The Monster Next Door

by David Soman

From the creator of Ladybug Girland Three Bears in a Boat, this funny and endearing tale of friendship found and tested is great for fans of Beekle

In a big field, a boy has a tree house, and one day, he has a neighbor—a monster with a talent for silly dances and funny faces. The two become fast friends, even setting up a pulley-line to pass notes between their tree houses. The boy knows just how to celebrate this invention—with music! But the monster’s tuba music is loud. Really loud. WAY. TOO. LOUD. Before the boy can think, he hurls a water balloon at his neighbor to get him to stop. An epic water-balloon fight ensues, until the boy—fed up, spent, done—cuts the clothesline. No more note-passing. No more monster. Can the boy and monster ever be friends again? Does the boy even want to? Maybe he just needs to see things from a new, unexpected perspective.

Genres: Picture Books, Friendship, Monsters, Childrens, Storytime, Emotion, Juvenile

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 6, 2016

About the author

David Soman hails from a family of artists, and has been drawing since he could walk (over to the kitchen walls to draw on them). He is the New York Times bestselling co-creator of the Ladybug Girl series with his wife Jacky Davis, as well as author and illustrator of Three Bears in a Boat and The Monster Next Door. David, Jacky, their children, and a big furry dog live in New York’s Hudson Valley. When not working on picture books, shoveling snow, or chopping firewood, David is an instructor at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

Reviews

[Sara Grochowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

My goodness, David Soman's illustrations are gorgeous! What a sweet story about budding friendship, perspective, and forgiveness. Misunderstandings often start small and so quickly build into name calling and unfair assumptions. In this newest from Soman a boy and his very different, purple neighbor must learn to compromise and consider the other's perspective to earn a happy ending.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

When a monster builds a tree house across the field from his own, a young boy finds himself embarking on a new friendship. Although they don't always understand one another's jokes, or play the same games, they do both like to do silly dances, make silly faces, and exchange notes. But when their musical session ends in an argument, and then a balloon fight, it looks like their friendship is at an end. Can they mend fences...?

This cute picture-book from David Soman, the illustrator of the Ladybug Girl books, and the author/illustrator of Three Bears in a Boat , offers a look at the joys and challenges of new friendship, and highlights the importance of flexibility and forgiveness, in getting through the inevitable quarrels that will arise. The artwork, done in watercolor, charcoal, and colored pencil, is colorful and appealing. All in all, The Monster Next Door is a sweet little book about friendship and forgiveness, and is recommended to those looking for children's stories with those themes.

[JoyAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colorful illustrations. It well represented how childhood friendships also form but also how fights over little things may happen. I appreciated how it handled the aftermath of the fight and how it showed how clearly the boy saw the monster was mean but then a few pages later the boy realized, "Things looked different form over here." I think it could be a great picture book for conflict resolution and perspective taking.

[Laurie B · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is less about monsters and more about friendship, but the monster is a cute hook. I really enjoyed the illustrations and thought the way Soman showed the monter's music getting louder and louder was fantastic. I also liked the water balloon scene where the distance was shown over the two pages. Really nice presentation. Parents might not be thrilled with the page of the boy and the monster trading insults if they want to steer clear of name-calling. But that could probably be toned down or skimmed upon reading aloud. The overall message of how to get along and patch things up is a winner.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once there was a boy and this tree house, then one day he had a neighbor. The neighbor is a purple monster. The first few interactions between the two don't go as planned (monster eats the ball), but after dancing they become friends and build a clothes line between the houses to moves stuff back and forth. Everything goes well, until the monster starts playing an instrument, and the boy doesn't like the music. An argument begins, a water balloon fight ensues, and finally the rope between houses is cut.
The boy fumes, and decides to write a note to the monster saying 'not friends'a and deliver it to the monster to show how angry he is. But upon seeing the monster's tree house he starts to think about the monster as a friend, and the fun they had. He goes back to retie the rope and reestablish the friendship. Luckily he find the monster has the same idea, and they meet between the two houses, each holding a piece of the rope.

David Soman has a cute story about friendship, and accepting that friends have differences. Even a bit of accepting responsibility for starting arguments, and forgiveness. Cute illustrations help tell the story, and would make this a good read for story times.

[Cosette]

I don't know how I feel about this one. I asked my listener how she felt about this story. She responded, "I'd like to hear two more stories tonight."

