If You're a Monster and You Know It

This father-daughter team builds on the winning formula of 2009's There Was an Old Monster with a silly spin on another familiar song. In digital illustrations, flamboyant angular monsters—composed of patterned geometric shapes with tentacles, teeth, and horns galore—follow the directives of the lyrics, which open with, "If you're a monster and you know it, snort and growl." The wild-eyed creatures, whose neon hues pop from the black backgrounds, subsequently smack their claws, stomp their paws, twitch their tails, wiggle their warts, and roar—and you can bet kids will be doing the same. A final, foldout spread shows the cast doing all of these things simultaneously. Between the spreads devoted to each verse are closeups of the monsters engaged in each activity, which both creates extra time for audience growling, wiggling, and roaring, and helps stretch the song to 32 pages. Like the previous book, readers can download the song, performed by Adrian Emberley (Rebecca's daughter and Ed's granddaughter), from Scholastic's Web site. This playful read-aloud is sure to energize story time. Ages 3–5. (Sept.)