This Book Is Full of Monsters

This metafictional guide to monsters dares readers to keep turning the pages: “Are you really sure? Because you can still turn back,” read tattered street signs on the opening endpapers. Throughout, van Genechten (the Little White Fish series) serves as a monster guide, cautioning readers about the peculiarities and dangers of each creature. “No! Don’t touch it! That tail is poisonous!” he warns as a goofy-looking pink and green monster hikes across a forest at night, carrying its long, bumpy tail. Most of the monsters look more dopey than fearsome (and, oddly, none are given names), but the final few pages may provoke some light fright among readers as they discover a hoglike monster locked in a darkened cage and are invited to turn on the lights and let it out, only to have it leap toward them in the closing pop-up scene. Ages 4–up. (Aug.)