Even if I didn't personally know Mr. Travis Nichols I would still think his The Monster Doodle Book
was super swell. Picture Rosie Flo's coloring books combined with Wreck This Journal
and you get sort of an idea of what kind of whimsy the Monster Doodle Book has in store.
You might recall my synopsis of his last book Punk Rock Etiquette. Besides the witty writing and crafty how-to's one of the best parts of the book was the illustrations. Travis was painting kitschy monsters on thrifted paintings of The Last Supper way before monsters were cool. Now with the Monster Doodle Book he is giving the reader a chance to make their own monsters. Travis gets the illustration started, gives you a fun prompt and you do the rest. Whether it be tentacles that need a body and head or an axe wielding cyclops torso that needs a pair of legs.
Not only would this be the perfect gift for a 10 year old boy it would also make an art journalist or aspiring cartoonist of any age happy as a clam. Heck, I'm not any of those 3 and I'm happy just flipping through the fun filled pages.
Feel like doodling your own monster? How could you answer no that question, it's a great stress reliever. You have one week to leave me a monster related comment. Did you have a Cookie Monster Doll as a kid, was Sigmund and the Sea Monster your fave cartoon, do you make monster plushies? I wanna know!
As soon as I saw this, I knew my youngest son would love it. He's the one who is always telling me super elaborate tales of monsters (and always in that wide-eyed, secretive, they-might-be-listening-RIGHT-NOW! voice). He loves to draw pictures and I think the book would help him animate his stories. Strangely, his older brother is the one who has actually dressed as a monster for Halloween.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever read, "The Monster At the End of This Book" ? It's a must read if you haven't! Got the little boy in my mind who this book would be perfect for! An inspiring little artist :) Thanks for the chance to win...now go check out this book!
ReplyDeleteSharon I LOVE that book. Tallulah is not quite old enough for it yet, but I can't wait until she is I already have a copy waiting for her.
ReplyDeleteMy youngest son has been drawing, sewing, collaging and assembling monsters since he was about three. People always look at his pictures and ask me if it's a hangover from Halloween. At five he announced he plans to, "collaborate with Tim Burton when he's older" Now he's twelve and the monsters just keep coming. Currently they have a mech-zombie-steampunk vibe. I love it.
ReplyDeleteUmm... AWESOMENESS!
ReplyDeleteI always try to doodle and draw monsters but mine never come out right. They're not cute enough or odd enough I think. Something is just missing. But this looks like great inspiration!
I'm also a an embroiderer, so these would make great patterns.
My husband is a lover of all things monster and would love this book for our daughter. :)
ReplyDeleteArt teacher over here, who would LOVE this book to use with kids in the classroom! I love how the ideas are "started" for you, but left up to the imagination!
ReplyDelete-Jen
Eeek! This looks like the coolest book! I got my nephew a similar monster drawing book last year, but totally wanted to keep it for myself - he he. Fingers crossed!
ReplyDelete-Michelle Clement
michelle.a.clement@gmail.com
How cool is that! I was at Barnes and Noble today looking at thier kid coloring books and saw a lot of cool doodle books similar to this. Makes me want to be a kid again.
ReplyDeleteOh that book is such a great idea! I have never seen one quite like it before!(which may be cause I live in this country far far away called Finland).
ReplyDeleteI was not such a monster lady growing up. Sure I read my goosebumbs and nighmare rooms, but no not really I was not.
But I dont know, maybe I am living my childhood all over again and therefore I am now so exited about those kind of things, childrens books, emily the strange, cute monster plushies and hoodies (emp has some great ones) aliens and dinosaurs.
Excpecially dinosaurs. Theey count as monsters, right? I have some serious thing going on with dinosaurs <3
avaloves@mail.com
Ooo Big Green Monster by Ed Emberly is one of my favorite books to read to my Kinder class during our study of the letter Mm! This book would be AWESOME to get activities from for that week!! It would be a MONSTER hit! =)
ReplyDeleteMy children are all in their teens now but we still love doodling!
ReplyDeleteThey weren't really into monsters as youngsters except for Sesame Street!
While sitting in our weekly staffing meeting at work, I doodle. The agenda usually consists of palm trees and water, but lately I've been starting with happy faces with petals and they grow into paisleys. That's the only time I doodle as I am always either crocheting with plastic, cotton or beading. Whoever wins, ENJOY!!!!
ReplyDelete