Today's read swings back into the monsterly direction....well, sort of. When I saw the title, I had to add it to my Halloween line-up, simply because it says 'monster'. I have no doubt, however, that this one doesn't use this word in the same sense as is usually worked into Halloween. Rather, I bet it will be used in a fun direction. I wove the term 'monster' into life myself, when my kids were younger, to add humor to some situations. For example, brussel sprouts were called 'monster heads'. Believe it or not, my kids loved to eat them, then. Go figure. So, I'm wondering if the author does this same sort of twist.
But let's take a peek and find out, shall we?
THE CLEAN-UP MONSTER
(Roscoe & Ivy)
by Eleni Tassopoulos Wehner
Illustrated by Danamarie Hosler
Barefoot Books
Board Book
20 pages
ages 2 to 4
COMING NOVEMBER 4th!!!
Come along with Roscoe & Ivy as they face a big mess.
It’s time for Roscoe and Ivy to clean up! But when they look at the task in front of them, there is just NO WAY they can do it. The toys are jumbled and the dough is mixed up. They don’t even know where to start! Roscoe and Ivy must work as a team to tidy the room, even when they discover their clean up methods are different. If they do a good job, they might just catch a glimpse of the Clean-Up Monster…
- Roscoe & Ivy series focuses on the daily life of a neurodivergent family
- Created by neurodivergent author and illustrator drawing from their own lived experiences
- Endnotes offer gentle guidance on tackling big tasks
MY TIDBITS
Cleaning up can seem overwhelming, but these pages give thoughts on how to make it work.
Roscoe and Ivy have had fun playing all afternoon, but now, it's time to clean-up. The task seems impossible with everything mixed together, and different colors of clays scattered here and there, too. With step one getting the cars into their box completed, the clay is next, but while one just shoves the clay back into the colored containers without thought, the other can't stand not having it match the colors on the lids. Both characters have their sticking points as the clean-up continues. Will the clean-up monster ever get a chance to do it's duty, too?
This is a short, easy read, which tackles a very familiar situation. While this book concentrates on neurodivergent characters and their special focus points, any child will know the problem of trying to tackle such a huge task. Step-by-step, the two get through but not without a few rubbing points along the way. It gives readers hints on how they can approach such tasks themselves and how to handle each other's concerns.
The illustrations are simple and bring across each scene with the focus, where it needs to be. The characters come across with kindness, even when things don't run smoothly, and the illustrations bring this across well. The way to approach things is also visually clear to help out those, who still aren't ready to read on their own. The text, however, is short and concise, which is great for the younger audience level. I did pick up a DRC and found that several words were scattered in hard to read areas and am assuming that this is something that will be worked out by the time the release date hits. Also, the cleaning monster hits rather quick (shorter than I thought considering the title), but does its duty well and adds a hint of fun.
At the very end, there are two pages of short hints to help massive clean-up jobs seem more do-able, and these are easy to use as well as helpful.
And here they are...
Eleni Tassopoulos Wehner discovered that typical caregiving strategies did not work for her neurodivergent family. With some creativity, patience and adjusted expectations, she developed methods that any child or caregiver can use. Eleni lives in St. Louis, MO with her husband, Greg, and their kids, Chrysanthi, James, and Andreas. She loves bunnies, thrift stores, and glitter gel pens.
Danamarie Hosler is an autistic illustrator, fiber artist, and muralist based in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Her work is based around the idea that art should be accessible to all people, in all forms, and she considers her work to be equal parts art, education, and advocacy. In those rare moments when she’s not making art, you can find her perfecting her macarons and croissants, or bird watching.
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