Hamster Monster

K-Gr 2—This humorous story depicts the struggles of three little hamsters who, tired of being considered "cute and sweet," set out to learn how to become terrifying monsters. They roll around in the mud, practice glaring, and use disguises to no avail; they are still seen as adorable. Finally, with the addition of stilts, they scare a little girl, only to get the surprise of their lives. The illustrations offer a great mix of texture with collage, colored pencil, and paint, bringing the hamsters' personalities to the forefront, and there is just enough contrast to see the difference between the hamster and human worlds. At times, though, the images can be a bit unsettling, such as a hamster sprawled in the mud, who looks as though he's lying in a pool of blood. Though this is a funny tale with an unexpected twist that young readers with a burgeoning dark sense of humor will get a kick out of, some children might find the ending unsatisfactorily open-ended.—Danielle Jones, Multnomah County Library, OR