Bernard Brett’s Monsters (1976) is a good example of what to expect from a monster book of the period that is aimed at juvenile readers. It’s a bit of a hodge-podge, including dinosaurs, cryptids and monster from film and literature, in part because those types of monsters hadn’t yet entirely broken off to form their own monster sub-genres yet (by the mid-’80s, all of them would regularly support their own books; nowadays, it is perhaps weird to think of dinosaurs and cryptids as monsters at all).

The real draw for me is Brett’s art (presuming it’s Brett’s: it’s stylistically similar to some fine art credited to the same name, so I feel comfortable assuming); the best monster books do double duty as art books, and this one is no exception. Brett is working with some sort of block printing that gives the impression of being cut with great speed, imbuing the imagery with urgent motion and expressionism. It’s almost sloppy, in a way, but unique and gritty and engrossing and not at all concerned with realism. I’m reminded a bit of Barbara Ninde-Byfield’s illustrations for The Glass Harmonica. 

Also, considering this is a British-made book, I was surprised to see the Jersey Devil included as “The Leeds Monster.” Mark of high quality, that.

Also, also, this book might be the same as Brett’s A Young Persons Guide to Monsters — I’ve been unable to get a copy, but do let me know if you have one and that is the case!