Review Detail

You have been invited to the annual fest for fiends that takes place at The Rotten Core Restaurant, where so many monsters are gathered to enjoy the best foods that the chef has to offer. Lift the plate covers to see what meal is underneath for each of the different monsters that you are dining with. Monsters included are a vampire, a werewolf, an ogre, a mummy, a pirate, and more. Out of everyone who is dining tonight, the final guest, a human boy, might have the scariest plate out there.

What I Liked: Before seeing just what the monsters have on their plate, each page introduces you to a new monster profile, including their name and just what they enjoy doing and eating. The page next to this introduction showcases the monster with a ready-to-eat expression and a plate full of food in front of them. When you lift the flap, there’s a hilarious description of just what is on their plate, accompanied by an image showing just what that meal looks like.

The illustrations of these meals add layers of fear and some humor as you see necks, bat wings, schoolchildren meat loaf, and more on the plates. Each meal was carefully curated for the monster that it was put in front of, and you can tell by the specifics of each dish. This is highlighted in things like a crocodile head with Peter Pan garnish for a pirate, dust bunny cotton candy for the monster under the bed, and Pharaoh’s eyeball pyramid for the mummy. The book closes with a humorous dish that all the monsters are disgusted by when it’s placed on the table. Whatever could this be?

Final Verdict: A Monster’s Meal is a fun lift-the-flap book that children ages 4 and up will enjoy as they see the terrifying meal that each monster has in store for them. Children will enjoy guessing just what is under the plates and find themselves laughing out loud when they discover the revolting meal under each plate. Adults will enjoy the clever meals throughout the book and the scariest meal of them all at the end, which they are all familiar with serving.