Three-year-old Gabriel uses specific descriptive details as he implores various family members to pretend to be monsters and chase him. He asks Nonna to be "a monster made of bright-pink jelly, with big round eyes and feet that are smelly," while Mommy monster has "spikes on your back, who eats little boys with your teeth that are black." The accommodating humans (as well as a pet and even a potted plant) are pictured chasing Gabriel as requested, while chanting their own monster-y threat ("Schlop, schlap, schlup! I'll gobble you up!"), to which Gabriel always responds "Hee, hee, hee! But you can't catch me!" Gabriel appears white; his family members are both white and brown-skinned in this romp in which the rhyming text, cheery palette, and smiling monsters keep the imaginative game from ever becoming too scary. Generously sized pages and bold black outlines make it a book ideally suited to a story-hour read aloud. (Ages 2-5)

Inspired by a game she played with her own grandchild, the creator of Maisy brings her crayon-bright colors to a story that will have little monsters running for a listen.

You be a monster
who is green and scary,
with sharp pointy teeth
and feet that are hairy.

Little Gabriel loves to play monsters. And his family is happy to oblige, from Josie the hungry beast (munch, crunch, scrunch!) to Uncle Rufus with horns and a tail (oink oink moo!), and even Nonna the jelly monster (I’ll gobble you up!). But what happens when Mom-the-monster comes to eat Gabriel up when it’s time for bed? Lucy Cousins offers an entertaining and heartwarming celebration of family as she follows an imaginative child through a day of escalating giggles to a cozy moment before sleep.