The Boy In the Drawer

I was really excited to read this book, but am sad to say I wasn’t really impressed with this book. The title and the illustrations made me thing I would really be hooked on this book, but I wasn’t. The plot was very predictable and simple. Don’t get me wrong, the story was cute but it was very dry and to the point in my opinion. I wish more imagery or descriptive language would have been included to really draw the readers attention. For example, when Shelley finds her room a mess after the boy in the drawer threw socks everywhere, she runs down stairs to tell her mom. All her mom says is to clean it up. I understand the point is to show that her mom doesn’t believe her, but I feel like the author could have added more suspense show more or exaggeration. The title of the book give the author a lot of space to be imaginative, but I just didn’t get that from this book. show less

The story has all the trademarks of a Munsch tale: silly story, cartoony illustrations, spunky kid characters. In this one, Shelley hears suspicious noises and investigates, only to discover a tiny boy hiding in various places throughout the house. Unfortunately, he is always making a mess; even more unfortunately, her parents keep blaming her for the problem. While I enjoy reading Munsch's work, because the silliness is appealing to adults and children, this one wasn't as interesting to me as some of his other work can be. Most of his stories have a moral that can be taught, as well, and this one is a little more difficult to discern. Something along the lines of - kids like to blame their bad behavior on others, but if you love on show more them, instead of punishing them, you can turn that attitude around? Hmm ... seems a bit of a stretch. Either way, it's a cute story that my daughter and I like, even if it is not up to the standards of some of his other stories (The Paper Bag Princess or Angela's Airplane, for instance). show less

I was intrigued by the title and the cover, but the story didn't intice or amuse me as I'd hoped.

Shelly finds her room a mess, her socks are all over the room. Then she hears something in her sock drawer. It is a little boy who tells her to be quite. Her parents don't believe her and she has to clean up all of his messes until he appears in the middle of the table.

Shelley walks into her room and finds it a mess. She tells her mother and is told to clean it up. She finds a boy reading a book in her sock drawer. She keeps finding messes in other places and her mother keeps telling her to clean it up. The small boy is responsible for the messes. Every time she yells at him he gets bigger. He is flooding the kitchen by taking a bath in the bread box. When she yells at him to get out he grows larger and sits in the middle of the table. Shelley finally figures out how to get rid of him.