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| From
the September/October 2008 issue of The Horn Book Magazine Stories Out
of School
Nobody really knows where Book Monsters come from. Archaeologists say they were made in ancient times, when people first started reading and writing using clay tablets. That makes sense, because our own monster only ever moved when someone was reading a book nearby. It would do anything to hear a good story. For example, going to school was no longer a problem. The Book Monster arrived at each front lawn in the morning; we kids would climb onto its back, take out our library books, and start reading. Straightaway we would hear a whirring pulse deep in its belly, then the clack-clack-clacking of its tongue, like castanets; the big eyes would spring open, the horns would belch fireworks. Depending on how good our books were, we could easily clock speeds of fifty miles per hour, leaping effortlessly over cars, power lines, and excitable dogs. We always took the longest routes to school and never failed to arrive on time. These days, our suburb is much larger, the roads are more complicated, and local government prefers a more sensible public transport system with accurate timetables and fare management. Consequently, our Book Monster has long since retired underground, peacefully asleep in some unknown place, maybe waiting to hear a good story. Then again, maybe not. Who can say? What's really interesting is that we all still read books on trains and buses, so deeply engrossed in each story that you might easily believe reading is the very fuel that keeps us moving from point to point. I guess it's hard to break the habit, because we all have such fond memories of a time when riding a prehistoric book-powered monster to school was the only way to go.
Art © 2008 by Shaun Tan
From the September/October 2008 issue of The Horn Book Magazine |
grew up in a suburb without any kind of public transport whatsoever.
As you can imagine, getting around was quite difficult if you didn't
drive a car — a problem acutely felt by us children. One day,
however, some municipal workers, digging trenches for underground
cables, struck what seemed to be a giant rock. Rumor spread quickly
that a Book Monster had been found, and suddenly everyone in our
neighborhood was helping to excavate this wonderful creature, using
small spades and brushes, careful not to damage its colorfully painted
ceramic body. 
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