cover image Horns, Tails, Spikes, and Claws

Horns, Tails, Spikes, and Claws

J. Elizabeth Mills, illus. by Jef Czekaj. Scholastic/Cartwheel, $6.99 (10p) ISBN 978-0-545-39385-0

Who said an exquisite corpse has to be human? Readers can create mix and match monsters thanks to board book pages divided horizontally into thirds. Czekaj’s goofy cartoon creatures appear at right (one aquatic monster has a single eye, pink lips, dragon wings, and tentacles with paws), opposite Mills’s staccato descriptions (“Scales/ Flippers/ Fur/ Three Feet”). From vampire space robots with sneakers for antennae to a froglike woodland beastie with a striped shirt and slime trail, this is low-tech, high-appeal fun. Ages 3–5. (July)