The Max and Annie children's book series and website is celebrating 12 years of providing children with high quality stories starring a group of lively springers: the original Max and Annie, the rescued Trini, as well as the current brother combination, Tak and Ollie. Although Max, Annie and Trini have passed on, their stories continue to delight young readers. Further, Tak and Ollie have stepped up to follow in the tradition of making children laugh while gently teaching some life lessons.

Create Your Own Monster

Materials: pencil, drawing paper, eraser, crayons, colored pencils, markers

Instructions: Read Ollie's Monsters and pay attention to how Ollie describes some of the monsters he encounters in the house, yard and schools he visits. After you've read the story, pick an everyday object not mentioned in the book, and turn it into a monster! Describe the monster and then draw it. For example you might use the blender or the lawnmower. Use as many descriptive words as possible when you are writing