10 Little Monsters Visit New York City by Jess Smiley - OPTIONAL

Smiley, Jess Smart 10 Little Monsters Visit New York City, illustrated by Nathan Hardyman. PICTURE BOOK. Familius LLC, 2016. $16.95. Content: G. 

A group of ten monsters head into New York City for a visit. They see the most famous sites of the city (Central Park, Empire State Building, etc) and along the way, each monster finds somewhere to stop and stay. So though 10 monsters start out together, by the end only 1 monster makes her debut on Broadway. The story is written in rhyme, and each page also features factoids about the particular NYC site in question. 

I feel like this is a book published solely for the purpose of being sold to tourists in New York City. Countdown books are appealing to younger elementary audiences, but the specific nature of this NYC book--along with the factoids--makes it of more interest to an older audience. The book can still be fun for young readers who like the bit about a group of monsters--who all look very different from one another--traveling together, but the specialty bit that puts them in New York City will have no interest to the group most interested in the book, generally. The illustrations are nothing special, and unless you have a niche audience who love New York City there are likely other, better, countdown books you could find. 

Pre-K, EL(K-3)--OPTIONAL. Reviewer: TC