What do you think?
Rate this book
Travel Guide for Monsters
Taking your monster on a road trip this summer? Or letting your favorite beast tag along on a family beach vacation? Wherever you and your monster are traveling, Travel Guide for Monsters is full of essential tips to help you both enjoy the sights from coast to coast--and avoid monster-related mishaps.
32 pages, Hardcover
Published April 15, 2020
2 people are currently reading
56 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
November 12, 2020
This is a travel guide for taking your monster on a road trip across the United States. Told in fairly impeccable rhyme, the trip starts out on the west coast and makes a few stops along the way, ending at Niagara Falls.
The monsters seem to be enjoying their trip. The illustrations are colourful and fun. There are a couple of questionable word choices (including "nauseous" when it should've been "nauseated"; unfortunately, the rhyme scheme demanded it).
Fans of books about friendly monsters will probably enjoy this one. It bumps along with its jaunty rhymes and takes readers on a nice trip.
The monsters seem to be enjoying their trip. The illustrations are colourful and fun. There are a couple of questionable word choices (including "nauseous" when it should've been "nauseated"; unfortunately, the rhyme scheme demanded it).
Fans of books about friendly monsters will probably enjoy this one. It bumps along with its jaunty rhymes and takes readers on a nice trip.
February 11, 2023
Cheerful illustrations, at least. Otherwise?
Neither the words nor the illustrations manage to work for me. Neither do they seem particularly compatible with each other, either.
I'm pausing here at the facing pages on the Grand Canyon.
In reality, it's one of the great wonders of America.
If you've been there you've seen children of all ages, their eyes wide
And tears sometimes rolling down their cheeks at the grandeur.
Only in this book's version, the verse trivializes the Grand Canyon. (How dare you, Lori Degman?)
While the illustration shows a monster there, ignoring the magnificence, playing with a plastic truck.
Really?
Neither the words nor the illustrations manage to work for me. Neither do they seem particularly compatible with each other, either.
I'm pausing here at the facing pages on the Grand Canyon.
In reality, it's one of the great wonders of America.
If you've been there you've seen children of all ages, their eyes wide
And tears sometimes rolling down their cheeks at the grandeur.
Only in this book's version, the verse trivializes the Grand Canyon. (How dare you, Lori Degman?)
While the illustration shows a monster there, ignoring the magnificence, playing with a plastic truck.
Really?
September 9, 2020
When a monster travels with you on a journey across the United States, expect the unexpected. Monsters view things differently and behave in atrocious ways. This rhyming picture book by Lori Degman showcases some familiar and famous sites and is beautifully illustrated by Dave Szalay. I would love to travel with Lori's monsters. They have so much fun!
August 20, 2021
Featured in a grandma reads session.
Road Trip!!!! With Monsters!!! No, not the kids. Real Monsters. . .very bright and fun-loving, and ready for a road trip around these contiguous United States, heading from West to East, picking up monster souvenirs on the way.
The kids enjoyed this quick trip across the country, and the monsters had them laughing and pointing their favorites out on each page.
Road Trip!!!! With Monsters!!! No, not the kids. Real Monsters. . .very bright and fun-loving, and ready for a road trip around these contiguous United States, heading from West to East, picking up monster souvenirs on the way.
The kids enjoyed this quick trip across the country, and the monsters had them laughing and pointing their favorites out on each page.
November 9, 2020
What a perfect monster mash-up with a tour around the USA! This is a delightful way to introduce some of the iconic highlights of the country to young readers, and Lori Degman does it in spot-on rhyme to boot! Szalay's illustrations hit just the right tone with tons of little details for kids to discover while getting a taste of scenics spots from the Florida Everglades to the hills of San Francisco. With a different colorful monster on every spread, kids will have a tough time picking their favorite. Highly recommended.
April 15, 2020
Monsterly fun meets the USA in a silly, rhyming adventure, perfect for traveling in an unexpected way.
It's time to go on a vacation, and these monsters can't wait. They start in California and stop at thirteen more, well-known tourist attractions and cities as they make their way across the USA. Each stop is short but enough to give a quick impression...and a bit of silliness...before the monsters move on.
The idea of monsters hitting some favorite vacation spots in the US already had me looking forward to this read. And these monsters a quite the treat. Packed with imagination, each one is illustrated with a touch of fantasy, quirkiness and dash of humorous fun. It's fun to see their reactions as well as their antics as they visit well-known spots.
A four-line rhyme introduces and highlights a main aspect of each of the places the monsters visit. These are worded just right for the intended age group. The name of the state is placed in the corner of the page...unfortunately, the depicted place is sometimes a bit more difficult to figure out, but usually, the name can be found somewhere in the illustration. The places are drawn in a way, young listeners can recognize and get a general idea of the real appearance. At the very end, there is a map to help trace the journey
The monster antics are the real treat in this book, and it's this aspect which will have young listeners coming back again and again. As to the travel information, there is a nice variety of types of locations and activities. These do give a lovely and very general impression of the visited sites. It would have been nice to have a tiny bit more information on some, since I'm not sure young readers will easily identify many of these or necessarily known anything about them. But it is a lovely introduction. The monsters make this read worth grabbing up.
