The Boy in the Drawer by Robert Munsch

My son loves Robert Munsch and when asked, that is who he says is his favorite author. He has been reading quite a few recently and one of those that he read was The Boy in the Drawer.

This book is about a girl named Shelley who finds a small boy in her sock drawer. He's made a mess of things, throwing socks all about, and then painting her windows, and then trying to take a bath in kitchen appliances and running the water. Shelley tells the boy to stop and the go away and beat it and with each angry request he gets a little bit bigger. Then Shelley has an idea and she does something different. Her parents follow along and they are able to work together and in fact make the troublemaker boy shrink away. But, who will clean up the mess he made?

The book has a few sentences on each page. My son loved having these types of books read to him as a preschooler and now, as a first grader, likes being able to read them on his own. I'd guess the book is aimed at children 5-8 years old as the story may be a little complex for younger readers. The story is an interesting one in that is shows sometimes the best approach to something you don't like and how to solve your problems isn't always the one you come to first.

The illustrations are by Michael Martchenko and are done in watercolor. I liked them and there are fun things to notice. One shows Shelley reading a book (another by Munsch). And the little boy doesn't wear any clothes, just a hat and boots and a towel after his bath which makes Shelley giggle, but young readers as well. Plus you may notice something weird in the water and then on the last page realize what it is. I thought that part was funny too. There is plenty to see in the illustrations.

Overall this is another fun Munsch/Martchenko collaboration. The story is interesting and lends itself to some silly scenes though not as humorous as their other endeavors. I liked the ending and my son liked the book as well.

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