MONSTER MISCHIEF

Yum! Spotted frog, hairy spider, lizard, bat—if not the stuff dreams are made on, then certainly the (un)savory contents of a Halloween monster stew! In this cute holiday rhyming story, four monsters gleefully contribute these morsels—still alive, by the way, and squirming in their garbage-can cooking pot—to what they expect will be a grand and festive treat. Enter Little Moe, a fifth monster who accidentally tips the cauldron over. Exit, in a big hurry, the writhing, slithering ingredients. What a monstrous predicament. Moe is most unhappy. Suddenly, another monster appears bearing—can you guess?—candy galore, and Halloween is saved. Jane’s rhymes flow and read well, and the tale will appeal at holiday story times, but it’s Rosenberry’s (Who’s in the Garden, p. 337, etc.) colorful, goofy monsters that are the most expressive, as are the erstwhile stew ingredients. Yum. (Picture book. 3-7)