The Monster Returns

Hondo is a dog, and Fabian is a cat. As the family pets, they get along just fine, but their lives are quite different. Hondo gets to go to the beach; Fabian has to stay home, though he still manages to have some fun. Little ones will enjoy following Hondo as he runs through the waves, and Fabian, who makes his own good times by playing with the little girl of the house and unrolling the toilet paper. McCarty’s staccato text, one line to a page, captures a lot of action in a few words, but it is the pencil-on-watercolor-paper art that makes this so arresting. Each carefully shaded picture, in muted tones, has a smooth, solid look that is quite different from the art seen in numerous other picture books, where cartoons often reign supreme. The pictures here are sophisticated by comparison, but they have just as much child appeal as more raucous artwork. In addition, the message about making fun where one finds it is worth hearing.