School Library Journal Starred Review (Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2020)

K-Gr 3 In this tale, Bo's brothers set off to capture a monster and refuse to let her join them, saying that she is "far too little." Bo is feisty and will not be sidelined so heads off on her own to look for the monster. She first meets a griffin, who is too helpful to be a monster. They join forces and come upon an octopus-like creature named Kraken. But Kraken is just too nice to be a monster. This band of seekers hear terrible roars and find a crying dragon whose baby was stolen. She fears that her baby is being held in a nearby castle engulfed in flames. Ultimately, Bo finds her brothers there and convinces them to release the baby dragon. Bo learns not to judge these kinds of creatures based on their appearance; she needs to look closer to find out who they really are. Woollvin's art uses bold shades of fuchsia and teal. VERDICT This is a great book to delve into what heroes are made of. Highly recommended for elementary libraries. Joan Kindig, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA

ALA Booklist (Sat Feb 01 00:00:00 CST 2020)

All Bo wants is to go monster hunting with her brothers, but after they leave her behind in the castle ou're far too little" e decides to venture forth on her own. Bo's trek leads her to a griffin, a kraken, and a dragon, but the alleged monsters show that they're simply misunderstood. When the distraught dragon reveals that its baby was stolen, Bo joins her new friends on a rescue mission, which leads them back to her monstrous brothers. In her first original tale, author-illustrator Woollvin (Little Red, 2016) offers an Arthurian adventure for the picture-book crowd. Between the magnificent endpapers, which feature a map of Bo's alpine kingdom, readers will experience a world of mountains, forests, and mythical beasts. As always, Woollvin wields a simple yet stunning color palette, this time utilizing oranges, pinks, and teals to illuminate her gouache landscapes. Bo herself is a headstrong heroine, bearing a bow, net, sword, and, most important, confidence, that young readers will enjoy. A fun and colorful gateway into the world of medieval fantasy.

Horn Book

When Bo's two older brothers, Erik and Ivan, set off from the castle on a quest to hunt a monster, they refuse to allow her to join, sneering that she's too little. So, Bo goes on her own monster-hunting quest. One by one she encounters strange creatures -- a griffin, a kraken, and a dragon -- who look like monsters but are gentle and helpful. The griffin offers to help Bo find her way; the kraken saves her from drowning; and although the dragon roars, it is because she is crying for her missing baby. The dragon, like the kraken and griffin, "is far too caring to be a monster," Bo concludes. When Bo learns that her brothers have captured and imprisoned the baby dragon, she realizes that even if they "didn't look or smell or sound like monsters...they were certainly acting like monsters!" Gouache illustrations combine striking pinks, greens, and oranges as they depict initially frightening but soon appealing creatures in this winning alternative to the traditional monster-slaying adventure story. Julie Hakim Azzam

Kirkus Reviews

A little sister follows her two older brothers out into the big world of monster-hunting.Bo lives with Erik and Ivar in a castle. The boys, lofty hunters setting out to catch an unspecified monster, scoff at Bo's request to come along. Undeterred, she sneaks out of the castle after they're gone "to catch a monster of her own." She encounters a series of creatures—griffin, kraken, dragon—each of which she initially assumes is a monster but realizes is not. Bo learns quickly that the unfamiliar creatures (one of whom is a parent and therefore explicitly adult) not only are not monsters, but are so harmless that she can let them literally carry her. Being polite, offering directions, or needing a child's help are the signals that immediately prove their trustworthiness, which may horrify safety-minded adults thinking about stranger danger. Child readers won't care, but nor will they find vigor in Bo's tale. The prose is tepid: "These creatures are helpful and nice and caring. We shouldn't be hunting them!" The illustrations, done in gray, pink, teal, and dull orange, have a flattened perspective that gives this "land of mountains and forests" a compressed, two-dimensional sameness to each spread. Limited palettes are sometimes gems, but this one—lacking saturation changes or compositional zest—only continues the sameness as pages turn. Football-shaped eyes barely vary with expression; the humans are white as paper.Here be no dragons. (Picture book. 3-6)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

When Bo wants to accompany her older brothers on a monster hunt, they sneer: -You-re far too little.- But thick-skinned Bo remains undeterred. -I-m smart and brave and strong!- she thinks before setting out on her own quest. It-s not long before she encounters a griffin and then a three-eyed kraken (-Get ready to be got!-), but though both seem like monsters, their acts of kindness persuade her otherwise. At last, a cave-dwelling dragon, introduced with a page-filling roar, looks, smells, and sounds like the monster Bo has been seeking, but its cry is one of grief: the dragon-s baby has been stolen. With a loud cry of her own, Bo leads her new friends on a rescue mission that brings the story full circle. Working in gouache, Woollvin (Little Red) relies on a palette of pink, teal, gray, and orange to create a setting both modern and medieval. Bo, with her face-filling eyes, resembles Woollvin-s other fearless female protagonists; together, they seem to be rewriting the rules one fairy tale at a time. Ages 5-9. Agent: Paul Moreton, Bell Lomax Moreton Literary. (Apr.)