Monsters Eat Whiny Children

A monster with a dragging tail and crested head takes whiners Henry and Eve home in a sack, planning to make them into whiny-child salad, but that doesn't curtail their behavior ("I don't like sitting on lettuce," whines Henry). The monster's wife is similarly afflicted: "I hate cilantro!" she screams, ordering him to remix the salad dressing. But while the monsters and neighbors debate dinner options ("Perhaps a whiny-child vindaloo"), Henry and Eve hightail it for home. New Yorker cartoonist Kaplan adds only the subtlest color washes to his blank-eyed figures, framed inside black lines, serving the snarky text with a pinch of Shel Silverstein and plenty of bourgeoisie irony. Ages 4–8. (Aug.)