I LOVE YOU, LITTLE MONSTER

A mother shines a sunny light on her babe's rambunctious behavior.

She highlights her “little monster's” admirable qualities even as her toddler rampages through their home with boundless energy. “You have caverns to explore and lofty mountains to climb,” she says indulgently as he poses atop the upside-down laundry basket, clothes strewn about. The relaxed mama's parenting style, expressed in structured, rhythmic rhymes, is unfalteringly laidback, even when her little one smears oatmeal on the wall. “Who's my HUNGRY little monster, / Little Monster, monster mine? / Such an artist with your food! / Your oatmeal paintings are so fine.” Thin black lines outline details on the white background; only "the monster" and his monster toy are colored in. There's a little adult irony; the exhausted parents protect themselves with pillows as their tot jumps on their bed. With polka-dot wings, flippers, a scarf tail and antennae, he is pretty cute.

This rowdy little one is likable enough, but he is no Max, and many parents may think his mother is a lunatic.