The Big Monster Snorey Book

Snoozing monsters, their eyes closed and ribbons of zzzzs trailing from their mouths, lounge across the pages of this quirky book. Wearing bulbous headphones and carrying a recorder and microphone, a tiny green monster tiptoes around, introducing each behemoth and recording their nighttime noises. "Tony's toes tippy-tap while he dreams," says the little creature, who is about as big as one of those toes. Fiona, who has five long and tangled legs, "flips and flops until she's all in knots." Only when the grinning beasts awaken and "look for some little monsters to eat" does the visitor's stealthy behavior start to make sense. He turns his audio equipment to maximum volume, broadcasting their scary snores. They tumble away%E2%80%94their anxious poses recalling Sendak's wild things%E2%80%94and leave the small one snug in his underground home. Working in digital media, Hodgkinson (Troll Swap) creates patchwork, multicolored monsters, textured with stubble, scribbles, and dots. They aren't too scary, though imaginative readers may still be glad they are asleep at first. Despite all the snoozing and snoring, it's less a bedtime story than one of a sneaky, well-executed plan. Ages 3%E2%80%937. (July)