Night of the Veggie Monster (review)

"Something terrible happens every Tuesday night": the narrator must face off against a plateful of peas, resulting in paroxysms of revulsion on his part that are the hallmark of his transformation into "the veggie monster." Acute viewers may have a question or two (since he concludes by deciding peas aren't so bad, does that mean he reaches that conclusion every other Tuesday too?), but the hilarity of the proceedings will overpower such petty concerns. The narrator's melodramatic torments are hysterically histrionic, and they're pithily counterpointed by his parents' sardonic commentary ("Time for another fun-filled hour," says Dad as dinner starts), providing humor from a variety of perspectives. Illustrations are a creative medley of photographed realia (the elements of the meal, including the offending vegetables), cut-out brown paper (the human figures), and simple pastel lines and textural elements (adding features to the humans and furniture to the rooms), resulting in a spare vigor that nicely supports the textual humor. Just about every kid has a culinary kryptonite and many of them with fussy siblings will also ruefully recognize the parental exasperation, so this will have a wide audience of giggling, understanding eaters.