Hungry! Hungry! Hungry!

When a 'grisly, ghastly goblin' comes visiting and insistently proclaims his hunger, it is not totally surprising that the young boy into whose house he has come should exhibit some measure of apprehension and alarm. Doyle's text, presented essentially as a dialogue between boy and goblin, plays mischievously with these fears, before eventually resolving them in an unexpected and amusing denouement. But the real frisson here is in Hess's illustrations, colourfully angular perspectives on the apparent comfort and security of the boy's home environment. While not, overall, to be taken tool seriously, this is something more than just another 'childhood reassurance' picture book.