To a tried-and-true lullaby rhythm that practically sings itself to sleep, a mother monster takes her little monster through a universal bedtime ritual. Well, mostly universal: “Hold still, Little Monster! / Shh! No more tears. / Let me pick all the bugs / off your cute, furry ears.” From howling at the moon through washing up and putting on pajamas to a bedtime snack (followed by toothbrushing), a story and checking under the bed for “scary children,” this mother-and-child pair have a routine most young readers will recognize through the set dressing, which is supplied by Leick in ink-and-watercolor illustrations festooned with bats, spiders, bugs, frogs and so on. The gently sickly palette suits the tale to a T, and it's hard to imagine a cuter little monster, with stubby claws, pointed ears, blunt snout and pudgy belly. (Picture book. 3-5)