[Kaiana]

The Monster Next Door tells the tale of an unlikely friendship between a boy and a monster in the tree house next to his. They are similar in lots of ways but different in others, this causes some problems and they get in a fight (both emotionally, and of the water balloon sort). They each go to the other's tree house when they are upset and see things from their perspective. It is a great book about friendship, overcoming/understanding differences, and resolving conflict. It would be a good book to use in the classroom especially if a teacher was noticing students were having difficulty maintaining friendships, getting along with others, or needed help on social skills in general. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful and full of color and imagination. They were done with watercolors, charcoal, colored pencils, and some digital assembly.
Soman, D. (2016). The Monster Next Door. New York, NY: Penguin Young Readers Group.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A boy builds a tree house in a great field and a monster builds a tree house nearby. They play well together until the monster’s tuba playing is louder than the boys flute playing. When the boy asks him to stop, the monster continues to play. They call each other names, have a water balloon fight and become enemies. The boy writes a note, “Not Friends” and goes to the monster’s house to deliver it, when he notices things. You’ll have to read the story to find out what he learns and how the two become friends again.

Watercolor, charcoal and colored pencils offer spacious drawings, allowing plenty of space in which to dream. The music is expressed with splashes of color that fill the page and excite the eyes.

[Donna Mork · Rating 4 out of 5]

A monster moves in next door to a boys tree house. Then they became friends. One day the monster plays music too loudly, upsetting the boy. They get into a water balloon fight. They cut the rope between their tree houses. Boy goes over to see the monster and tell him they are no longer friends. But then he remembers the fun they had and changes his mind. They make amends.

[Karla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED THIS!
Well written, cute font and adorable illustrations which were colorful and beautifully painted. What I especially loved was that the boy and the monster exchanged notes- a lost art and one I want to promote, so this book can be used as a teaching tool to plant that seed.
LOVED how it ended with a musical parade as well. The beat goes on...

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

A boy befriends the monster next door, but what starts out great soon turns sour as tensions arise and the two argue. Can the two make up and learn to see eye to eye? (Spoiler: they can.)
A cute story about friendship and learning to get along, even if we don't love every little thing our friends do. Would make a great storytime for either a monster theme or friendship theme.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oops. Not great for fans of Beekle or of Ladybug Girl. Rather meh. And why is the boy wearing a soldier's cap, and why do they litter the ground with plastic? And why wasn't Monster's treehouse like what the boy expected (what did he expect)? I read this for the Treehouse, but wish that I hadn't bothered.

[Amanda Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute book about friendship and perspective. I labeled it a gazing books because there are multiple literary references in the illustrations.

I wonder what the monster's note said. This book might lead well into an apology writing lesson - but especially a perspective lesson.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unusual approach to a book about mending a friendship after it has gone sour—when one person has acted rashly or childishly—when he re-thinks his actions and takes the courageous step to mend fences and repair the friendship.

[Amanda Blau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful art from the creator of Ladybug Girl. Well handled disagreement with a friend.

[Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book about being a friend even when someone is annoying you. Y'know, all my friends could do with reading this book! Because...of how annoying I am...

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm trying to read all the Hoosier Book Nominees, so I'm reading the picture books with Jane.

This one had really good pictures and a fun story involving a friendly monster. We liked this one.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book for just reading, but for reading during a storytime it was not working. Even though I had a good reader, the kids did not enjoy this book very much.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Young Hoosier Picture Book Award Winner, this story answers the question we’ve all wanted the answer to: can monsters and boys be friends?

[Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good spat of anger here about sharing space and ideas.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

LOVE the illustrations. They are really cute with a nice colorful palette. As for the story, it was interesting and I was really curious how the story will turn out.

[Tracy Barton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sweet little book about learning to get along. The artwork and the concept are fabulous!

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great story about fighting with a friend and learning to get over it to be friends again.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice depiction of how little things can get blown up and create conflict between friends and how broken friendships can be repaired.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and relate able book on friendship and seeing things from another person's side.

[Emily McKnight · Rating 4 out of 5]

-illustrations: watercolors charcoal and colored pencils

Summary: This book is a really adorable story about two somewhat unlikely friends , a small unreasonable grudge, and the making-up between the two.

Personal Response : I think the most important part of this book is the lesson it teaches- forgiveness. It teaches children what forgiveness can do when you get into a fight with someone.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Friendship.

[Heather Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

megan winter reading 2017, children's book, picture book, monsters, tree houses, friendship, arguments, understanding, prek, kindergarten, first grade, second grade,

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is super-cute. A monster builds a tree-house next to a boy. They play together. Eventually they get into a fight. Then the boy walks over to the monster's treehouse to give him a note, and he sees his treehouse. He remembers that he and the monster are friends and the thing that they got in the fight over wasn't important.

Sentences
Large pictures
Graphic novel like sometimes
Impressionist-ish

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great combination of storytelling, illustration, and life-lesson.