D is for Drool

July 15, 2021
Why count sheep when an alphabetical array of monsters is queued up to crawl under the bed? Lying wakeful in his moonlit bedroom, the pale-skinned lad from the I Need My Monster series begins with "A...is for Arms." This cues the entry of a multilimbed, popeyed, purple-striped yellow creature at the head of a parade of blobby, slobbery boojums as wildly diverse of shape as they are saturated of hue. It's almost a pity this book is codex bound instead of concertina folded, as careful design finds elements from the right edge of one double-page spread continuing on to the left edge of the next. The green-furred, horned monster on an early spread is revealed to have a long, spiked tail after the turn of the page, for instance, and the substance dripping from the many noses of a blue, finned creature makes quite the trail of bright pink ooze across the following spread. Readers will enjoy flipping back and forth to see the contiguity. Being all smiles and more likely to elicit snorts of amusement than screams of terror, the monstrous marchers crawling, oozing, slithering, or strolling into and out of view with each page turn have the intended soporific effect. As the alphabet progresses, the lines of narrative become more and more...stretched...out...until a final "Y...is...for...Yawn...and...Z......is for..." signal mission accomplished. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A monstrously effective lid-dropper. (Picture book. 3-5)

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