IT'S A MONSTER PARTY!

Two bored monsters, so ugly they're cute, stare out of the window at their bleak and barren planet and bemoan the fact that it's just "Another day" in Blogsville. Diminutive blue Og, with a rhino's horn and pointed ears, and reptilian gold-hued Blot, who sports green polka dots and a long tail, decide to brighten things up by throwing a party. They send out invitations promising, "The sky will be pink!... and filled with guitars! Streamers and hooplas will loop over the stars!..." Balloons deliver the invitations to a crew of neon-hued invitees who thrill at the prospect of such a shindig. Meanwhile, Og frets, "What if guests actually come?"— the hosts cannot make good on the invitation's promises. Yet Blot assures him, "Don't worry,... They won't come." They do, of course, and inquire about the pink sky and guitars, but Og simplistically answers, "Who needs all those made-up things when there's Blot and me... and all of you?!" The stumbling, intermittently rhyming narrative amplifies the message: "One by one, they began to see that much more amazing than flying guitars, hooplas over stars, or koogabazoos... would be making new friends and how-do-you-dos!" Those who don't mind a trumpeted moral also may enjoy the over-the-top spread of a confetti-filled night of merrymaking as Fuge's brassy cast of characters gathers 'round the campfire. Ages 3-6. (Apr.)