THREE NASTY GNARLIES

The author of Frank Was a Monster Who Wanted to Dance (1999) and other grotesqueries proposes that beauty is in the eye of the beholder—funky though that beauty may be. Dwelling amid mounds and puddles of sloppy garbage done up in typically oogy colors, three grimacing, pop-eyed, happy-go-lucky creatures resembling mutant roaches are cast into gloom when Snooty Judy Butterfly criticizes their looks. Following her lead, they cocoon themselves in various substances and wait for miraculous transformations—in vain, natch. But their disappointment is short-lived; with quickly restored senses of self, they caper off, singing, “We’re the Nasty Gnarlies. / We’re dirty and we reek! / We’re gloopy-gloppy-glamorous. / We’re positively chic.” Graves casts the entire episode in verse, inviting readers to bellow out the lyrics to an operatic musical arrangement. A yucky, mucky crowd-pleaser. (Picture book. 6-9)