As a young collector of animal exotica, Hieronymus Betts has a dragon, of course, as well as a slugapotamus, a greater-spotted howler bird, a sabre-toothed rhino-toad, a porcupython, a grizzly hare, a corpulent bog hog, and a sui generis critter simply called "Oojamaflip the whatchamacallit" (his "strangest pet"). Each pet outdoes the next (e.g., "but Hieronymus knows of something even stranger
!"). But these critters' repellent bizarreness is nothing compared with the noise, smell, fierceness, slime or overall strangeness found in... the hero's pesky little brother—a child Robertson (The Great Dragon Rescue
) pictures as so monstrous that he has no qualms about kicking over his full potty or pulling down Hieronymus's pants. This is essentially one long build-up to a punchline that's then disappointingly defanged (readers are assured that the sibling is "more fun than any pet could ever be!"). Still, the weird hybrids and monstrosities in Hieronymus's stable are hilariously imagined, with ink lines and watercolor wash. Robertson has a flair for sickly colors and making girth and effluence palpably noxious: the bog hog looks like a naked Winston Churchill gone to seed, while the slugapotamus, who crawls upside-down along the spread's top margin, oozes snot-colored slime from crater-like pustules (Hieronymus employs an umbrella for protection). It's a menagerie virtually guaranteed to elicit approving cries of "Gross!" Ages 3-7. (Oct.)
