Big Foot and Little Foot: The Monster Detector by Ellen Potter, illustrated by Felicita Sala, 128 pp, RL 3

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Big Foot and Little Foot: The Monster Detector 
written by Ellen Potter, illustrated by Felicita Sala
Review Copy from Amulet Books
Story: Hugo, the charming young sasquatch, also known as a squidge, has been collecting the wrappers from Mad Marvin's Monster Cards for three years and has finally saved enough to send away for a monster detector containing five weechie-weechie moths that will make a clicking sound with their wings when a monster is nearby. When Hugo and his friend Gigi begin exploring the extensive caverns their community lives in, they stumble upon a long-forgotten creature that may or may not eat squidges - the Green Whistler. When Boone decides to attend the Academy for Curious Squidges, he gets some resistance from students who don't think humans should be allowed at a school for squidges. Boone makes things worse by sharing his X-treme Creepy Cryptid cards with the other squidges, who are upset by how peace-loving, creative and kind , vegetarian sasquatches are represented as not very intelligent grunters who might eat people. And worse again when a classmate thinks Boone is trying to eat the new class pet, an Arctic Floof that smells like warm biscuits. Hoping to become cryptozoologists someday, Hugo fills Boone in on the Green Whistler and the two head off with the monster detector to see if the Green Whistler is more than a myth.

Illustrations: Again, Sala's illustrations add so much to this marvelous series. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any to share with you here. However, please read my review of Big Foot and Little Foot
 to see illustrations from the first book!

Why Read? Why Buy?: As I said in my review of Book 1, Potter is writing a high quality series of books that is engaging for the hard to serve third grade reading level. To this, she also brings subtle themes of acceptance and empathy. Sasquatches and humans are naturally wary of each other, yet Hugo and Boone overcome this with each other and, as the stories progress, the sasquatch community that has very good reason to be wary of humans.




Big Foot and Little Foot

Coming in 2019!!!



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