We Don’t Eat Our Neighbors

In guileless line drawings that recall James Marshall’s style, Mahoney (Monstergarten) follows swamp-based alligator sibs Libby and Herbert as they move to a conventional human suburb. While their mother works to fulfill her dream to be a pastry chef and Libby makes friends, Herbert regards his classmates as tasty snacks. He nibbles and threatens more than he actually eats, but the siblings’ peers are nevertheless put off by his actions and his chilly, offhand words: “With a little pepperoni... anything can be pizza,” he muses, biting a child attending Libby’s slumber party. Libby cringes at Herbert’s misdeeds as their schoolmates demonstrate with signs: “Don’t eat us!” Only when a neighbor (whose son Herbert is salting and peppering) reveals, “I just hired your mom to be head pastry chef at my bakery. She has amazing talent” does Herbert realize that his cravings might be the reason his mother won’t succeed, and he works to redeem himself on the soccer field. In this work of anarchic comedy that moves to a story of empathy, Herbert realizes that following his animalian nature will impact someone he cares about, prompting a transformation that relies, in part, on that loved one’s meeting him halfway. Human characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 4–7. (June)