Tom Lichtenheld knows plenty about monsters, and fortunately for 8-year-olds everywhere, he's willing to share his secrets in Everything I Know About Monsters, the sequel to Everything I Know About Pirates. Presented as a field guide of sorts, the instructive book begins with a diagram of a typical monster, with the usual characteristics from hopelessly bad hair to weird feet. The guide, which delves into monster psychology (very simple) as well as monster hygiene (very minimal), is divided up by type of monster such as: "Under-the-Bed Monsters" (lazy, eat dirty socks, scared by smiley-face night-lights), "Basement Monsters" (Sock Suckers, Ankle Fiends, Tool Ghouls), "Attic Monsters" ("sit around all day reading old National Geographic magazines that your parents are saving for no apparent reason"), and "Outside Monsters" (such as Big Foot "a Boy Scout gone bad" and Swamp Thang). A handy Monster Avoidance Chart may help kids get a good night's sleep.

Monsters are also discussed from a cultural perspective in sections such as "Man-Made Monsters" (Frankenstein, robots) and "TV and Movie Monsters:" "Lots of monsters audition for parts in monster movies, but they never get the parts because they're such lousy actors." Even space aliens, "not officially part of the monster kingdom," are given play, because they're "fun to draw." The Official Mad Scientist Monster Maker includes three columns of words that kids can mix and match to create a monster name, such as Creepy-Eared Knucklehead or Bat-Nosed Belcher. Lichtenheld's comical, color-rich illustrations capture Essence of Monster most gruesomely, and each double-page spread boils and bubbles with funny captions, cartoons, side jokes, and general silliness. And remember, "If you do see a monster don't overreact. It only encourages them." (Ages 6 to 10--not for kids who are still afraid of monsters!) --Karin Snelson

Where did all these monsters come from?

The closet, the basement, under the bed, the outhouse, even the school furnace room! But mostly, they came from a healthy imagination, just like yours!

Using a patented system of made-up facts and educated guesses, Everything I Know About Monsters reveals all the gory details about creatures of creepiness: what they eat (dirty socks), what's in their brains (not much), and how to scare them out of the basement (stand at the top of the stairs, bang pots and pans together, and yell very loudly).

So turn on all the lights in the house and get comfortable. You're about to learn so much about monsters, it's scary!

after reading this book. After all, they have tiny brains. My daughter (6) is very afraid of the dark and started talking about monsters when she was about 4. They would come and go, but were always very scary. Now she is an expert on them. She is still scared of the dark, but not because of the monsters. The illustrations and text are very funny. I enjoyed reading this book almost as much as she did.

My boys love this book. My boys are like most 4.5 year old boys filled with imagination. There are always monsters in our house usually about 5 years old and under 4 feet tall. The pictures and illustrations are hilariously funny. Even us parents have enjoyed this book. The boys love to make up monster names in the back of the book. This is a book that will be read for many years in this house. And yes if you are wondering everytime there is earwax coming out your ears your imagination must be running wild.

My son checked this book out from the library. They loved it so much we ended up buying it. It takes any childhood fears of monters away. The book is fun and silly for children and adults.

My six year old thinks this book is great. I bought this and "Everything I know About Pirates" and he loves both.Recommended for boys aged 5-9.

This is just a plain FUN book!!! I loved it from beginning to end. I've got to get the one he did about Pirates now! The kids I've showed it to, loved it! The illustrations are well done and very funny. The text is hilarious!