The Monster on the Hill

The Monster on the Hill by Rob Harrell is a story about a monster named Rayburn who isn't the best at his job. In fact, he's quite terrible at it. To be honest, he is utterly the worst. Everybody knows it, even Rayburn. He sulks, and he sighs, and he just keeps on going on, being terrible. And, to be sure, not terrible in the good run-into-town-and-scare-you way.Rayburn knows that this needs to change, but is unwilling to go about changing things until a human professor comes to visit, to ask if he can be of some assistance in helping Rayburn be a bit scarier. And so our Monster, Rayburn, seeks help from a friend, a monster named Noodles, who is excellent at his job. 

Finally, after a lot of confidence building Rayburn finally takes on another monster and wins his town over. They cheer his name and are finally happy to have Rayburn be their town's monster, and are proud to accept Rayburn for the sulky dragon that he is. 

I love this book's illustration style. The bold outlines, the thick, bright colors. I like that Rayburn is a sulky guy, who just seems a little depressed, but finally comes to terms with who he is and how he can go about his job.  I like the details of the images, and the care that was taken in the invention of this not-so-far-away world. 

I would recommend The Monster on the Hill to upper elementary students and up and up from there. This book is an excellent take on the finding-yourself story, and has a lot of funny little pieces scattered throughout. The illustrations are excellent and the flow of the words across the graphics are clean and easy to follow.

-Robin