Daddy is a monster ... sometimes

by John Steptoe

Bweela and Javaka relate the incidents that make Daddy a monster in their eyes.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, African American

32 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1980

About the author

John Steptoe was an award-winning author and illustrator of children's books from New York City. He began working on his first children's book, Stevie, while still a teenager and achieved great success during his tragically short career, encouraging the advancement of African American culture by producing work about the African American experience that children could appreciate. Recipient of two Coretta Scott King Awards and two Caldecott Honors, Steptoe was posthumously honored by the creation of the John Steptoe New Talent Award, an award designated annually by the Coretta Scott King Award Task Force. Steptoe's best known work is Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters, for which he won his second Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award.

Reviews

[Peacegal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nightmare-inducing, however one of the few children's books I've seen that acknowledges that parents can indeed be scary.

[Sam Bloom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuing my when-I-find-time ever so slow trip through Steptoe's books, and this is one I can really appreciate. There are times when I find myself raising my voice a little louder than I should with my two kids, much as I try not to, and books like this (and Robie Harris's and Chris Raschka's WHEN LIONS ROAR) are great for kids because they portray a truism that isn't always talked about in picture books: parents aren't perfect, and often a parents' anger can be scary to kids. Now this one is dated (not the first Steptoe book to talk about whippings and/or spankings), but it's still extremely well-done in a funky weird 80s tripped-out sort of way.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little dated, as I don't think good parents even threaten spankings anymore. But yes, when kids act up, parents might get a little loud, a little curt... enough to encourage children to use their imaginations and compare the parent to what they see on tv.

Note the photo on the back flap that looks just like one inside, and that John's kids have the same names as the characters in the book, and that they are google-able, and the boy actually won his own Caldecott.

[Ursula · Rating 5 out of 5]

 
Disciplinary love told through the eyes of a brother and sister. When daddy is being a monster, is he really that scary? A sweet story for everyone, but especially for single dads.  ♥
 

[Sherrelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is children-are-precious-little-angels-who-can-do-no-wrong propaganda. The children think Daddy is a monster when they're misbehaving and he's disciplining them. The old lady who bought ice cream for the children after the father says no is the worst. "Oh but they're so cute, give them ice cream." Listen, Myrtle, they may be cute now but you don't have to deal with them later on when they're hopped up on sugar from having two large ice cream cones because you butted in to something that's not your business. I didn't like the writing style and the illustrations were bad. I can excuse the story itself, seeing as it's supposed to be from a child's perspective, but the fact this is a children's picture book geared towards children, the illustrations could be better. I can't see any child picking up this book and being excited to "read" it.

[Nashiea Edmiston · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a little girls take on her father disciplining her and her little brother. It is not what it sounds like, it's not about an abusive father, it's literally about a father who has little kids who do not always listen and push his buttons and after a while, he begins to show signs of losing his temper but never actually doing much but his daughter approaches him about it and how he sometimes acts like a "monster" is about to come out of him and he tells her that maybe he becomes "Monster Daddy" because of "Little Monster Children." The illustrations are really interesting, like graphic photographs that have been embellished. Would be an OK read for primary grade level.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I saw Javaka Steptoe at ALA, I was reminded of this book by his father where Javaka was a devilish little boy already wielding his paintbrush in wonderful (and sometimes maddening) ways. Unfortunately this insightful story is out of print.

[Yroko · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember this book as a child. I think the negative reviews that it's scary are silly and, believe me, as a child I was afraid of EVERYTHING. Every parent has a moment when they might seem scary or like a monster and anyone who says different is dishonest or trying to sell you something.

[Bonnie]

I get the point of this title, but I find the art creepy and the story demeaning. In my k-5 library I have yet to find a child willing to take this book home.

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how divisive this book is! You can see the whole spectrum of parenting in these reviews! And I would love to see which folks in the reviews have kids and which don't. When I first read this in my children's lit course in college (1991) I saw it as acknowledgment that parents get angry too. I think it's important that children see their parents can get angry and NOT hurt anyone. Children will model what they see their parents doing.

People see it very differently today! I do wonder if people's reviews are biased because it is a Black man getting angry. Would it be different if the family were white?

IF this story were written today, (most people would rather ignore the subject) the parent would name his feelings and talk to the kids about them. If he lost his temper, he would apologize after. That would make it more palatable, I think. But some kids have parents who don't know these skills. What are they to do? I have another book I need to write, I think.

ETA: There are 50+ picture books in our library about anger, but only one is about a parent's anger (When Mommy Was Mad, 2002), the rest are about a child's anger. I think we are missing a link in the chain here.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure what to make of this one. It's about a family of 3, in which the dad sometimes threatens to give a spanking or makes growling noises when his children get messy, get noisy or won't settle in to bed. There's not a single book I can think of in which a child is threatened with a spanking. So, this book is about discipline and the child speaks to her father later about how she felt he was being unfair. It's told in a conversational way, with natural language rather than proper grammar like "But you didn't have to be doin' all that laughin', Daddy". For that, I both liked the story because I could almost hear the voices of the characters, but found it would make a challenging read-aloud due to the flow of the story.

Some have commented that the illustrations are dated. The illustrations are dated, yes -- but that's because the book was published decades ago. The colors are washed out.

[Children's Librarian · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really like his other 2 books: Stevie and Baby Says but I don't like this one. The art is over the top in bizarreness and is not very interesting to look at, as the characters are very static, it's like looking at boring, badly done photos.

I don't care for the writing - the story is just a very wordy dialogue and it sounds like conversations overheard from the family next door. We don't need to buy expensive books to hear those conversations.

The idea was quite an interesting one though - a daddy who is a "monster", but it isn't a well-done book. Perhaps that's why it is out of print and you don't hear about it anywhere.

[BiblioBeruthiel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting. Visually, it's pretty dated.

[Jess · Rating 1 out of 5]

How was this a Reading Rainbow book? It's terrible and the art is dreadful, confusing and unappealing, especially for children.