I received an ARC and enjoyed the adventure quite a bit.
It's time to go on a vacation, and these monsters can't wait. They start in California and stop at thirteen more, well-known tourist attractions and cities as they make their way across the USA. Each stop is short but enough to give a quick impression...and a bit of silliness...before the monsters move on.
The idea of monsters hitting some favorite vacation spots in the US already had me looking forward to this read. And these monsters a quite the treat. Packed with imagination, each one is illustrated with a touch of fantasy, quirkiness and dash of humorous fun. It's fun to see their reactions as well as their antics as they visit well-known spots.
A four-line rhyme introduces and highlights a main aspect of each of the places the monsters visit. These are worded just right for the intended age group. The name of the state is placed in the corner of the page...unfortunately, the depicted place is sometimes a bit more difficult to figure out, but usually, the name can be found somewhere in the illustration. The places are drawn in a way, young listeners can recognize and get a general idea of the real appearance. At the very end, there is a map to help trace the journey
The monster antics are the real treat in this book, and it's this aspect which will have young listeners coming back again and again. As to the travel information, there is a nice variety of types of locations and activities. These do give a lovely and very general impression of the visited sites. It would have been nice to have a tiny bit more information on some, since I'm not sure young readers will easily identify many of these or necessarily known anything about them. But it is a lovely introduction. The monsters make this read worth grabbing up.
I received an ARC and enjoyed the adventure quite a bit.
August 5, 2020
With a title like that, you know this is going to be a book that will appeal to the silliest young reader, right?
And doesn't the cover for Travel Guide for Monsters tell you that's what you will find inside?
In this fun picture book in verse, the author Lori Degman, talks directly to the readers as if they have their own personal monster (and what preschooler doesn't?). Each page shows the monster in a different location with a warning as to what could happen to the monster if he travels there. For example, in Arizona, the reader is warned,
Your monster may not understand
The Canyon they call "Grand"
Is not a hole to play in
and it can't be filled with sand.
The unsuspecting reader (and monster) get to travel cross-country (in a vehicle that looks remarkably like an old VW bus), seeing some of the famous sights which make the United States diverse and fun.
Finally, when the vacation is over, the reader faces one last challenge:
Your travels give you memories
you'll treasure through the years.
But how will you explain your
monster's crazy souvenirs?
As you will tell by these samples, illustrator Dave Szalay had a great time illustrating this book!
The curriculum take-away from Travel Guide for Monsters is the map in the back where young readers can identify where they live or have traveled.
And doesn't the cover for Travel Guide for Monsters tell you that's what you will find inside?
In this fun picture book in verse, the author Lori Degman, talks directly to the readers as if they have their own personal monster (and what preschooler doesn't?). Each page shows the monster in a different location with a warning as to what could happen to the monster if he travels there. For example, in Arizona, the reader is warned,
Your monster may not understand
The Canyon they call "Grand"
Is not a hole to play in
and it can't be filled with sand.
The unsuspecting reader (and monster) get to travel cross-country (in a vehicle that looks remarkably like an old VW bus), seeing some of the famous sights which make the United States diverse and fun.
Finally, when the vacation is over, the reader faces one last challenge:
Your travels give you memories
you'll treasure through the years.
But how will you explain your
monster's crazy souvenirs?
As you will tell by these samples, illustrator Dave Szalay had a great time illustrating this book!
The curriculum take-away from Travel Guide for Monsters is the map in the back where young readers can identify where they live or have traveled.
February 25, 2021
A story about monsters and The USA this book takes you on a trip of a lifetime to better prepare yourself for the real world. Right away we notice the significance of what the story has to offer. One of the leading focal points of the story is when a monster and a family visit each state we can learn some useful tools that are not only fun but exciting. The images in the book spark not only imagination but creativity. The number of colors used is very smart and sophisticated. The author creates each image with a lot going on but makes sure to enlarge the images of the subjects in the book to focus on the importance of the story. This is a book that can educate readers but also take their imagination to a new and exciting level.
November 24, 2020
If you've been missing the opportunity to travel during this pandemic, I'm pretty sure this book is the perfect antidote. Take a coast to coast trip, visiting landmarks across the US and learn how to do it successfully when accompanied by monsters. A hilariously fun romp that actually made me want to visit the many real places that we see the fictional monsters visiting. I can only imagine what a great "road trip book" this would be for the entire family. Particularly if you and your little monsters plan to travel to places like Hollywood, Mount Rushmore, Niagara Falls, and more.
