Glutton's Diary: A Busy Creature's Day Eating: An Alphabetical Smorgasbord by Mo Willems

To call this vaguely bunny-like critter a gourmand is being kind.

He's more of a glutton.

Oh, he begins the day with a fairly humdrum and healthy diet.

APPLE

BERRIES

CEREAL

But after tucking away some chocolate doughnuts and fried eggs, this creature's appetite strays toward something crunchy--the furniture, maybe?

He finds the chair and table a bit bland, however, and longs for something more... savory.

HUGE HOT-SAUCE HALIBUT HOAGY!

To cool his palate the critter seeks some ice cream, but things only go from bad to worse!

It's the animal that ate Albany!

As articles of outerwear and lunch boxes go down his goozle, they are followed by mayo and a napkin--not to wipe his magnum mouth--but to nibble as dessert,

Nausea sets in after noshing on the napkin. Is he queasy? Is he sprinting for the potty? Well--yes! It's time for Dad to take over and try to soothe that upset tummy with tea and sympathy and saltines, plus hugs and kisses.

All's well that ends well, with the day's dietary diary ending happily with Dad's little chowhound catching some ZZZZZs, in the noted Mo Willems' newest creation, A Busy Creature's Day Eating (Hyperion books, 2018). Subtitled "An Alphabetical Smorgasbord," the author-illustrator keeps his outrageous eater chomping alphabetically until "Z End" and after, with our little overeater creature chomping down the barcode, International Standard Book Number and Library of Congress numbers on the back of the dust jacket. Willems, who began as an ebullient Grammy-winning cartoonist for Sesame Street, lets this over-the-top guzzler run riot through his diet in a novel and extravagant style of cartooning. The only thing about Mo Willems' latest that is predictable are the giggles of gross-out glee from its young readers.

Willem's Caldecott winners include Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale, Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity, and his Theodore Seuss Medals for beginning readers include five of his blockbuster Elephant and Piggie books.

Dinner at the Gross-Out Diner: Spider Sandwiches by Claire Freedman

COME EAT WITH MAX.

HE HAS A MONSTER APPETITE.

HE EATS SUCH YUCKY MUCKY FOOD,

HIS MEALTIMES ARE A FRIGHT!

After a home-cooked breakfast of toenail omelet and grasshopper leg smoothies,  Max orders some delicacies from the internet--space ants, and moon-goop globs--to tide himself over until lunch, when he tucks in to his rainbow lice and rice stirfry. (Better eat 'em before the lice jump off the plate!)

This disgusting gourmand gobbles globs of slimy, gooey glop, some his own creations from his favorite recipes from Squealia's Monster Cookbook and The Monsters' Cookbook-- his cookies have sprinkles (beetle bits), and his delicious side dishes, such as French-fried hairy bats' ears, hors d'oeuvres like squashed fly caviar on crackers or fish-eye finger foods--are famous. Rat-tail pizza is a treat, and blue mold chips are hard to beat.

Is there no comestible gruesome enough to make Max gag?

Well, there is one--the one thing that youngsters all seem to regard as barf bait!

BRUSSELS SPROUTS SOUP!

For surefire eeeeuuwws and yuucckkks from the preschool/primary crowd, Max's menu is certain to meet all expectations, in author Claire Freedman's just published Spider Sandwiches (Bloomsbury Press, 2014), with splendidly silly illustrations by Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet. It's a beginner's gross-out appetizer before kids move on to seriously stomach-sloshing classic entrees such as Adam Rex's Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich.

Claire Freedman's other "well-versed" best-sellers include Aliens Love Underpants, Dinosaurs Love Underpants (The Underpants Books), Aliens in Underpants Save the World (The Underpants Books), and Aliens Love Panta Claus.