Thach, James Otis 1969-

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Thach, James Otis 1969-

Personal

Born November 1, 1969. Education: Attended Pomona College and California State University, Northridge.

Addresses

Home—Los Angeles, CA. E-mail—james@jamesthach.com.

Career

Author. Co-owner of tutoring company; has also worked in the entertainment industry.

Writings

A Child's Guide to Common Household Monsters, illustrated by David Udovic, Front Street (Asheville, NC), 2007.

The Tickle Monster Is Coming!, illustrated by David Barneda, Bloomsbury (New York, NY), 2008.

The Seal Pup, 2010.

Sidelights

A Child's Guide to Common Household Monsters is the debut picture book of James Otis Thach, a writer and owner of a tutoring company based in Los Angeles, California. A work told in verse, A Child's Guide to Common Household Monsters examines a common childhood fear: the creepy creatures that lurk in the shadows of one's home. As a young girl and her pet cat investigate a series of strange noises at night, they find a host of odd-looking beings living under the bed, inside the closet, and behind the washing machine. To her great surprise, however, the girl learns that the monsters are quite harmless; in fact, they are actually a bit comical and have fears of their own. "The reversal is both reassuring and deliciously creepy," noted Hazel Rochman in a Booklist review of Thach's picture-book debut. The story's "rhyming text flows smoothly as it follows the girl and her cat from room to room," wrote a contributor in Kirkus Reviews, while in School Library Journal Mary Hazelton dubbed A Child's Guide to Common Household Monsters "a terrific way to begin talking about nighttime fears with children."

Thach writes about another not-so-ominous creature in The Tickle Monster Is Coming! This time his story cen-

ters on a youngster who awaits an attack from the nocturnal Tickle Monster. According to a Kirkus Reviews critic, "there's just enough tame scariness here to thrill very little ones" who enjoy a bedtime tale.

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, August, 2007, review of A Child's Guide to Common Household Monsters, p. 81.

Kirkus Reviews, July 15, 2007, review of A Child's Guide to Common Household Monsters; August 1, 2008, review of The Tickle Monster Is Coming!

School Library Journal, August, 2007, Mary Hazelton, review of A Child's Guide to Common Household Monsters, p. 94; October, 2008, Linda Ludke, review of The Tickle Monster Is Coming!, p. 126.