Naughty, Naughty Monster

‘I’m a naughty, naughty monster!  Are you ready? Here I come! I am hungry for my dinner and I want you in my tum!’  Thus starts the moral tale of the naughty monster and his down-fall.  He begins by chasing little animals through the woods until …he is confronted by a small but determined fairy who shouts ‘No’ and sends him back to his cave.  But the monster isn’t ready to stop his rampaging yet, and when he comes out, he’s after the farmyard animals.  When he starts on people, the little fairy has had quite enough and pushes a stone in front of his cave so he can’t get out.  Of course, he repents, and as he is a lovely, cuddly monster, all is forgiven.  Umansky’s wonderful rhymes and the huggable pictures by first-time children’s illustrator Abbot are a joy, and younger children will respond to the repetition and the fact that the monster is such a lovable beasty.  Wonderful, un-scary fun!