Written and Drawn by Henrietta

Starred review from June 22, 2015
As this story-within-a-story begins, Henrietta has just received a new box of colored pencils. She starts right in, drawing and writing a story she calls “The Monster with Three Heads and Two Hats.” In the uproarious, childlike style Liniers (The Big Wet Balloon) uses for Henrietta’s work, the monster’s heads look like three enraged jack-o’-lanterns. “It’s nighttime... Emily’s in bed,” Henrietta imagines, drawing Emily staring with wide-open eyes. “I’m scaring myself...” Henrietta says. Throughout, Liniers documents the way that Henrietta is both the source of her creation and the object of its emotional force; when the monster meets an even larger monster, Henrietta reacts with a yell at what she’s drawn. There’s plenty of laughter, too, as when the monster complains about the size of Emily’s wardrobe: “We’ve been looking for a hat in there for months.” Henrietta explains to her cat, Fellini, “You see, the wardrobe was made in Narnia.” Liniers’s creation brims with the power of invention, and Henrietta’s boldness (and her confidence in her own talent) inspires. A Spanish-language edition is available simultaneously. Ages 5–up.

Starred review from September 1, 2015

Gr 2-4-Henrietta is a young girl who has just received a new box of colored pencils, which she describes as "owning a piece of the rainbow." And that is exactly how this book is illustrated, with bright, thickly applied colors in childlike drawings that reinforce the mood and action of the text. Liniers offers a book within a book; Henrietta is the author and illustrator of a story starring herself. In between panels, Henrietta consults her talking cat Fellini, who offers his sometimes philosophical advice and checks up on Henrietta's writing progress. Her story begins with a secret closet, much like the well known one from the Narnia series. To Emily's surprise, out pops a monster with three heads (but only two hats). The young author and My Favorite (her beloved stuffed animal) embark on a journey through the closet to help her monster friend find another hat, aided by an almost silent mouse who gives excellent directions and helps them escape from a big red monster. At one point, Henrietta is so invested in her artwork and the creation of her story that she scares herself (and perhaps a few sensitive readers as well.) The Spanish language version is just as delightful-perhaps even more humorous. VERDICT This title is sure to be a hit with emerging readers and young fans of graphic/cartoon stories during storytime or independent reading. -Martha Rico, El Paso ISD, TX

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from June 1, 2015
Argentine cartoonist Liniers presents a graphic ode to the pleasures and challenges of composition, starring his recurring character Henrietta, a young bibliophile. The little girl's cat, Fellini, looks on as she writes and illustrates "The Monster with Three Heads and Two Hats." Page by page, she narrates her process, her own story appearing in a childlike, colored-pencil scrawl alongside Liniers' polished panels. "In a good story, there's always something that happens 'suddenly'!" she informs Fellini as a hand emerges from a wardrobe into her protagonist's nighttime bedroom. Henrietta and her creator are kindred spirits, displaying equal knacks for the surreal and the utterly charming. "The wardrobe was made in Narnia," she explains to Fellini as she propels protagonist and monster into it, where they discover an inscrutable mouse, a hat for the monster's bare head, and another monster. Liniers covers the importance of judiciously placed punctuation ("those three little dots really add... / ...SUSPENSE!") and research (a trip to the encyclopedia yields a bonanza of hat styles, all depicted) as well as the excitement of creation: "I'm drawing really fast 'cause I want to see what happens next." If the final joke comes at Henrietta's expense ("let's go look for a publisher," she declares at "THE END"), it does so gently and with collegiality. A Spanish-language edition, Escrito y Dibujado por Enriqueta, publishes simultaneously. This effervescent package opens to reveal plenty of wisdom. (Graphic early reader. 7-9)

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Starred review from September 15, 2015
Grades 1-3 *Starred Review* A framed set of colored pencils opens this latest volume by beloved Argentinian cartoonist Liniers. Symbolic of limitless childhood imagination, the pencils are an image that's warmly inviting, vibrating with giddy promise, and particularly appropriate to the artist's clever story in a spirited, creative, and freewheeling style. Following those pristine pencils is a dual narrative: young Henrietta narrates her creative process alongside the story she creates, the tale of a three-headed monster looking for a third hat, who recruits Henrietta in the search through her labyrinthine wardrobe. Liniers' panels alternate between his nostalgic, clear-lined cartooning and Henrietta's wild, purely imaginative, heavy crayon scrawls in bold primary colors. Henrietta serves as both artist and audience, as she comments on her writing and reacts with over-the-top emotion to the scares in her own plot. It's a charming, funny device that integrates the two stories into a cohesive work and uniquely embraces its audience. More solidly linear than his strip Macanudo, Liniers' playful graphic novel is an ideally accessible alchemy of engaging, energetic storytelling and a fresh artistic perspective. A wonderful choice for both strong early readers and for grown-ups to share with younger children.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

Starred review from November 1, 2015
Henrietta's mom gives her a box of brand-new colored pencils, and she's off, creating a nail-bitingly thrilling story ( The Monster with Three Heads and Two Hats ) about a girl named Emily and the monster who comes out of her wardrobe one night. The monster, though it looks scary, turns out to be friendly ( Good evening little miss! ) and in search of a hat for its third head. Emily joins in the quest, entering her suddenly HUUUUGE, labyrinthine wardrobe and braving a truly terrifying monster ( the monster with one head and three hats! ) before emerging victorious. Liniers works magic here, and not just with the Narnia-like wardrobe. Emily's adventure is drawn with colored pencilsbrightly colored, messy, dramatic scrawls; contrastingly neat, contained panels in pen-and-ink and watercolor show Henrietta drawing the story and commenting on its progress. Liniers paces both elements superbly, keeping the focus on the exciting monster tale but interjecting the quieter panels at just the right moments. This is also a clever explication of the creative process: as she draws, Henrietta sometimes looks at the story objectively from the outside ( Those three little dots really add / SUSPENSE! ); at other times she's swept up in the excitement of her own creation ( I'm drawing really fast 'cause I want to see what happens next ). For emergent readers, this will require some sophistication, with words like chaos and labyrinth and hat-o-logy and even Phrygian; the hand-lettering may also present a challenge. But it's all worth it. A Spanish version, Escrito y dibujado por Enriqueta, is also available. martha v. parravano

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2016
Henrietta's mom gives her colored pencils, and she creates a thrilling story about a girl named Emily and the monster who comes out of her wardrobe. Emily's adventure is drawn with colored pencils--brightly colored, messy, dramatic scrawls; contrastingly neat, contained panels in pen-and-ink and watercolor show Henrietta drawing the story and commenting on its progress. Liniers paces both elements superbly. Concurrently published in Spanish.

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)