyips' in 'billabongs,' and she-monsters named 'Isikukumanderu'?
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews