I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A cute picture book about a monster. I liked the illustrations. I liked the ogre book a bit better but this was still good.

This new addition to Lopez's Dear Diary series has absolutely fabulous illustrations of a great lake monster. The text is humorous, but it is possible that the translation from Spanish to English causes the cadence to be a little less rhythmic than I would like to see in a book of this type. Each page has a "stanza" or section from the lake monster's diary and is full of imaginative tidbits from his life and habits. Early fantasy readers in grades 2-4 will enjoy this quick read/picture book.

My little boy did enjoy this and found it funny and silly so entertained him perfectly, which to be fair is all you can ask for in a children's book. However, I am not as keen and it isn't one I would be reaching for to read again and again. It is short and sweet but it didn't seem to flow as well as i think it was trying to and some bits just didn't fit for me as the diary. Nonetheless my child is happy so therefor so am I!

This is the third book in The Dear Diary series by Valeria Dávila. The three-headed monster who is the writer of the diary shares his daily activities with the reader. He is quite proud of his antics such as, scaring people, eating worm cakes and toad soup, as well as being the smelliest and grossest of all the monsters. The illustrations are wonderful. They are detailed, colourful and gross. They add even more to the text. Once again, my grandson kept pointing things out to me telling me that they were gross, but he kept wanting me to read more and he kept asking me to go back to look at the previous pages. The text is relatively easy to read, but there are a few challenging words thrown in to develop vocabulary such as, hideous, repulsive, tranquil and lurk. A great book for a primary classroom or school library. It will be a hit at Hallowe'en. The publisher, Chouette Publishing - CrackBoom! Books, provided me with a copy of this book to read. The rating, ideas and opinions shared are my own.

Diary of a Monster by Valeria Dávila is about the Black Lake Monster. It's a picture book with (mostly) rhyming text. The book is translated, being originally from Argentina. It may rhyme better in the native language, but does well enough in English. I did feel it ended a bit abruptly, but I doubt the target audience would notice or care. This quirky little book gives a good lesson too. As different as some cultures may be from one another, in the end, we have quite a bit in common as well. The monster might live in a lake and enjoy eating bugs, and scaring people, but they also like hugs, and stories, and family. Perfect bedtime or kindergarten reading time book!

***Many thanks to the Netgalley and Chouette Publishing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

After reading “Diary of an Ogre,” I was actually surprised that there were several companion novels to the “Dear Diary” series and I was so excited to check out the newest book in the series “Diary of a Monster!”

The book explores about what life for a monster is like as we get to see the world through a monster’s point of view. The titular monster in the story writes in his diary about the various things that he does as a monster such as terrifying the people he comes across, being one of the smelliest beings among his fellow monsters and eating worm cakes and mosquitoes!

Wow! Valeria Davila has done it again with writing this series in such a hilarious and creative way! I loved the way that Valeria Davila explored the world through a monster’s point of view and we get to see what kind of activities the monsters do and how they feel about doing these activities. I also loved the fact that the titular monster in this book is actually proud of being a monster, despite all the disgusting things that he does throughout the book such as being the smelliest monster around and eating mosquitoes and worm cakes. It shows that the message of this book is being yourself, no matter how strange or frightening you might look towards other people. Laura Aguerrebehere’s artwork is as usual humorous and fun to look at as we get to see the monster’s activities in all its disgusting glory! I especially loved the images of the monster scaring off the tourists on an island and the green stink clouds that surround the monster to indicate how smelly he is.

Parents should know that there is some gross humor in this book such as images of the monster cooking up a stew made out of rats and cockroaches and images of the monster eating mosquitoes and worms.

Overall, “Diary of a Monster” is a fantastic book for anyone who is a huge fan of books about monsters and it is definitely worth the read! I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since some of the gross humor might be a bit too much for some children.

A lovely book about a nice 3 heads monster. the illustrations are great. I love it.
Thanks to Netgalley and the author for this beautiful book.

*thank you to Netgalley and Chouette Publishing for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

4.5 stars.

I loved this! This would easily have grabbed my attention as a little kid in primary school. It's fun to read and great to look at. My one and only issue is that I felt that it needed another page at the end. It just felt like it came to a sudden stop. Otherwise this would have been a 5 star book. I really liked how it also had a part in it that shows the reader that like children, monsters get scared also. Definitely recommended. It would make a great bedtime story book.

This book is filled with beautiful illustrations that provide lots of talking points. As with all children's books there's some clever rhyming and the text is short and sweet.

'Diary of a Monster' by Valeria Davila and Monica Lopez with illustrations by Laura Aguerrebehere and translation by David Warriner is a picture book in rhyme by a lake monster. It's originally from Argentina, and I think some things got lost in translation.

This is the diary of a lake monster told in rhyme form. Except it doesn't rhyme very well or feel much like a diary. The monster describes how fearsome it is and how it likes to cook. The monster talks about a rash on it's tale, then about how it likes lullabies and tales. Then the book just ends.

If a book is in rhyme form, it should have a rhythm to it, and this one just doesn't. It's really not a diary so much as a monologue. The ending is way too abrupt. The monster is just describing itself, then the book just ends. I kept thinking I was missing pages.

