MONSTER MESS!

A cheerily skewed take on the familiar monster-under-the-bed schtick. While the family is nestled all snug in their beds, a clumsy monster creeps around the house. With a head like a frog (including a dangling tongue), an impossibly long tail that curls at the end like a cinnamon bun, funny fins and countless legs ending in red feet that resemble hands, the monster looks designed by a committee. “Shhh, shhh, along the floor I crawl. / Zzzz, zzzz, there’s someone down the hall.” The rhythmic, minimal verse charts his slow progress through the house to his boy pal’s bedroom, which he helpfully cleans, stuffing everything into the closet and spritzing air freshener about. An alarm wakens the boy, and it’s playtime with the monster! Schindler’s quirky and colorful watercolors play with perspective, abetted by a text that dances around the pages in different paths and sizes. Simple but sublime, best suited to the very young. (Picture book. 3-6)