The Day the Monster Came

A strange, unusual, challenging book which should find a place in the ten to twelve-year-old's reading. A fearful monster invades Belfast: neither the army nor civilians are able to quell it by force --- yet kindness and tolerance succeed --- and it's the children who find that out. It's hard to classify this one. A picture book? Yes, but it would puzzle the very young. An allegory? Maybe, but it works very well on the level of 'what happens next'. Try it with top juniors, then talk about it. My guess is that it's one of those special books that we need to ask the young about to get to fully understand it.