THE GREAT GRRRRR

A determined and short-fused monster unites a package with its recipient.

The Great Grrrrr, a black creature with a head of spikes, hairy ears, and expressive cartoon eyes, drives a delivery truck. He makes several attempts to deliver a small gift, but each time he rings the doorbell of a quiet rural cottage, he gets no response—even after scratching and tapping. It starts to rain, and frustration builds and bubbles into destructive anger until finally the Great Grrrrr crushes the home to pieces. But it turns out that the 99-year-old grandma who owns the home is simply out on an errand, and when she returns, she teaches him a lesson in patience. The spare, black-and-white illustrations, rendered in childlike scrawls, are punctuated with pops of pink for objects such as the cottage, the package, and the grandma’s poncho. With few colors and minimal text, there’s little in this French import to hold kids’ attention on rereads, and the house is nearly always slightly off the page, which may confuse some readers. Adults may dislike the fact that the Great Grrrrr never actually apologizes for destroying the house—though he does make amends by rebuilding it. The grandmother has skin the white of the page. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Gets into the neighborhood of interesting but doesn’t deliver.