The Wanting Monster
The Wanting Monster
Written by Martine Murray
Illustrated by Anna Read
From award-winning author Martine Murray (dubbed Australia's Kate DiCamillo) and painter Anna Read comes a timeless and timely tale about the monstrousness of envy, and every creature's—even a monster's—need for love.
It starts with a whisper in your ear. A prickly feeling that something isn't quite right. And it builds until a sneaky, possessive thought wriggles into your mind, and an insidious want burrows into your heart. Before you know it, you're discontent, convinced that you're owed more than what you've got. This is the work of the Wanting Monster.
One day, the Wanting Monster arrives in a small village, but no one notices him, despite his antics. Feeling snubbed, he starts sowing discontent and envy of one's neighbor. So infectious is the wanting and greed awakened by the Wanting Monster that even the stars are plucked, one by one, from the sky. Covetousness and distrust reign. Will the village people ever return to their senses? Will they ever learn that it's the monster of wanting that's been poisoning their minds? The Wanting Monster almost triumphs . . . fortunately, he is finally seen for what he is, and this recognition unleashes the purifying force of collective lamentation and a coming together to reroot and rebuild.
ISBN: 978-1-59270-419-4 • 8” (W) x 11.5” (H) • 76 pages • HCJ
REVIEWS
"Very poetic and deep... The ideas afoot in this book are great." —Betsy Bird, A Fuse #8 Production (A School Library Journal blog)
"An almost unbearably wonderful modern fable about who we would be and what this world would be like if we finally arrived, exhausted and relieved, at the still point of enough. Having always felt that great children’s books are works of philosophy in disguise, speaking great truth in the language of tenderness, I hold this one among my all-time favorites." —Maria Popova, The Marginalian
"This fable teases out the difference between wants and needs and illustrates how excessive desire can lead to heartache. Read’s folkloric art has an ominous quality to it, with skies filled with gray, purple, and black swirls evoking the current climate disaster... An atmospheric musing on the perils of avarice." —Kirkus Reviews
“Dreamlike illustrations track this fable about the dangers of envy… Even the stars in the sky fall prey to the Wanting Monster—until a compassionate child reminds the villagers of their responsibility to one another and the world.” —Foreword Reviews