May 16, 2020
This book had me at the title and delivered a delightful coast-to-coast road-trip up and down and across the United States with adorable, adoptable monsters. This travel guide will fuel imaginations as kids pour over Szalay's funny illustrations. They'll be inspired to draw monsters of their own at landmarks in their own states and write rhyming text of their own too. I hear kids begging Degman to write a sequel. I hope she does.
July 15, 2021
I had the pleasure of hearing Author Lori Degman read TRAVEL GUIDE FOR MONSTERS, illustrated by Dave Szalay, at a story time—what an adventure of a book! This crowd-pleaser follows a colorful cast of monsters as they tour the US—the Mount Rushmore page, in particular, cracked me up! Degman’s bouncy, perfect rhymes and Szalay’s fun, detailed illustrations are sure to keep kids coming back for more. Bonus points for making geography a blast!
December 8, 2022
The story is basically going through the most famous spots in America. For example Hollywood, Grand Canyon, etc. And in each place the monsters are doing something they shouldn't, such as, pour sand in the canyon and play in it as if it was a beach area. I really liked how the illustrations had the state's name in the corner though because the story text doesn't always mention what state it is. The illustrations are very colorful and detailed. Overall I enjoyed the book.
March 27, 2020
Can't go on vacation right now? Young readers can visit some favorite US destinations in this TRAVEL GUIDE FOR MONSTERS. From the end papers (Monstrous fun by Dave Szalay!) to the souvenirs, Lori Degman's fun rhymes will get the whole family rolling along, and possibly inspire some vacation memories. My favorite spread is Mt. Rushmore. What's yours?
April 9, 2020
This road trip is a beastly blast! Through rollicking rhyme, Lori Degman guides readers on a tour of iconic US sights, from Niagara Falls to the Everglades to Hollywood, with some marvelous monster antics thrown in along the way. Readers will giggle at Dave Szalay’s silly illustrations while they boost their geography knowledge.
April 15, 2020
Join the mischievous monsters as they take a road trip across the United States. They visit many cities and national parks, including my favorite, the Cape Cod National Seashore. Young readers will love the fun, rhyming text and the bright illustrations. A perfect read aloud that will allow children the opportunity to visit landmarks they may have never seen in real life.
April 15, 2020
Travel Guide For Monsters written by Lori Degman and illustrated by Dave Szalay is a gem of a rhyming book! If you are talking about a family road trip in the US, or just want to travel from the comfort of your favorite chair, this is the book for you! Funny and charming with bright, cheerful illustrations and a monster map of your travels on the end pages! Highly recommend!
June 2, 2020
A Travel Guide for Monsters is an entertaining, rhyming trip across the United States. A great introduction to top tourist attractions and landmarks in different states. Degman’s rollicking rhyme is a joy to read and the humorous monster antics will delight both children and adults. Dave Szalay’s beautiful illustrations and fun end papers complete this fabulous monster adventure.
October 30, 2020
What a cute and clever book. Vacationing with monsters can be tough - here's a great guide for the monsters as they travel cross-country. My favorite stop is in NYC when the monsters visit with Lady Liberty! The beautiful illustrations bring each stop to life and remind us all of why we love to travel - with or without monsters along!
March 12, 2023
I liked this story and creative ways to show landmarks and monsters acting silly. I love while visiting DC, the president is a female! Sweet, humorous and educational.
The placement of the text transparent to the graphics seems a bit amateurish, even though the the illustrations showed the fun and mischief of the monsters.
The placement of the text transparent to the graphics seems a bit amateurish, even though the the illustrations showed the fun and mischief of the monsters.
November 10, 2020
I absolutely loved this funny and clever book! The rhymes are incredibly satisfying, the pictures are outstanding, and the surprises and fun twists and turns are terrific. I highly recommend this wonderful book!
September 15, 2021
This is a cute and fun book. This would make a good storytime read for it's rhyming words, and the pages might just be big enough for how much you should look at the pictures to get the full effect of the story. I also kind of love how they made their president a lady.
June 30, 2023
Who doesn't enjoy a good, exciting road trip? If your planning one, and taking your monster along, this is the guide book for you. It has all types of handy-dandy tips to help you and your monster enjoy the sights without causing too much mayhem along the way.
April 16, 2020
Adorable romp around the United States with lots of details to find in the illustrations. So cute!
May 14, 2020
This was fun with a lot of great visual puns.
August 11, 2020
A fun book about travel for younger children.
February 5, 2021
Monsters go and see the tourist sites across America.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 20, 2021
A fun read which features some of our great national parks! Little kids will be laughing at the silly adventures in this one!
September 23, 2021
Such an adorable book! The rhymes are so fun and engaging, and it's a great way to show kids some of the different monuments and attractions across the US! My first graders loved it!
March 25, 2022
Really cute book. Flows nicely. My daughter enjoys it.
July 28, 2022
this was a cute idea for a book. i liked seeing the monsters on vacation with their humans & i loved their selfie & doodle scrapbook pages.
ebook ~ borrowed ~ hoopla
ebook ~ borrowed ~ hoopla
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews