Chester's Masterpiece

In troublemaking Chester's third outing, he again hijacks the narrative, blithely wielding a red marker as he creates his own story (at the expense of Watt and a much-abused mouse). The usurped author converses with Chester via sticky notes, attempting to coax him into relinquishing control (“C'mon! You can't copy bits and pieces of another story! REAL authors come up with their own ideas!!”). But sassy Chester is determined to do things his way. The clever concept still works, and the warring banter will have readers eagerly flipping the pages, up to the laugh-out-loud conclusion. Ages 4–8. (Mar.)