Monsters Love Colors

Austin’s (Countdown with Milo and Mouse) monsters—fuzzy, shapeless blobs with googly eyes and big smiles—look a lot like Muppets, and they’re similarly loud and boisterous. They’re equipped with crayons and paint, and they eagerly describe what they’re doing (“Scribble! Scribble! Drip! Splash! Dribble!”). After messy opening scenes involving crayon-scrawling and paint-splashing, three primary-colored monsters announce their favorite colors (their own, of course). “Red is the color of roar! and snore! and more! more! more!” yells the red monster; the blue one gets so carried away, he starts to eat his favorite crayon. Next, the three give some smaller, gray monsters colors of their own. “What new favorite color can we make for you?” they ask. “Orange!” shouts one gray monster. The red and yellow monsters scribble frantically all over the gray monster (“Scribble, scribble, mix, dance, and wiggle! Mixing red and yellow makes orange!”), who emerges orange. Despite the friendly chaos, the pages retain a crisp, commercial look, with a glossy finish and mixed-media images that pop against backdrops of white. Whether children retain the ideas of color mixing, they’ll be thoroughly entertained. Ages 4–8. (Feb.)