THE MONSTER SQUAD

Junior Monster Scouts to the rescue!

Monster pals Franky Stein, Vampyra, and Wolfy are out practicing howling—well, Wolfy is practicing for his merit badge as the others coach him—when they hear someone crying. It’s Peter the piper, a human child who has lost his kitten, Shadow. After the monsters convince Peter that they are nice, helpful monsters and not scary ones, the four head into the Gloomy Woods and work together to find and rescue Shadow. Meanwhile, the mean, rotten Baron Von Grump and his crow, Edgar, have hatched a plan to clear the nearby village of noisy, happy, gum-chewing villagers and put a stop to their cheese festival. (It involves rats.) Can the Junior Monster Scouts and their new friend foil Baron Von Grump’s dastardly plan and convince all the villagers that the calumny that monsters are bad and scary is just propaganda? With this title, McGee kicks off a new series of monster-positive early chapter books, releasing it simultaneously with Book 2, Crash! Bang! Boo! both amiably illustrated by Long with his signature cartoons in black and white. Repetitive language and short chapters married with a positive can-do attitude make this a good choice for little monsters just jumping the gap from easy readers to chapters. Excerpts from the Junior Monster Scout manual and an extensive author’s acknowledgments appear at the close. Characters (other than monsters) appear white.

Readers who like to cuddle up to their monsters will respond to this one.