MY FRIEND THE MONSTER

Young Louis finds a big, shaggy surprise in the family’s new house. The fox family spends a good deal of time cleaning and sprucing up before spending its first night. Louis runs around all the empty rooms, shouting “Boo!” before settling into his comfy new bed—but a noise under it awakens him. (Taylor’s accompanying illustration shows an enormous furry green monster filling the entire beneath-the-bed space, and then some.) After the grinning one-eyed giant shares his tale of woe at being displaced by the new residents, Louis befriends him: “Thank you, Louis! Nobody has ever noticed me before,” he says gratefully. The deadpan narrative proceeds; it takes a little longer for Louis’s playmates to warm to the monster, but eventually they do. And when the pair comes home from the park, they find that the fox family has welcomed the monster by building him a bed, right across the room from Louis’s. Taylor’s tale is just about average, but her adorable monster is a winner. (Picture book. 3-7)