Growing up before the time of J.K. Rowling or Philip Pullman, before Eoin Colfer and Christopher Paolini, we had Jane Yolen. Wizard’s Hall, Yolen’s 1991 fantasy novel about a young boy who attends a dangerous school to learn magic, was most influential on my burgeoning love of all things fantasy. In grade school my appreciation for her writing was affirmed by my school’s required reading lists, where The Devil’s Arithmetic had risen to the level of a standard text employed in the classroom. Yolen’s work, from children’s stories to epic fantasies, appeals across a spectrum of ages and interests, both for its imagination and sophistication.
Now Yolen, in collaboration with New England artist Kelly Murphy, has created a special bit of treasure in her forthcoming collaborative bedtime lullaby, Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters. Yolen’s text accounting for the doings of two young monsters runs as a poem throughout the short book, brought to life by Murphy’s illustrations. Starting in the latter half of the day, the monsters go home from school, eat their dinners, wash up, and go (reluctantly) to bed. In truth, titling this work as “creepy” is a tad misleading — Murphy’s illustrations are more Monsters Inc. than monster-in-my closet — where creatures the color of tropical fruits dance through a world of cool blue hues. They are as pleasant to the eyes as Yolen’s lyrics to the ears.
However, there is a compelling subtext beneath it all — one that meets the level of depth Yolen’s many other works. This is a lovely tale for very young children who fear the unknown, or the “other,” because the subtext of the book is that there aren’t really any “monsters” in the world, just folks with their own hopes and dreams, fears and appetites. The monsters themselves are a little afraid to go to bed at night, fearing their own kinds of monsters — not dissimilar from what the target audience of this book perhaps experiences.
Growing up with Yolen is a privilege and a pleasure, and this book is an excellent way to start your very young one off well!
(Candlewick Press, 2011)
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