Invader Persuader! Mind Your Monsters! by Catherine Bailey

WALLY ENJOYED A QUIET, NORMAL LIFE...

UNTIL ONE DAY MONSTERS INVADED HIS SMALL TOWN AND MADE A MESS OF EVERYTHING.

The invading monsters eschew etiquette!

The zombies lose their heads as they nosh on the lampposts. The vampires vanquish the screaming kids from the park.

The werewolves empty the sidewalks as they wander growling through the town.

And they were as stinky as rotten eggs!

Wally tries ignoring the monsters, but the vampires' roarings are scary. He tries gentle requests and stern statements, but the monster mash continues.

The vampires and werewolves go on right on wrecking the town. The folks in town try to flee, but a giant octopus sink the boats in the harbor and an ogre occupies the main road out.

Something has to be done.

WALLY WAS FED UP!

"WILL YOU PLEASE STOP BREAKING ALL OUR STUFF?" WALLY SHOUTED.

The monsters stop their mayhem. In fact, from that moment they are on their best behavior. The secret must be the magic word ... PLEASE!

There are many and varied critters in this monster mashup, in Catherine Bailey's Mind Your Monsters (Sterling Books, 2015), a gentle introduction to the scary characters of the spooky season, with an added plug for minding Ps and Qs in public and always saying "please!" Artist Oriol Vidal plants plenty of sight gags in the background as the citizens and the roaming monsters have some silly encounters, while the monsters themselves are clearly very un-scary, just as the preschool audience of this book might prefer. For the littlest monster mavens, pair this one with Natalie Marshall's Monster, Be Good!