Monster Math

""The house is a wreck and the couch has been frosted./ The food's been devoured and Mother's exhausted."" But what else could be expected when a little red-nosed, green-skinned monster invites 49 of her nearest and dearest monster friends to a birthday party? From start to finish Miranda (To Market, To Market) and Powell (Just Dessert) chronicle the offbeat birthday bash with zany lan, and the math lesson feels like a natural component. Things start normally enough--for a monster party, at least. The first nine monster guests arrive one by one and prove a relatively manageable bunch: Mother, a multi-armed purple mutant with bright orange bouffant and harlequin spectacles, even expertly organizes a sack race for the assembled ghouls. But when more monsters start arriving--in groups of 10, no less--and finally number 50, Mother realizes that the situation is out of hand, and she instigates some major monster subtraction. Within a few pages, the little green birthday monster is left alone, but she's ""grateful and glad./ It's the best birthday party that she's ever had!"" Powell's mega-motley monster crew is a hoot (even very sensitive children will be hard pressed to find one beastie that's genuinely scary), and Miranda once again shows that she has few rivals when it comes to spinning out a story of comic chaos. Ages 3-8. (Aug.)