Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters

School ends for the afternoon and out the monsters creep and crawl, across the crossing, over the meadow and up the wall. They run into the park, stopping there to play until, as daylight fades, they dash home to their cave. Therein, it’s supper, bath and into bed – or maybe not; those monsters aren’t quite ready for sleep.

Billed as a lullaby, the brief text in rhyming couplets documents the monsters’ doings. Google-eyed, they come in many shapes and sizes, have a child-like quality and plasticity reminiscent of the creations from an early years modelling table. There are lots of deliciously disgusting details in the murky illustrations – worm salad and the stink soap dispenser to name just two. It’s the kind of mock scary story young children delight in and most unlikely to bring on nightmares.