ALA Notable Book!Willems, Mo. Leonardo the Terrible Monster.New York: Hyperion Books, 2005.
ISBN: 0786852941
Author:
Mo Willems won six Emmy Awards for his writing on Sesame Street. He then went on to perform the lead as head writer for Codename: Kids Next Door. Mo’s animated films have been screened at festivals around the world and his drawings have been exhibited at the Museum of Radio and Television and at the Library of Congress. His previous engagements include Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! and Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale which was awarded the 2004 and 2005 Caldecott Honor Books.
Plot Summary:
Leonardo is a terrible monster... terrible at being a monster. The book begins with that statement and accompanied by a pathetic Leonardo sitting at the bottom edge.
Mo Willems takes us through Leonardo's search to become a better monster with wonderful simple illustrations that help tell the story. Each monster is truly enjoyable to read about with each monster having unique features like Tony's 11642 teeth, Eleanor being large, and Hector just weird. On the other hand, Leonardo looks like a Muppet and not scary looking at all.
The book continues to tell us why Leonardo just isn't a good monster. No matter how hard he tries, he just can’t seem to make anyone scream or run from him in fear. So, Leonardo begins his search for the biggest scaredy-cat kid he can find and scare the "tuna salad" out of him.
He researched until he found the perfect kid... Sam. 
He tries every trick he knows to scare Sam until finally, Sam cries. And that’s when Leonardo finds out that scaring people maybe is not what he wants to do after all. Maybe he could become a wonderful friend. Willems makes his illustrations fill up an entire page or sometimes very small down in a corner. Children will love each turn of the page with anticipation of what is coming next.
Extension Activities:
This book can teach children about peer-pressure, being yourself, being a friend, bullies, and it is just fun to read. A writing lesson can be developed by having students tell Sam's side of the story or choose one of the other monsters to write about. A fun activity is to make a want ad for the perfect person to scare.
Reviews:
With a palette straight from the endpapers of Where the Wild Things Are, and postures not a little reminiscent of Max, Willems crafts a sweetly original morality play about a very unscary monster. The highly predictable ending is made fresh by the superb control of pacing, just-zany-enough sense of humor and body language readers have come to expect from the creator of Pigeon and Knufflebunny. - Kirkus Review
Mo Willems has done it again, with Leonardo, The Terrible Monster. He has created a story with funny, engaging characters and unusual illustrations. Willems has a great sense of humor that is evident in all his stories and enhanced by his illustrations.-Blog Critics
Extension Activities:
This book can teach children about peer-pressure, being yourself, being a friend, bullies, and it is just fun to read. A writing lesson can be developed by having students tell Sam's side of the story or choose one of the other monsters to write about. A fun activity is to make a want ad for the perfect person to scare.
Reviews:
With a palette straight from the endpapers of Where the Wild Things Are, and postures not a little reminiscent of Max, Willems crafts a sweetly original morality play about a very unscary monster. The highly predictable ending is made fresh by the superb control of pacing, just-zany-enough sense of humor and body language readers have come to expect from the creator of Pigeon and Knufflebunny. - Kirkus Review
Mo Willems has done it again, with Leonardo, The Terrible Monster. He has created a story with funny, engaging characters and unusual illustrations. Willems has a great sense of humor that is evident in all his stories and enhanced by his illustrations.-Blog Critics
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