Today I Thought I'd

This engrossing picture book brings the power of old-fashioned magic to a contemporary tale. Armed with a carpetbag full of treasures, a little boy runs away from home. When he meets a ""grumbling, rumbling, lumbering ogre,'' he throws his comb on the ground and makes a forest grow between himself and the ogre. On he goes, magically fending off dragons and demons with his talismans. At last he meets a ``howling, growling, yowling monster,'' and dispenses with him by donning his Dad's old hat, crying ``Behave yourself!'' in his loudest voice, and then he goes home to bed. The genuinely scary creatures here may frighten some readers, but heartier souls will delight in the lustily rendered depictions of ferocious monsters. The text has the cadence of poetry and is reminiscent of mythological tales. (46)