Grandpa's Monster Movies by AG Cascone


rating
(Deadtime Stories, #10)
Children


C.T. and his cousin Lea are staying at their grandparents' old farmhouse. The home movies they found in the attic give them a piece of family history that nobody talked about.



This book was SO cute. Took a few chapters to get into but it had an endearing adult-like quality to it despite being for such a young age. So while the kids will adore it, parents will also be able to get into it and laugh out loud at times as well if they want to join in, preview the book before the children read it, or just read it for entertainment value.

Basically it's a family reunion where two young kids don't want to be around their weird relatives, hilarious and realistic the way they did it. The worst they try to avoid are their redneck relatives, the woman always cooking things with pig feet and ferrets and their many offspring, all ending with the name "Bob". Cute story and some of the lines are funny no matter for which age group. The monsters were funny and a country corniness that matched the plot perfectly. 

It excelled with the two mains being so funny, sarcastic, and realistic kids put amidst dysfunctional family madness, while being bored out of their minds, being forced to eat yucky relative food, and endure family "bonding."

As every age group of this does, most chapters end on suspense annoyance, but this is toned down compared to Goosebumps and the like. Also, the monster ends up genuine but creatively done and certainly unique, again tying with the country bumpkin scene. Cute. I really dig this author team (two women friends writing together). Their suspenseful tales for kids work well as it's clear they have a lot of fun with the genre, the stories, the writing style which hints and winks at all ages, and the enthusiasm shines through for the adventures they write.

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