The Monster’s Ring

Bruce Coville's The Monster's Ring is a funny Halloween fantasy for 10 year olds about a boy who's sick of being picked on and a ring that turns him into a monster.

What happens

Russell Crannaker is quiet, mad about monsters and living in fear of a boy called Eddie. Eddie's bigger and louder, and he's already squashed a cupcake into Russell's face today.

Running away from him, Russell gets lost in a town that's far too small to get lost in. At the end of a foggy street is a magic shop he's never seen before. The very old man who runs it takes his lunch money and hands him a box with a cheap ring inside, a green monster's face carved on the top.

Russell's sure it's a con. He tries it anyway, alone in his bedroom, with one twist and the rhyme from the instructions.

It works. Horns, fur, claws, the lot! Off he goes through the window, and by morning he's remembering chasing cars up the main street on all fours.

One turn gives you horns and hair, two gives you fangs, and nobody has ever dared try three. (Russell only reads that bit the morning after.) Then Eddie gets him again, on the day of the class Halloween party, and this time Russell gives the ring two turns.

Everybody thinks it's the best costume they've ever seen. The trouble is that the monster has ideas of its own. It snaps at the head teacher and it very much wants to get Eddie.

It's a fast, jokey read with real feelings underneath. Russell is scared of Eddie, and scared of how angry he gets too. Your reader will probably cheer when he finally answers back. They might squirm a bit as well, when he finds he likes the snarling (more than he should).

Home is funny too. Dad talks and talks and never listens, until Russell shouts at him in the car. What follows between the two of them is really sweet.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

Eddie's bullying is physical and it's all on the page. He punches Russell, pushes his face into the grass and leaves him in tears. If your child is having a hard time with someone at school, that could feel a bit close to home. Or they might love seeing quiet Russell stand his ground.

What to read next

This is the first of the Magic Shop books, and the shop is open again in Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher. This time it's Jeremy running from the bullies, and the same old man, with the same owl on the till, sells him a dragon's egg for a quarter.