The Monster at the End of this Book by Jon Stone has consistently been named as one of the most beloved Golden Books of all time. Generations of kids have interacted with lovable, furry old Grover as he begs the reader not to turn the page… for a monster is at the end of the book! However, parent impersonations of Sesame Street’s Grover have been mixed.
Which brings us to Story Vision, a new concept in book publishing which abjugates parental responsibility for funny voices by providing a read-along DVD.
In some ways it’s just a more advanced version of the Tinkerbell book and LP I had as a kid, with a little bell reminding me to turn the page.
But DVD is a different medium to records and CDs. The Story Vision DVD version of The Monster at the End of this Book can be played in two modes – the first by letting Grover turn the page automatically on the screen, “reading” the book, and the second by operating simple on-screen arrows to manually turn the pages in the child’s own time. It’s probably best appreciated by young readers (say 4-8) who can identify words as Grover says them. A demonstration in front of a classroom of 7-year olds proved popular, my 18 month toddler lasted about halfway through the book.
The animation and voiceover is beautifully done, and really bring the already action-packed book to life. Publisher Hinkler Books has more titles planned for this format, but The Monster at the End of this Book is a great place to start: a loveable character with a silly voice, a story with lots of sound and movement as Grover tries everything to stop the reader getting to the end and a nice take home message, that often the thing you are looking for is right in front of your eyes. The animation takes Michael Smollin’s original illustrations and retains the quirky, shaggy style with great success.
Still, you have to wonder how necessary these kind of products really are. There is nothing wrong with a good ol’ paper book, and kids have been learning to read without multimedia learning aides for centuries.
As the DVD is so darned entertaining I can see some kids bypassing the actual paper book (you get both) and just hitting ‘play’ on the remote.
Still, at $14.95, it’s not a big investment to try it out in your home. What’s that parenting mantra again? Everything in moderation.
Story Vision: The Monster At The End Of This Book is available from Borders, Myer, Big W, QBD and all good bookshops and newsagents.
IMHO this is just wrong, and pretty lazy. If you want your kids to enjoy a book as much as you did as a child you need to present it the same way it was presented to you. Shouldn’t this be in the “Bad Parent” section instead of “Reviews”?
My son received this book / DVD for his birthday last weekend. It is an excellent product which he loves. It is entertaining, informative and does help children idenitfy words and learn sounds. I am a mum who endorses everything in moderation and while we don’t have DVD’s on very often at all in our home, it is certainly nice to have one that has an element of education to it. BTW I also still cuddle up with my little boy and read to him EVERY night before bed, so I hardly consider it lazy parenting to let your child watch a book come alive on screen once in a while. This will be great for our car DVD player on the long car trip to Grandma’s.
My daughter received this book for Christmas and she just adores it. She will grab the book and take it to her father or myself to read it, we do that 9 times out of 10 and then the other times we let Grover tell her the story on the DVD so she can hear Grover’s funny voice (not just my really bad impression) and see all the funny things he does. We had a teething tantrum at 3am last night and it was my saviour, that book was all she wanted and we cuddled up together, read the book and watched the DVD and it made her happy. Bad parenting comes from having a closed mind and no variety.
If your child has physical disabilities that prevent them from turning pages, this technology is a godsend. It can be hooked up to a switch that allows the child to ‘turn’ the computer pages. WOW. Usually we pay astronomical prices for adaptive technology. At last something affordable.