BYE-BYE, BIG BAD BULLYBUG!

In a return to the concept that produced the brilliant Go Away Big Green Monster (1993), Emberley offers a new character to stand up to. Once again, a series of die-cut pages are the main feature (even the cover cuts away to reveal the title). Lightning bugs fearfully herald the arrival of the menacing monster in a round spaceship in the dark of night. The background of all the book’s pages are a deep blue, and the minimal figures are in simple shapes, mostly circles and half-circles. As anticipation grows, die-cut pages reveal more and more of the beast, who declares his menacing intentions in bold orange text: “I have two nasty pinchers for pinching itty-bitty baby bugs,” etc. But here it is not the lightning bugs who save themselves, but a big powder-blue sneaker, spanning two pages whose page-turn does to the bullybug what most sneakers do: “SKWOOSH!” The building of suspense should appeal to very young listeners, who also might be attracted to the accessibility of the minimal text and who will welcome a new Monster to the neighborhood. (Picture book. 2-5)