Bigfoot Is Missing!

Lewis and Nesbitt, the former and current U.S. Children's Poets Laureate, present a mischievous and slightly edgy introduction to 18 "crypids,” animals "whose real existence has not yet been proven.” Their rhymes take the form of wanted posters, newspaper clippings, posted signs, news broadcasts, and more, brought to bold, graphic life by MinaLima, the British design team of Miraphona Mina and Eduardo Lima. Fittingly, readers never get a good look at any of the creatures—usually just a coiled tail here or a cluster of spikes there. The Congolese Mokèlé-mbèmbé peers from behind a newspaper, whose lead story trumpets, "Here at Lake Telé,/ secluded in swamps,/ this missing celebrity/ privately romps.” Elsewhere, a winged creature slinks from a store shelf crowded with cans of "Moth-Away!/ Mothman Spray/ Keeps all ten-foot/ moths at bay.” These brief, playful poems will whet readers' appetites to learn more about bunyips, luscas, and Mongolian death worms. Luckily, endpages supply legends and details about these and other creatures, including where they can—or rather can't—be found. Ages 7–10. Agent: (for Lewis) Ginger Knowlton, Curtis Brown; (for Nesbitt) Jill Corcoran, Jill Corcoran Literary Agency. (Mar.)