THE LIMA BEAN MONSTER

Yaccarino (Oswald, p. 670, etc.) is a champion of the tomfool and he is in fine form in this little piece of ridiculousness that concerns a young boy, Sammy, who can’t stomach lima beans. Literally. He tries to hide them under the mashed potatoes, shovel them to the dog under the table (no dice, says Blackie), secret them in his napkin. His mother always finds them, and serves up even more. A solution comes via Sammy’s socks, where he deposits the beans and his mother fails to look. His mother happily assumes he’s eaten them and Sammy makes a beeline for a vacant lot where he buries the offending item. A friend notices Sammy at work and helps him by tossing in some broccoli; soon other kids are contributing failed school tests and ugly sweaters and yet more vegetables. Judgment Day comes when a bolt of lightning hits the now sizable mound, transforming the dump into a horrible lima bean monster—big, green, covered with bits of broccoli, an accordion, and that sweater. The monster is about to munch Sammy when the smart lad points out that his science teacher, who is trying to make a fast getaway, would make a bigger and better meal. Soon the monster has grabbed every grown-up around. Salvation comes when the kids decide to eat their vegetables—the monster—lima beans included (but not the ugly sweater). The admonition to “eat your vegetables” gets the drubbing every kid feels it richly deserves; vegetables really are as evil as they think. Bug-eyed, jazzed-up art invests the cockamamie story with all the zest it can handle, starting with a plate of very angry-looking beans on the title page. A little forced, but the theme has definite appeal. (Picture book. 4-7)