El Cucuy and Ramon have a fun relationship, and I enjoyed their quick comraderie and how they immediately care about each other. I had a little trouble getting into the story. The section intruducing the cucuys, their purpose and their culture was an awkward start to the story for me, but once the universe was explained, and the protagonists met, I enjoyed the story much more. More stories about Ramon and El Cucuy should be fun.

El Cucuy is a little monster entering the human world for the first time. His assignment? Terrify his child, Ramón, into behaving. (Everyone knows that cucuys are not allowed to eat humans anymore...). All he wants is to ace his first assignment so that he can return home to be given a real name and a Clump (a monster family of sorts) of his own. Unfortunately, due to a monster shortage, he's not quite as prepared as he should be, and the cucuy becomes more interested in helping his human than scaring him. Can he find a way to do his job and be friends with a human?

Exploring themes of friendship, found family, and helping others, this series opener will appeal to fans of series such as The Notebook of Doom, 13th Street, or Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol. El Cucuy is an entertaining protagonist, even if his hijinks lean more toward the gross than the truly spooky; he's also adorable, as depicted in the two-color illustrations throughout. Despite the lack of scares, young readers will delight in the disgusting details of his adventure in the human world, root for both him and Ramón to resolve their problems, and enjoy learning a bit about Mexican folklore along the way.

A fun look at Mexican monster mythology and el cucuy folklore. This short chapter book is illustrated and not-too-spooky, but in my opinion makes a better read aloud for readers with stamina than a ready-to-read book. The age that this is intended for would not be able to read it independently, but may enjoy listening to a chapter at a time.

This would be good for fans of Monsters Inc. or Aaah Real Monsters.

This is an adorable chapter book that tells about Ramón and El Cucuy. This time, it is told from the POV of El Cucuy, the adorable monster who wants nothing more than a family and love when he is sent to scare Ramón, a young buy who just moved to Seattle from Albuquerque. The two strike an unlikely friendship and realize there is more than just fear to life.

This is an adorable book. While it is the length of a transitional chapter book, the vocabulary and sentence structure are much more advanced than a typical transitional chapter book. In some ways this is great but it may make the book a harder sell to my younger kiddos that are more likely to enjoy this story. I still want to add it to my library and think it is a great fit for elementary school libraries.

Thank you to Net Galley, Abrams Kids, and Amulet Books for the DRC. All opinions are my own.