Monsters & Creatures presents 33 different types of creatures and monsters from five different types of typical fantasy settings in which an adventurer might find themselves. To liven things up a bit, it also provides four specific "Legendary" one-of-a-kind monsters: Duke Zalto, a particularly dangerous Fire Giant, Count Strahd Von Zarovich, a legendary Vampire of renown in D&D, Tiamat, not merely a Legendary Dragon, but the five-headed Queen of the evil Dragons, and Demogorgon, who has gained quite a bit of notoriety, thanks to the Stranger Things television show.
There are some rather strange and alien specimens among the unique and interesting creatures presented within, such as the odd and communal Myconids, fungus-like humanoids which live underground. Then, there's the Flumphs, which feed on psychic energy and can warn of nearby evil. You'll also find longtime fan favorites, such as the dungeon-dwelling Beholder and the sinister Mind Flayers, as well as Treants and Unicorns, in addition to entire hierarchies of Giants and evil Dragons. Monsters & Creatures serves as a handy not-quite pocket-sized field guide to noteworthy monsters, perfect for young adventurers, hence the series name.
While Monsters & Creatures has beautiful artwork and a few example encounters that can help get the creative juices flowing, it feels like something more geared toward a Dungeon Master than a player. When players plan how they're going to interact with some monster, it's because they have some advanced notice of what lies ahead. In my experience, players don't typically select the monsters they wish to interact with and populate an environment with them; that's what the Dungeon Master does.
As a final note, one problem DMs will sometimes have with players having read D&D books is when players know information their character wouldn't know, for example vital information about certain monsters, and their characters act as if they're aware of info they shouldn't be. This can occasionally lead to some friction, as players with rocks-for-brains barbarians from a desert origin try to explain why their character would just happen to do the one thing in some forest setting that would prevent a monster from killing them, when the character shouldn't know about it. At any rate, while Monsters & Creatures has information about a wide variety of monsters - including what to do and not to do if you encounter them - the very fact that it doesn't reveal any nitty-gritty game mechanic information, such as just how much damage a creature can dish out, might make it a bit more palatable to DMs.
