Monster Chefs by Brian Anderson (review)

Four chefs, all monsters, work for the king (also a monster), who has decided that he is tired of eating nothing but eyeballs with ketchup and has issued an ultimatum: “Find me something new to eat or you will find yourselves on my menu.” The monsters split up and travel to the ends of the earth, searching for delectable delights, but three of them return to the castle empty-handed. Just as they are about to serve themselves up to the king, ketchup and all, the fourth cook bursts in with a pastry chef (a comparatively tiny human), whose cupcakes save the day by making the king roar with delight. The repeated story elements lend a folkloric tinge to this gently goofy tale, and while there are a few glitches in the concept (would the pastry chef agree to stick around a smelly castle to help churn out rows of eyeball-decorated cupcakes?), they’re likely to be overlooked in the service of an otherwise entertaining story. The mixed-media illustrations, scratchy and thin ink outlines with mottled watercolor hues on bright white paper, have a soft cloudiness of pigment that provides a pleasing balance to the zany humor. The chefs are a motley crew of gentle giants, ranging from a cartoonish crab with horns to a doe-eyed, scaly bat, while the king himself is a more conventional lump of reddish fur with rows of a pointy teeth and a single eye. This would of course make a fine addition to a monster or Halloween storytime that includes snacks, but little monsters following along at home will also likely clamor to try out their baking skills, a feat facilitated by the inclusion of an eyeball-decorated cupcake recipe at the book’s end.