A Practical Guide to Monsters (Hardcover)

by Nina Hess (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
As in Lisa Trumbauer’s A Practical Guide to Dragons (2006), this title is framed as a class session for apprentice wizards. Zendric, a wizard from the publisher’s fantasy series the Knights of the Silver Dragon, narrates the sections, which feature often-fearsome creatures, including Creepy Crawlers; Viperous Villains, such as Medusa; the Unsightly Undead, such as vampires and zombies; and Awful Aberrations, which include Chuuls (“lobster-like beasts that rise from the shallows of the waters to attack”). Zendric also address the suggested protections, weapons, and strategies to be used with each of the creatures. Zendric’s amusing side commentary enhances the text, and the colorful, richly detailed illustrations, including creature lairs, show up well against the parchmentlike background. Though youths familiar with the series may connect most with this book, Dungeons and Dragons, fantasy, and monster fans will enjoy the vivid, fantasy artwork and monster factoids, compiled in a format that invites browsing and scrutiny. Grades 4-7. --Shelle Rosenfeld

Product Description
The sequel to The New York Times best-selling A Practical Guide to Dragons

How do you trick a troll? Do vampires sleep? Why worry about yuan-ti? Just in time for Halloween, this lavishly illustrated guide showcases the spooky, unexpected, and always fascinating world of monsters!

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 80 pages
• Publisher: Mirrorstone (August 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786948094
• ISBN-13: 978-0786948093
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #40,153 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ENJOYABLE TEXT WITH BEAUTIFUL ILLUSTRATONS, October 16, 2007

By	Tim Janson (Michigan) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

Once upon a time, nearly thirty years ago a book called the Monster Manual was published by a company called TSR and legions of Dungeons & Dragons fans were pleased. Now we fast forward to 2007 and Wizards of the Coast publishing imprint, Mirrorstone, has released a Practical Guide to Monsters, sort of a Monster Manual Light although it isn't a role-playing game book. What it is a guide to all types of legendary creatures, good and evil (mostly evil) that has its roots firmly in the old D&D lore. The book is really a companion to Mirrorsone's line of juvenile and young adult fiction series of Dungeons & Dragons books such as the Knights of the Silver Dragon series. And while I haven't been a "young adult" in many a year, I've read several of these books and really enjoyed them. They're light, quicker, and action-oriented and don't have the pretensions that a lot of adult fantasy fiction has.

The book is sectioned by type of monsters: Creepy Crawler, Flying Fiends, Viperous Villains, Sneaky Shapeshifters, Gruesome Goblinoids, Mammoth Monsters, Unsightly Undead, Outworldly Outsiders, and Awful Aberrations. Fans of Dungeons & Dragons will recognize all of these monsters, some of which will not be common to many people. There's the terrible Bulette which bursts forth from underground to grab its prey. The Yuan-Ti is a race of half human and half snake creatures which are all evil. The Behir is a dragon-like creature that has a dozen legs and can breath out lightning bolts!

The Goblinoid section introduces us to goblins, Hobgoblins and Bugbears, while the mammoth monsters section covers Trolls, Giants, Ettins, and Ogres. Each listing provides a table of that monsters characteristics including their height, weight, habitat, society, diet, language, attack methods, and best defense. Find out the difference between a ghoul and a zombie, or between a Frost Giant and a Fire Giant. Along the way there are little notes on the pages written by the mage Zendric (One of the main characters in the Knights of the Silver series) recording his own remarks and observations. The illustrations in the book are simply gorgeous and produced by the same artists who do the work on the other Mirrorstone books.

This is a book that kids will really love. Who doesn't like monsters? But I think even old-time fans of D&D will enjoy looking through its pages to remind them of RPG days gone by. A lot of Fun! Look for the companion book, A Practical Guide to Dragons.

REVIEWED BY TIM JANSON

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for Fantasy Lovers!, September 18, 2007

By	M. Halpern-Cordell (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A Practical Guide to Monsters is a creative, fun and thorough guide to "real" monsters. The illustrations are gorgeous, and at times appropriately frightening. Kids of all ages will pour through the pages, exploring the story-like descriptions of each monster and gobbling up the important facts. I particularly like the details in this book, which include the drawings of lairs and the very descriptive notes that pop up on each page. A Practical Guide to Monsters makes a perfect gift and will be loved by young children who are monster curious to older teens who delve into role-playing. Whoever the reader, A Practical Guide to Monsters will be well-loved.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A practical guide to crunch without numbers, January 22, 2008

By	Dhampir "gamer geek" (frozen wastes, nd) - See all my reviews

So I lucked out yesterday and found a copy of this at a local big box store. I was quite surprised as normally, books like this don't appear there. So I grabbed it. I knew beforehand that this was not a normal D&D book. It didn't have stat blocks, detailed sections on ability, powers or tactics of the creatures inside it.

What it does have is tons of in character ways of explaining powers, abilty and tactics of the various monsters inside. I thought it was best used as a manual a character could purchase from a wizard or guild to provide them info that they could actually get. Crafty DMs should then be able to convert it over to some kind of knowledge boosting bonus dependant on the type of creature. It's full of tons of flavor text and basics that would work perfectly for lower level adventurers, especially if the players are not old hard vets of the game.

The illustrations inside are a lot of reprints from the Monster Manual, but when there is something new, it's well done. It's fits with a good introductory to monsters and even if it is made for kids or young readers, it fits for the older readers to.