Little Monster Did It! (Picture Puffins) - Softcover

Helen Cooper has written and illustrated over a dozen books for young readers, including The Bear Under the Stairs (Dial and Puffin). She lives in London, England.

It's a time-honored story of newly minted sibling rivalry, but the clarity of Cooper's (The Bear Under the Stairs) writing, coupled with the rich, pastel-like textures of her watercolors, gives this book a winning warmth. Amy is ambivalent at best about her new baby brother, but there is no doubting how her plush toy named Little Monster feels?he shows his displeasure by putting bagels in the VCR, flooding the bathroom, etc. Finally, Mom seems to win Amy over by pointing to her little brother's vulnerability: "What would he do without us?" Mom says. Amy conjures up a vision of the baby adrift at sea; alarmed, she offers to dry his toes as an act of reconciliation. But Cooper knows that children seldom achieve closure all at once; Little Monster has one more act of rebellion in store before understanding that there is room and love enough for everyone. Cooper's text is a marvel of wisdom and balance?she respects Amy's stormy emotions, but tempers them with just the right amount of humor: for example, when Little Monster and Amy are admonished to behave at one point, the heroine tells the reader, "We ran downstairs and pretended we were orphans." The cozy, sure-handed illustrations of Amy and her slightly rumpled parents play an equal role in describing the proceedings?and more than a few pictures hint at Little Monster's autonomy, giving the whole story a solid, mischievous tweak. Ages 3-7.
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