My Mama Says There Aren't Any Zombies, Ghosts, Vampires, Creatures, Demons, Monsters, Fiends, Goblins, or Things

The little boy in this story is afraid of monsters. His mother tells him that zombies and ghosts and vampires don't exist. But, sometimes his mom blames him for doing something that his brother did, and sometimes his mom tells him he can carry grocery bags when he can't and drops all the eggs, and sometimes his mom says he can find his crayons but then even she can't find them, so sometimes moms make mistakes. The book alternates between the boy imagining a creepy monster out to get him and his mom telling him that such a creature doesn't exist, and the boy relating a story where his mom makes a mistake. The illustrations are marvelous. The detailed monsters that are quirky and unsettling, but a bit adorable, followed up by scenes of show more domestic life featuring Chorao's spunky children characters and awesome moms. The human characters feel so real, with different moods and feelings, but true love for each other. The story is funny, and as with other Viorst books, it doesn't shy away from the negative emotions of childhood. In this case, her protagonist is dealing with fear and a feeling that his mom isn't perfect. On the other hand, the reader clearly sees that some of the mistakes his mother makes are completely understandable, but the boy doesn't understand with his young perceptions. In the end, he thinks a monster is about to gobble him, but it turns out the monster is only his mom under a blanket. The boy at last acknowledges that sometimes his mom makes mistakes, but sometimes his mom does not. I enjoy this story, and its mildly dark overtones, and I am happy it ends with an affirmation of safety and parental protection. However, it may be too scary for young children. The number of monsters far outweigh the happy moment at the end, and the scary scenarios are true to childhood fears. I am holding off on this one until my daughters are older. show less

This book that uses legitimate questions for the storyline....how can children feel confident with parents answers regarding fears like monsters, when parents are only human and make mistakes? Cute book eith a great ending. We love it!

I loved this story. Nick like most young children has fears of zombies, ghosts and other monsters. Each time he shares a fear, his mother reassures him. He adds in that his mother sometimes gets things wrong, so it would seem he's worried she might be wrong about monsters. The story is delightful and the line drawing pictures are beautiful.

This is an adorable book about a boy who has monsters in his room and his mother never believes him. But his mother always says things that aren't true and they boy catches her on them and says, "So... sometimes even mamas make mistakes". Through the whole book, she never believes him about his monsters until the very end where she is a "monster" wrapped up in a blanket. Great book! Ages 4-8

Well, there could be fewer drawings of a scowling mother, but my kids loved hearing how "even Mamas make mistakes." I thought the photos of vampires, etc. would turn off my monster-fearing son, but: no nightmares, and I've had to read the book at least twice a day since borrowing it from the library.

I rate this book a 4 and a half. I rate it this because I like the simple illustrations and I feel like most of the students could relate to this book in that Mama’s do make mistakes just like do and they might have had a time when they though monsters were under their bed. A personal connection that I had with this book is that I always thought my mom knew all and never made a mistake and once I got older I realized that she is human just like me and sometimes its okay to make mistakes. For content area instruction I would use this to teach for building background knowledge about mythical creatures such as vampires. I could also introduce text features such as onomatopoeia, personification, and other features that they may encounter show more while reading. show less

A little boy is afraid of the monsters and creatures he thinks are everywhere. His mom tries to calm his fears, but he points out all the times she made mistakes. In the end he realizes she might be right because as he says, Sometimes mamas make mistakes. But sometimes they're right.