I did like the illustrations well enough, but the lack of plot or rhyme makes this one a pretty big pass in my book.

I received a review copy of this ebook from CrackBoom! Books, Chouette Publishing, and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

Wouldn't it be cool if you could just check out the diary of a Real Monster?
This book provides insight into the life of monster through his notes in his diary.
In his diary, he boasts how evil and ugly he is. How he is super happy to scare people!
How he loves having toad soup or mosquitoes or worm cake as dinner.
How at his sight, everyone screams. How he enjoys staying in the lake but his tail feels sore.
How he loves hugs from his mom and likes to hear about fairies.
Cool, Naughty and Funny!

Diary of a Monster by Valeria Dávila and López lets readers learn a little more about a monster and his thinking as he lives on the lake. We learn what he dreams and foods he likes including worms with mosquitoes. Yucky!
It is a cute idea for little ones and not scary perfect for younger readers and those starting to read or enjoying listening. The illustrations are very well done and go perfectly with the story. A favorite element of the book is the way it is written with some of the words rhyming very well together too.

Is this just half a book? It ends abruptly. No real wrap up. The author does okay with the rhymes, but there is no cadence or flow to the story or the words. The illustrations are great.

A three-headed eight-limbed monster tells its diary about itself, which seems rather strange, when you consider the monster should be the only one reading it.
From what I gather, this was originally written in Spanish. I’m always wary about rhyming translations, ever since college where I had to read The Odyssey in rhyming couplets. Some of these verses come in five lines and no rhyme, which only makes things stranger. Even the ones that rhyme are frequently forced.
I can’t help but think this would have been done better without attempting poetry, but also from a better perspective than a diary; perhaps the monster telling another monster, maybe a baby one, would have been a better way to go. Because as it stands, even though it’s about a talking monster, it should make more sense.
2.5 pushed up to 3/5

This is the second book I have read by this author and the Diary Series. I have to say she did not disappoint me on either. This is told through the thoughts of a 3 headed monster who lives in a lake. He likes his monster things like scaring people and monster stew with toads. But in the end he is just like everyone else and likes hugs and lullabies and stories about faries not monsters. It is a great story for children 3-5 and a great beginner reader book. The illlustrations are very realistic and come to life on the page. I hope the author will continue this series.

3.5 stars

Cute and fun but a little short with, what felt to me, to be an abrupt ending.

Thank you Netgalley and Chourette Publishing for the ARC.

The illustrations in this Argentinian import are colourful and attractive enough, but the text leaves a lot to be desired. Perhaps this is due to a poor translation from the Spanish. This is supposed to be the diary of the Black Lake monster, but, aside from the salutation at the start of each entry, it doesn’t read like a diary at all. First of all, it’s mostly rhyming—and the rhymes are really facile and cheesy: “I’ve got slimy feet/ and terrible jaws/ My hair’s unwashed and greasy, so/ that’s not one of my flaws.” (Hmmm . . . that actually might be one of the better ones.) Second, several of the short poems that make up the opening pages of the book are essentially descriptions—not of the events in the monster’s day, but of the monster himself.

The back cover of <u>Diary of a Monster</u> announces that the DEAR DIARY series “offers privileged access to the secret thoughts of classic fairy tale characters,” which leaves me wondering: Which fairy tale character is this? I recall no fairy tale that involves humans swimming, wearing life preservers, and taking boat tours on the lake. The monster in this book appears to be a mutation of Nessie. He’s got three heads, though, and each of these looks a little like that of William Steig’s Shrek. Perhaps the monster is supposed to be based on <u>The Creature from the Black Lagoon.</u>

My advanced review copy had a couple of duplicate pages, and the last page was missing. The text ended quite abruptly. Perhaps it doesn’t matter. I don’t think anything could have saved this book. I’m surprised that anyone would think that translating children’s rhymes about a monster—and apparently pretty poor ones at that—was a good idea. As I said, the illustrations were acceptable, but this book would only have worked if a brand new text in English had been generated.

Not recommended.

Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from Net Galley.

Really cute book. My kids enjoyed this story very much! I liked the story and the illustrations were great. Fun kids books make great reads for me and the kids. When the parents enjoy the books they read with their kids it makes the reading experience so much better.

I really loved the illustrations. The pictures were colourful and there were so many little details in the picture to pick out. The sepia illustrations were just as lush and I could see any kids really loving the monsters and the icky bugs crawling over the place.
That said the story was really really really annoying. Some pages had rhyming couplets and some didn't and most seemed just off where the rhythm of it just didn't work. For example treat and beasts doesn't work as a rhyme.
I wouldn't feel comfortable reading it out loud as the cadence was just wrong but I really loved the pictures.

Un'altra possibilità di sbirciare nella vita più segreta dei personaggi delle fiabe.

Il mostro della palude si mette a nudo, con tutte e tre le sue teste: temuto e ammirato, ama le ninna nanne, e il suo piccolo stagno - e ha una mamma premurosa che dagli abissi gli porta una crema per curare i fastidiosi problemi alla pelle della coda.

Ma che non si sappia, mi raccomando!

Non ho niente da dire, se non che sono completamente dipendente da questa serie. *___*