BEWARE THE SOCK MONKEYS!

Some kids know what—make that who—is responsible for an epidemic of missing socks; if only their dad would believe them!

A father is trying to get his three young kids out the door when he notices that each is wearing only one sock. When he asks them where the missing socks are, the kids have a ready answer: “The Sock Monkeys took them. Beware the SOCK MONKEYS!” Dad isn’t buying it: “There are no such things as Sock Monkeys!” He starts rooting through the house—under the bed, in the toilet, and so on—in hopes of tracking down the missing garments; all the while, the Sock Monkeys are in plain view. Dad is oblivious even to the point of mistaking three Sock Monkeys for his children. Is this story hinting that the Sock Monkeys are products of the kids’ wild fantasies and that imagination is a casualty of adulthood? Maybe, but young readers are more likely to interpret the goings-on as a call for parents to listen to their kids. Either way, the tale guarantees at least a few yuks, especially from a sight gag making use of that picture-book fail-safe: underpants. Fox’s cartoonish digital art centers on a white-presenting, middle-class suburban family (Mom makes a late appearance) infiltrated by duotone, stuffielike Sock Monkeys, who could pass for Teletubbies wearing jaunty sock hats.

A fresh and funny take on the kids-outthink-their-parents story.