AFTER-SCHOOL MONSTER
by Marissa Moss & illustrated by Marissa Moss
When Luisa gets home, there's a monster waiting—huge, toothy, and spouting rhymed threats (``I'm going to crunch, to munch, to eat you for my lunch!''). Luisa is truly scared—but also courageous and resourceful. Confronting the monster first with ``the rules,'' then with her own inner strength, and finally with a neat reversal (``You have your monster, and I'm it!''), Luisa dumps him into the garbage and gets her homework done before Mom gets home. A useful extension of a frequent bedtime theme, illustrated with appropriate assertiveness and humor. (Picture book. 4-8)