(++++) KID KONSIDERATIONS

Why I Love Diggers and Trucks. Illustrated by Daniel Howarth. HarperCollins. $11.99.

Little Monsters. By David Walliams. Illustrated by Adam Stower. HarperCollins. $9.99.

     Young children’s own words provide the narrative for Why I Love Diggers and Trucks, but it is the entirely suitable illustrations by Daniel Howarth that bring the words pleasantly to life for kids beyond the ones who originally said them. The board book is appealingly simple, with each left-hand page until the final one starting with “I love diggers and trucks because…” and giving a specific reason for enjoyment – often a decidedly non-adult reason such as “they are noisy!” or “they make a mess.” Of course, it’s best to take the noise or mess in context: Howarth’s illustrations are filled with anthropomorphic animals in hard hats doing construction work of all sorts, so the noisiness and messiness are clearly in a good cause. The obvious non-reality of the figures is complemented by some touches that are realistic, not only the hard hats but also the ear protection the animal workers wear while making all that noise and mess (plus the occasional illustration of a nearby animal holding its ears because of all the racket). Some other kids’ thoughts that are illustrated here are “they are strong,” “they are powerful,” “they are busy,” and “they work hard,” but not all the remarks are along those lines. At one point, there is the comment, “I love diggers and trucks because…of their bright colours” (the book was originally published in Great Britain; hence the spelling). Elsewhere, the words are “I love diggers and trucks because…I have my own!” And that scene, of childlike animals using child-sized toy “diggers and trucks” in a sandbox, is in a sense what the book is all about. It is not, however, the most amusing illustration here – that would be the one that goes with “they are huge!” Indeed they are, as kids can see by looking at the 17 suitably dressed-up penguins clambering all over and around a gigantic snow-filled earth mover, putting air in the tires, painting the side, washing the wheels, and (why not?) swirling happily around one deeply recessed wheel and building a snowman up top. The final left-hand page of the book is the only one that does not start with “I love diggers and trucks,” because it makes the point universal: “Everyone loves diggers and trucks,” it says, and the right-hand page adds, “especially…ME!” And that illustration, showing hard-hat workers allowing kids to clamber all over some full-size construction equipment and familiarize themselves with it, will surely lead some children to ask adults to take them somewhere to see and experience real-world diggers and trucks. Parents: be prepared!

     The words come not from kids but from David Walliams in Little Monsters, and the illustrations come from Adam Stower, who previously illustrated Walliams’ Grannysaurus and Marmalade: The Orange Panda. But the underlying feelings in Little Monsters very definitely reflect those of young children. The issue here is one of belonging, specifically how to belong and where. As the title indicates, the tale is told by focusing on child monsters – amusing depictions of a little vampire, skeleton, mummy, ghost and, centrally, werewolf. He is named Howler, but he has a lot of trouble howling: his squeaky yelp causes other little werewolves to howl not with him but with laughter. Howler’s well-meaning parents decide to send him to Monster School to learn to be more frightening, but things do not go well for him there: the broom-riding teacher, Miss Spell, is disappointed with Howler’s attempts to make a scary face, sneak up to scare someone, and, of course, participate in a lesson featuring “gruesome growls.” Howler does so poorly that he gets sent to the headmaster’s office, where the head of school tells him he is an utter failure and is expelled. Poor Howler – and young readers, at least some of them, will know just how he feels. But after hitting bottom, Howler finds a way to climb the heights. It just so happens that the tale occurs at Halloween, and there happens to be a werewolf-friendly full moon, and Howler finds himself among many dressed-up human children who think he is wearing a really great costume. They invite Howler to trick-or-treat with them, and Howler, “smiling for the first time in ages,” happily goes along – and turns out to be so frightening to the human adults who answer doors that he and all his new friends receive “a hail of sweets” wherever they go and “had never had so many treats.” Things are certainly looking up for Howler – who, now inspired to assert himself, takes all the dressed-up human kids to Monster School and tells them to join “in the LOUDEST howl” they can manage. They shriek at top volume right behind the chair where Miss Spell is sitting, and sure enough, she screams, shoots out of her chair, bounces off the ceiling and walls, and lands on the floor after slamming into the headmaster, “who had appeared at the door” at just the right (or wrong) time. Miss Spell is out cold, and the headmaster admires Howler’s newfound prowess at scariness so much that he immediately welcomes him back to Monster School. But – and this is really the point of the book – Howler turns down the invitation, because he prefers to stay with the kids who accepted him when no one else would. He is happy, the kids are happy, and Howler’s parents “couldn’t have been happier that their son was happy just being himself.” So all’s well that ends well, and Howler happily goes to human-kid school at the end of the book, making everyone happy except maybe for the teacher, whose hair is definitely standing on end when he sees the new arrival sitting at the back of the room. Walliams tells the story amusingly and with obvious relish, and Stower’s illustrations are apt and funny and a definite plus for the narrative. And the point of Little Monsters will surely not be lost on kids: be yourself, connect with people who accept you for who you are, and you too can be terrifying. Oh…well…maybe that is not exactly the point, but it’s close enough, and certainly should give children and adults a jumping-off place for discussion after everyone reads and enjoys Little Monsters.