What's That Under the Bed? The Great Monster Hunt by Norbert Landa

EARLY ONE MORNING A FUNNY NOISE WOKE UP DUCK.

IT SOUNDED LIKE pshh pshh! AND IT CAME FROM RIGHT UNDER HER BED.

DUCK WAS NOT QUITE SURE WHAT IT WAS AND SHE WAS MUCH TOO AFRAID TO LOOK.

Duck sounds the alarm, and her pal Pig is appropriately alarmed. Off he goes to enlist reinforcements from big, strong Bear:

IT GOES pshh pshh! Grrrr! Bang BANG!" HE RELATES.

Having thoroughly alarmed each other by now, Bear and Pig hustle off to find Wolf, who is just warming up for his morning howl, and the two friends shout out their tale of the dreadful thing under Duck's bed as they approach:

"IT GOES pshh pshh! Grrrr! Grrrr! bang BANG! WHAM WHAM! ALL THE TIME!" BEAR SAID. "WE THOUGHT YOU CAN HELP US FRIGHTEN IT AWAY!"

The story escalates into mass hysteria as the news spreads, and the forest recruits, equipped with nets, ropes, and various poking implements, finally regroup around the now sleeping Duck's bed for the rescue.

"DUCK, YOU'RE IN GREAT DANGER!" WHISPERED BEAR. "THERE'S A MONSTER UNDER YOUR BED!"

"MONSTER? HOW DO YOU KNOW?" SHE WHIMPERED.

"BECAUSE IT GOES pshh pshh! grrrr grrrr bang Bang WHAM WHAM! GRRRRRRROWL!

AND "OWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Norbet Landa's new giggle-provoking reworking of the Chicken-Licken motif has the added advantage of Tim Warne's illustrations, which bring along a charming coterie of critter cronies reminiscent of his work in Jane Chapman's best-selling Bear Snores On and sequels, to heighten the humor of this cumulative tale of rumor magnified. Kids will be chiming in along with the refrain "pshh pshh! grrrr grrrr bang BANG" as soon as this one gets underway and will be delighted when the "monster" under the bed turns out to be a happily snoring mouse. The Great Monster Hunt (Good Books Press, 2010) is an easy story-time treat for preschoolers which will practically read itself, with a zany cast of critter characters whose facial expressions will keep kids chuckling all along the way.