The Knight of Little Import

Batsel’s medieval-inspired tale follows knight Charlie as she vanquishes the hidden-in-plain-sight monsters of her small town, called Little Import. Though “knights were supposed to slay monsters,” young Charlie—portrayed in full armor—has only ever read about them. Compared to nearby Biggerborough, “Little Import just wasn’t worth a monster’s time.” When Charlie overhears the neighborhood baker lamenting the havoc wreaked by a “gluttonous fiend,” it catalyzes an aha moment, and she bags the town’s first brute—layer cake–lookalike “Triple-Tier Hungerbeak.” Before long, the whole village, populated by residents of varying skin tones, comes knocking for help with creatures including a wheelbarrow-esque “Frenzied Mudbull” and a bridge-like “Arch-Backed Spandragon.” Readers are provided with descriptions of each monster, disguised as everyday objects, before a page turn identifies the various fiends (a grandfather clock, for example, turns out to be a “furious thundergong”). The result is a playfully interactive story that suggests the grass isn’t always greener somewhere else. Ages 5–9. (Sept.)