Just Desserts? I Will Chomp You! by Jory John

YOU HAVE BEEN OFFICIALLY WARNED.

IF YOU TURN ANY MORE PAGES, I WILL CHOMP YOU!

The monster is this book is a cake-coveting curmudgeon. He's got his stash of fancy baked goods hidden at the end of the book, and if the would-be reader tries to turn all the pages to get to it, Monster will eat him first!

Bystanders--a bird, a bunny, and a frog--are drawn to the scene by all the commotion. But the pages continue to be turned.

QUIT IT!

CHOMP!

The critters flee and the monster clearly misses his target. He sees he must change his tactics.

He tries asking nicely. It's nothing personal, he says. Try some alternative reading, he pleads. He's only protecting his special collection of cakes at the end of the book, he confides. He'll even give the reader half his cake if he will stop, he wheedles.

But still, the pages keep turning. Nothing works, so he has no choice left but to... CHOMP ALL HIS STASH FIRST! But even that has its problems.

MY STOMACH HURTS!

Author John Jory makes the most of the metafiction possibilities in his I Will Chomp You! (Random House, 2015). Artist Bob Shea, master of toothy sharks, carnivorous little dinosaurs, and other chomping picture book champs, cheerfully provides the chompmeister for this story--a snaggle-toothed, evil-eyed bumbler of a blue monster, done up in fat black-line and strong colored illustrations, who misses his target every time in a way sure to create waves of giggles among the preschool set. It's a natural for read-aloud hams who love to sink their, er, teeth into a juicy character which will have the audience chiming in on every CHOMP!