Andrew's Amazing Monsters

The artistic hero of this bedtime caper takes his love of monsters a step too far when he decides to paint pictures of them ``on his shirts and sheets.'' Andrew's father then gives the boy ``magic monster crayons,'' informing him that they `` only work on paper.'' So Andrew busily sketches one benign monster after another, hanging the drawings on his bedroom wall. One evening, he draws party hats on each monster; he later awakens to the sound of whispering and rustling. Discovering that his pictures are now only blank sheets of paper, Andrew goes in search of his monsters--and receives a scrumptious surprise. Like Andrew, Chambliss ( Dad's Car Wash ; The Mother's Day Sandwich ) proves a resourceful artist, who creatively transforms her two-dimensional, homespun monsters into festive, full-size partygoers. Berlan's first book is peppered with jaunty verbs (``Something flopped and hopped and clopped down the hall''); her chipper, descriptive text (``monsters with thirty-three toes with terrible claws'') provides amusing assistance in vivifying these eponymous creatures. Ages 4-8. (Mar.)