Jeremy Draws a Monster by Peter McCarty

I purchased Jeremy Draws a Monster on a whim. I found it online featured as a new release at amazon and thought it looked good. Sometimes I get lucky without previewing a book then purchasing and this was just the case with Peter McCarty's new book.

In this picture book, you meet a little boy named Jeremy, who longs to play with the kids outside but isn't quite confident to jump right in. So, Jeremy draws himself a blue monster (similar to Harold creating adventures with his crayon). Jeremy quickly realizes though, that his creation (the blue monster) is more of a pain than anything else. After the demanding monster drains him of all his energy, Jeremy draws the monster a bus and a bag and sees him on his way. He decides to give playing outside a try!

This story unexpectedly worked as a text that helped us think deeper about character and connections. In fact, students began to think about other texts that this book reminded them of...books like Bossy Bear (the monster and Bossy are both very demanding and bossy) and Harold and the Purple Crayon (Harold and Jeremy both create their own problems and solutions) and Babushka's Doll by Patricia Polacco ( the young girl in Babushka's Doll and Jeremy learn from their experience of having to take care of an unexpected burden).

The conversations the students had with this short and sweet picture book were well worth the chance I took buying online. Many kids came back to it as an independent read in the morning and during workshop. I am not sure if I would recommend impulse buying online but once in awhile, it works!!